To think most peoole are racist and scared of " other%."

[malificent7]

Judging by the conversations I overheard about the election today. It was all " stop the boats" and the uk is too attractive a place to live coz benefits 😂"
No wonder Farage is so poular and La Penn is gauning traction in France.

It's pointless telking oeoplat immigrants have a great work ethic generally and that the UK should be an attractive pkace to live and that the UK raped and colonised the world etc.

There were 685,000 legal immigrants in 2023 and only 40,000 irregular/refugee (what you call illegal) immigrants.

Immigration under the Tories is going up, because the country needs immigrants due to UK falling birth rate.

People focus on the 6% of irregular immigration because it gives them a useful stick to beat immigrants with, whilst simultaneously reaping the benefits and taxes that 94% of legal immigrants bring in.

@RubySloth indeed.
I would give freedom of movement to any woman or child under 15 from any country, but not to men.
Importing men in from conservative, religious, sexist cultures and to let them recreate these in the UK has been eroding women's rights and democracy for the last 30y.

Wanting to stop the boats because people are drowning is not what's in the minds of Farage and his supporters - some of whom have suggested such immigrants be shot.

We need legal immigration and we need to find better ways of stopping people risking their lives to fund the lifestyles of traffickers.

I'm not even in the uk but I agree with this post? Does the UK/Europe have an obligation to take everbody who arrives? Even though they break the law entering the country? And once they're here, as we are a humanitarian part of the world, we provide for basic needs. In the countries they came from, we'd get...... stoned, raped, starved, shamed..

I can see this is going to be yet another thread where people who don't know the difference between a legal migrant, an illegal migrants and an asylum seeker constantly offer their incredibly insightful opinions again.

Refugees entering the country are not breaking the law. They are allowed to seek refuge.

I doubt you're a humanitarian at all and your outdated views make me glad you're not in the UK.

It is not racist to say you want something done about the ILLEGAL immigrants.

Why are they coming to the UK having passed through several other countries if all they are doing is fleeing for their safety? If they were escaping a brutal regime then they would be happy with ANY safe country

There is a housing shortage, especially social housing. This is mentioned many times a day on here. So where do you think all the illegal immigrants are living?

Our education system is well and truly overstretched. Where do you think the children who arrive on these boats are educated?

Our health service is well and truly overstretched. Yes, there is waste at the top but it is also because there are too many people relying on it.

Where is the government getting the billions needed to deal with the illegal immigrants? Yep, British tax payers, leaving less for our social care.

Most importantly, it is bloody cruel to bring children over on boats. If you were a good parent and you were fleeing from a dangerous situation - why would you put your children in a more dangerous situation? You wouldn't, you would stop at the first safe place. So I assume the children on the boats are there for manipulation, we have to take them in if there are children rather than just young men!

If they were genuinely in danger in their own country then they wouldn't care where they lived so long as it was safe for them, even if that safe place was Rwanda

So before you call me racist, please take note that the above is about ILLEGAL immigrants only and not those who follow the correct channels.

"Anyone who wants to come and contribute to society is welcome. Don't care what race they are"

Let them work, then.

Probably not the point of your post but on an evolutionary level there’s probably a reason why people are more comfortable with people they see as being “in their own tribe”, given how blood thirsty humans throughout history have been.

I’m not saying it’s right, as we should now be in an advanced civilisation really, if we could all just get along. But I guess some old habits die hard.

Yes, refugees should ignore their rights under UNHCR and listen to your tired old cliches. There are many reasons some immigrants don't stop in the first country, such as language and other links. Why are you acting like only the UK takes in refugees?

Feeling the UK has too many immigrants doesn’t automatically make someone racist but when “too many immigrants” is trotted out as the source of all the UK’s problems and posited as a political mandate and all the other economic and geopolitical factors are ignored it does usually make someone either a racist or not very clever.

Or often both as racists by definition are usually not very clever.

No I don't think 'most people' are racist.

Are you racist OP?

