The People demand that the Boats are Stopped.

[noblegiraffe]

I keep reading about the Tory government working hard to deliver the people's priorities:

"Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Government are focused on five immediate priorities. We will halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut NHS waiting lists and stop the boats."

Halve inflation (will happen anyway), grow the economy (vague), reduce debt (vague), cut NHS waiting lists (maybe by paying nurses and doctors more?), stop the boats (what?).

Maybe it's just where I live, but I'm not seeing this immediate urgent need to "stop the boats". It's certainly nowhere near my top 5 priorities for the government to be immediately tackling. If it was, I'd probably look at creating legal routes for genuine asylum seekers as a first step rather than shipping them to Rwanda.

Is it in your top 5 urgent government priorities? Are they speaking to the people and I've just completely missed it?

YABU: Stopping the boats is in my top 5 government priorities.
YANBU: I'm more concerned about something else and would bump Stop the Boats down the list.

They are literally being funded by public funds.

@Swrigh1234 agree with you about an underground economy. Supported by the drugs trade, car washes, nail bars, for example. Used by many of the very people who see this as one of their top 5 issues.

@Reality25 Socialism + Porous borders = Fast-track to 3rd world shithole.

Well according to a lot on here, we won't get to see any socialism even at the next election, local elections apparently count for nowt, and we haven't had any for the last 13 years ( except for Rishi's furlough scheme which was socialism on a grand scale ) and those borders are according to some here, are even more porous than ever before !

I think it probably depends on where you live. As I would have thought someone with your intellect would understand OP.

YANBU

(For the benefit of any Tory MPs reading this...)

My top priorities:

Sort out cost of living crisis
Rescue NHS
Tackle Social Care
Education funding
Rejoin EU (admittedly a pipe dream alas)
Tackling Climate Change
Affordable housing
Reverse the recent legislation that allows increased dumping of sewage in the sea
Preservation of single-sex spaces for women
Electoral reform

Migrants in boats doesn't even crack the top ten....

I’ve been wondering that too.
Having some language skills or family/ friends in a particular country might be a reason somebody would want to move there, but is really reason enough to get into a leaky boat?

If you are really worried about immigration figures, perhaps you need to let the Government know that foreign students are no longer welcome, along with Doctors, Dentists, Nurses and vets from any other countries, and anyone working and living here due to their company wanting them over here due to their skills, that should knock a few hundred thousand off the figures ?

Totally missed the point. Not doubt deliberately.

That's literally there in my OP.

This. If the media stopped reporting on it, many people would forget it was something they were supposed to be angry about.

In any case the Tories caused the boats by making it nigh on impossible for anyone to claim asylum in any other way. They’ve created the crisis in order to have a perpetual war against it. It distracts (some) people from the issues which genuinely impact their day to day lives.

In any case the Tories caused the boats by making it nigh on impossible for anyone to claim asylum in any other way.

It appears that they have also caused the hotel issue by stopping processing asylum claims.

Why are so many people desperate to claim asylum HERE and here only? Surely if people were in danger, and they had many countries to claim asylum in, they'd claim asylum in whichever country would have them, instead of risking their lives to illegally enter a country which has made it very clear it doesn't want them?

The only sort of education that is a priority for Rishi is the top private schools his dds attend. He certainly doesn't give a stuff about the state non fee paying schools are in with teacher shortages etc. Hence he hasn't mentioned education being a priority

@Jonei have I missed the point ? @hattie43 doesn't want anyone coming here because there is no decent housing, no infrastructure, broken services etc for those people who already here and who can blame them ?

They don't care why or who is coming here, just that there are lots of people coming, a small percentage of which are people crossing the Channel in boats, and believes there isn't room for them, which is understandable given the state of the infrastructure, broken public services and the dearth of decent affordable housing across the UK.

Compared to, say, France, Germany or Spain?

Gosh @noblegiraffe that graph suggests that a lot of people do claim asylum in other countries and don't all automatically head for the UK, which as a few on here have pointed out is a bit shit at the moment, shame on them for talking down the UK like that, maybe they should move somewhere else if they don't like it here ?

I think you need to compare the land mass of each country too @noblegiraffe otherwise your argument is not showing an accurate picture

Why? The claim was that loads of people were desperate to seek asylum here and not in countries on the way. That apparently we were the country of preference. I don't think people make asylum claims based on land mass.

You know precisely why @noblegiraffe

No, you're trying to make a different argument to Florenz who was claiming that we are the country of preference.

You know, because we're a "soft touch" and give them "loads of benefits".

So in that case, why are loads more people claiming asylum in Germany?

No, that’s not how rational argument works. Making stuff up doesn’t clinch any conclusion.

However, if you’re happy with that approach…

Every single one of them is a fully-qualified English-speaking oncologist, so we should be welcoming them with open arms and blank cheques.

500,000 people? In small boats?

Really?

11 times as many people as arrived in small boats last year? (Around 45,000 in 2022)

I think you're confused but do feel free to share your sources for that claim.

Not sure what tangent you’ve gone off one. But the question was what is your evidence to the contrary though?

It would be nice to have some control over our border, but it's impossible. How can you stop boats crossing the channel? We can't turn them around when they are in our waters and France has no reason to stop them. We will live with this, no matter what cunning plan the Tories come up with, until the country is such a ruin nobody in their right mind wants to come here.

How can you stop boats crossing the channel?

Well, given that most people who arrive on them have their asylum claims accepted, perhaps we could set up a processing centre in Calais and give ones with legitimate claims a ticket on a proper boat?