How bothered are you about Small Boats?

[Spinet]

I think the idea that people think Small Boats with illegal immigrants on them is a really pressing issue is made up by politicians to have something to campaign on. Am I right? Is this a pressing issue as far as you're concerned?

I'm not really talking about immigration/ asylum seekers in general, just the small boats everyone keeps mentioning. If you're worried about people dying in the channel I get that, but do you think people finding their way here illegally is a major issue for our country at the moment?

I think it's clear I don't but I will accept I'm wrong about this being a made up issue if the majority disagree with me.

If you want to vote YABU= this is one of my top ten concerns. YANBU = I don't think it's a top ten issue for the country.

Hello Nigel.

I didn't ask for you to call people 'lovies' etc. by all means express your opinion without name-calling.

Part of the discussion about immigration is also the UK’s own role in destabilising regions for their own political reasons, regimes that wouldn’t have fallen without military action the UK was part of.
They were massively involved in Northern Africa for example with Gaddafi’s success in exchange for his role in stemming the tide from Africa. That has directly contributed to current instability and people movement.
You can look to Iraq.
To Afghanistan.
Some of the West’s actions, for their own benefits in oil or fear have been the catalyst that got people moving.
The ‘economic migrants’ even aren’t always just ‘I’d like a nice house’ ones, but in areas that were reliant on Ukrainian grain etc and then food supply issues reached famine point.
If we are going to be part of playing the international policemen and controlling politics abroad I do think we need to accept that this is one of the causes.

It is true. There are far, far more bigots on this site that there was two or three years ago.

And this is PRECISELY the issue.
Someone raises a reasonable concern and immediately slapped with the label Nigel. It’s really concerning and silencing and exactly how we ended up with a leave vote.

I am hugely offended at being characterised as a labour lovie 😭

@Bumpitybumper what do you mean by illegal migrants?

it is a nice word!! 🙄

Desperate how? Why would you be desperate in France, for goodness sake?

Yvette Cooper and friends have been lying about the effectiveness of the Dublin Agreement - the UK was a net importer of asylum seekers under the Dublin Rules in recent years.

Yes, today. Sharing the EU burden

Although has Germany pulled out @Lastchancechica?

Poor you, imagine being that sensitive

Oh yeah of course they do....

Yes, Germany pulled out

We should all be aware of the St Louis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_St._Louis

I notice you are not calling out anyone for calling people racist (for saying they would like a well managed immigration/asylum system)? But "lovies" clutch my pearls.

https://www.ft.com/content/435c6b91-99d3-4407-a710-b40b02615040

They need to go through official channels, if they are eligible to claim asylum they shouldn't need to get in a dinghy and risk their lives, France afterall is a very safe country why not stay in France? The thing is many are economic migrants and wouldn't be eligible to claim asylum. One thing is for sure though we also need to be sure who is coming here, given many of the people entering this way are young single men they could be ciminals, rapist or worse and we'd never know. I also think they need to introduce a rule if you are caught on one of these vessels you are automatically can't seek asylum and are returned to mainland Europe (or home if they havent discarded their passport (unlikely)). Maybe they could come up with a processing centre out to sea so they can't abscond once here, that's another issue once here they often disappear and don't return if their asylum seeker application is declined.

There must be better ways to police who is allowed into the country, not only to keep a handle on numbers but also to protect us more than anything.

The whole thing makes me fucking furious as it's a travesty of humanity. It also makes me fucking furious that the government thinks we're all thick enough to fall for the idea that the reason the health service is collapsing/ everything else in freefall is because of a few desperate people on boats (the numbers are trivial in the big picture).

Saying "This is unsustainable, there are probably a billion out there who would like to come here. They are 90% young males, many have already committed crimes like rape"

Is not a reasonable concern. It is out right lies and bigotry, undeserving of a response.

I don’t think op wants to know the actual truth.

Show me where someone else calls someone else racist for wanting a well-managed immigration system. Wanting a well managed immigration system is what most people on this thread say they want, whatever they think about the Small Boats thing.

Not my major concern, but they should stop the boats/people traffickers for the sake of the children we keep retrieving from the sea. The France deal seemed a sound one to me, I guess time will tell if it is effective.

This

I think it's a big issue. 46 thousand people came this way last year. I think 'small boats' gives the impression of 5 people at a time every few weeks which we could obviously manage, whereas is reality the numbers are huge. We can't even manage to house, feed and give healthcare to the people that already live here unfortunately.

The whole system of what happens to asylum seekers and illegal immigrants needs to be looked at by the world as a whole IMO and a proper system worked out to help people that need it in a way that is safe and sustainable.

And we need to stop idiot men starting fucking wars.