Everyone I know thinks this; even people I’ve been suprised about. No one wants endless, uncapped immigration. I think patience has also run out with anyone looking to better their life as an excuse since life in the UK got harder.

You should do research on WHY they are coming here and the UK and Americas (France too) involvement in causing this and destabilising those countries.

Don't just rely on The Sun or whatever for your info.

And I say this as someone against immigration. It has ruined my 'other' home country of Spain but they at least are fighting back against the British immigrants coming there, taking back beaches ect.

France will hopefully follow suit and stop British buying up the land.

A growing, increasingly vocal minority are racist and xenophobic. And most white brits can't recognize it if it slaps them in the face, so they don't have a clue.

But I don't think the people we are talking about here fall under that auspices of UNHCR which is there to protect genuine refugees and not those who are coming to the UK only for the benefits we supply

My sister's DH is a refugee. His family fled a genuine situation when he was a child. They arrived LEGALLY and they very much give back to the country who supported them.

Playing devil's advocate really here but surely it can be argued that there are too many immigrants if we can't house them, provide doctors, dentists etc and English lessons in a reasonable time period.

I'm guessing you are not aware of the UK destabilising those countries and inciting wars there? So it is the government's responsibility to sort it out.

I personally think everyone should stay in their own country including holidaymakers.

Planet would be better off and English can stay English and in England Which is what majority wants anyway.

Saying you don’t want boatloads of illegal immigrants smuggled into your country is not racist.

I welcome immigrants and refugees. But we need to stop this human trafficking. It’s utterly appalling that we haven’t.

It’s not racist to want the boats stopped! I recently spoke to the owner of our local Indian Restaurant. He moved to the UK 20 years ago from Pakistan (yes Pakistan not India) to set the scene he has a very large restaurant near multiple hotels and his business relied to an extent on hotel guests. The context was that I asked if he was busy and we have known him for some years. He started complaining about the hotels that have closed to house immigrants and was very vocal about the number of illegal immigrants, I was quite surprised at first. The point is there are long established immigrants who are very uneasy about the level of illegal immigration.

Some people just spout gibberish. It's funny how the UK population whinge that benefits aren't enough yet when immigrants enter the conversation suddenly they're too much. Make up your minds.

Apart from anything else, do you really think that immigrants want to live on benefits - they want a better life. That's the whole point of it.

I'm guessing you are not aware of the UK destabilising those countries and inciting wars there? So it is the government's responsibility to sort it out.

It’s taxpayers who pay, and taxpayers have no responsibility for any of this (a stretch in the first place).

Tbh, the balance has tipped, most people are fed up of it now, immigration and refugee acceptance doesn’t have support it did. That’s why the pro-immigration squad are terrified Farage is back. And he’s hooking young people in support, for the first time ever

A few points:
It is not illegal to come and seek asylum plus there is no legal way for the people on boats to enter the UK. The tories shut that down.
This government has allowed this backlog to grow - they know it's an easy way to wind people up.
France offered to open a processing site - the Tories refused.
Brexit means that it has become more difficult to return people to their country of first entry (in the EU) due to the limited number of return agreements in place with countries of origin and transit.
It's all a mess.

Do you think it’s so kind to support the survival of the fittest?

Because this is what’s going on with these people smugglers. They refuse (or charge extra) to smuggle women, children or the disabled and only want young and fit men. And they charge thousands of £££ as a base rate.

Are you so naive to think these really are the most vulnerable people we should be helping? Because I submit that the most poverty stricken and vulnerable are rotting in far away lands while Western do-gooders choose to turn a blind eye to make themselves feel better.

About a week ago one of the boats en route to Italy was sinking. The men on board seized this occasion to rape a teenage girl. She died of strangulation while being gang raped.

About a month ago in Poland one of these men killed a young Polish soldier patrolling the border.

Theres growing evidence that these criminal gangs have corrupted some of the MEPs.

Is this the sort of people you want to let in?

Why is it so racist to point out that a country without borders is not a country and that what’s going on is a criminal enterprise?

We should be helping the most vulnerable. Instead we’re helping anyone who can pay while branding anyone who questions this a racist.