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.

That sounds like pretty much the current Tory policy. Particularly the bit about wanting to allow their mates/ paymasters in the major housebuilding firms to build on nice high-profit green fields, no matter what extra pollution it leads to. Fortunately the Labour / Green /Lib Dems in the House of Lords stymied that little wheeze last night.

Im pretty sure it’s also current Tory policy to allow around 500,000 legal migrants to join the country each year - with no real plan for extra housing or facilities .

Harping on about the few desperate souls who come across by dinghy is a handy way of avoiding scrutiny on wider issues.

Tabloids + Tories = standard ‘us’ vs ‘them’ rhetoric and fearmongering

It’s preparing us for when climate migration really kicks in, so that the majority will be happy to see them killed instead of housed.

so so sad and despicable.

To be fair it’s fairly easy to get a uk visa for qualified doctors and dentists so the people in the small boats are not likely to have those qualifications.

To answer your question OP, yes I am bothered about tens of thousands of illegal immigrants arriving in small boats (or any other way) because it is unsustainable.

As PP's have pointed out the majority of those arriving in the sm are young men, many of whom are economic migrants. If the majority of those arriving were women and children fleeing war I would feel quite differently.

Of the young men arriving who say they are fleeing war, I have no respect for men who seemingly have left their wifes/children/sisters/mothers etc in a warzone rather than getting them out first and staying to fight.

As others have pointed out this issue is being used as a political football. I agree it is but that doesn't mean that I can't still have a valid opinion on it. Like all political footballs it's being discussed because it's very important to lots of people.

@Sladurche @MsRosley - French right-wing parties constantly attempting to criminalise the wearing of typically Islamic styles of dress and garments doesn't send a particularly 'welcoming' message to immigrants of Muslim faiths so perhaps there are plenty of reasons why some Muslims might feel the UK is a better bet for acceptance and tolerance.

We are not on the same side. Labour are not going to address this issue, they don’t even think of it as in issue, and believe all economic migrants can simply be sent to a farm to work. No thinking at all about the long term impact of an aging society, pensions, healthcare and housing - social care.

Whatever the results of the (extremely flawed) survey are, I think it's clear from this thread that it is an issue people are bothered about. So in that sense I'm definitely wrong. But I still wish it was not continually boiled down to 'small boats' and dehumanising refugees.

We are supposed to believe there are boatloads of doctors! Seriously!

@Sladurche your idea that the boats are full of rapists and murderers is at best bizarre and at worse plain racist. Should we shut the borders to all tourism etc on this basis?

The economic migrants are NOT refugees. Why don’t we start there.

Of course she's making it up. Not, of course, that she will provide any evidence of her claim.

Lets not. Still human beings.

It was announced today?

That’s why op started the thread

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/07/labour-hiding-true-views-illegal-immigration/

Is this part of the eye-watering woke agenda you haven't yet explained to us?

Carers are now considered skilled workers and therefore eligible for skilled worker visas. This is a much more effective and efficient way to plug labour shortages than allow boat loads of immigrants into the country and blindly hoping that they all have a calling for adult social work.

It is not realistic or reasonable to suggest that you can upskill the whole British workforce to the point where immigration will have no impact on domestic wages.

Not everything is some conspiracy concocted by the rich elite.

Here’s the plan for the housing over greenbelt:

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/labour-will-build-on-green-belt-to-boost-housing-starmer-says-12882668

No it's not, my figures come directly form the gov.uk website. 39% are males between the ages of 18-25. 22% are males older that 25. 17% are male under 18. The reasons for that are as follows:

1. when a war is on, the invaders target the male population, either putting them to death or recruiting them as soldiers.
2. In places with Islamic invaders, many of the schools expel women and turn them into madrassas; i.e. religious brainwashing centres.

Boys are exported to save their lives.

1. Also, boys who become the "head of the household" because their fathers have been killed often volunteer to take the dangerous migration journey so that they can claim asylum and then legally get the rest of the family into the country, under family reunification including mum, sisters and younger brothers.
2. Traffickers charge extortionate amounts of money. Usually they have to sell everything they own in order to pay for one person's journey. There is no legal route to getting out of their own country- the airports are closed, there is no way to get a passport etc.
3. You can only apply for asylum in the UK once you are in the country; you cannot apply for it from abroad.

Tabitha. Well you say it yourself they come here because they can do and dress as they want to. No one ask them to integrate or even learn the language. Coming here to get all the benefits of being in a first world country but with zero responsibilities. Let’s see how that would unfold.

Here’s the plan to throw open our doors to the EU:

I mean just how removed can they possibly hope to be from every day people!

https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-uk-relations/news/labour-vows-to-take-uk-into-eus-asylum-regime/

Who said economic migrants are not human beings? We are not dehumanising people to suggest that they are aren't entitled to live in the UK. If my application to live in Monaco or Australia is denied does that mean that I have been dehumanised? This is madness!

Quoting from the article just to clarify:

He also said that which parcels of land fall under green belt rules is sometimes illogical, giving an example of homes being built on a playing field rather than a car park because the car park was technically within the green belt whereas the field was not.

"This is not about disrespecting the green belt," he added.

90% of the UK is rural. 98% of Scotland is rural. Oh, and our Conservative Local Plan is also building houses on greenbelt, against the wishes of the local population, so I don't think Labour has the monopoly on that.

Of the young men arriving who say they are fleeing war, I have no respect for men who seemingly have left their wifes/children/sisters/mothers etc in a warzone rather than getting them out first and staying to fight

Just a few minutes of careful thought would explain why it might be sensible for young, healthy men to make a dangerous journey, rather than more vulnerable women and children.

Any minute now someone is going to squeak Nigel.

It’s a perfectly legitimate concern.