To be shocked at the net migration figures currently being discussed

[Feelingathomenow]

Yesterday’s figures discussed by the Tories stated that since 2010 the net migration figures to the UK has equalled the size of the population of Wales. Today we were told the figures to June 2023 showed a net migration figure of nearly 1 million for that year, for the year to June 2024 this had reduced to a mere 3/4 of a million. The numbers coming in of the boats per year alone is equal to a large town. AIBU to think this has to stop. We need to immediately crack down on people allowed into this country- limit it to urgently needed highly skilled jobs and start offshore processing (or similar) of the people who are here illegally (basically like many other countries).

We just can’t cope with those numbers. - no wonder our infrastructure is collapsing, we have a housing crisis etc.

I want to hear from the government how they are going to tackle it. We have heard from the Tories now it is over to Starmer.

…so who is going to do the “low skills” jobs that have been filled by migrant labour? Fruit Picking, Factory work, Hospitality etc? (Apologies for the term “low skilled”). Do you have people in your immediate circle who would do these jobs.

You are never going to stop people coming over, we are a nation built in immigration. When it comes to illegal immigration, or asylum seekers etc, we need more staff to process claims.

We have an ageing demographic and need young people.. we should be encouraging them over to make their homes here

YANBU and I would guess that most of the population agree with you. Problem is that no mainstream political party will do anything about it. My guess is that because of this, at some point voters will lurch massively to the right like in much of Europe, US etc. I'll be watching the upcoming Irish election with interest. Same issues there.

This again?

The UK was founded on migration. We need immigrants.

YANBU OP, but you'll be branded a horrible racist for even bringing it up, so nothing gets done year after year even as more and more people slowly realise how bad it is. I hope one day the scales fall on this and people realise it's not racist to be concerned about net migration and question whether there is a net contribution to the economy or not of all these towns and towns of people turning up.

We need LEGAL immigrants! Not all these groups of men coming on boats illegally! There’s a hotel near me that’s now closed down and it’s sole purpose it to accommodate hundreds of illegal males! And they cause so much trouble to the locals.

Whose going to do all the shitty jobs that Brits think are beneath them?

Are you happy for the EU and everywhere else to limit the entry of sunshine seeking UK emmigrants. Oh wait, they are exp pats, not migrants, and they are Brits and good and white, so that's fine ...........

Most of this IS legal migration. People coming on boats is a tiny proportion. It's mostly students and care workers.

I agree it's putting too much pressure on infrastructure but fewer and fewer of the native born population seem able to work so we need more tax payers to fund our astronomical pension and care costs.

YANBU @Feelingathomenow. The Tories fucked the UK for 14 years while scaremongering and lying through their teeth.

We are poorer, more crowded and divided because of them.

You do realise that people actually leave the country too.

Which are the many countries that process immigrants offshore, OP?

My search has turned up

Australia and Israel

and, in process, Italy and Denmark

Israel and Italy have governments actively hostile to many of the rights we take for granted. Denmark offers a great quality of life to those who belong but is known for a level of xenophobia exceeding ours. That leaves Australia which again generally skews to the right of the UK.

Others?

These are the net migration figures!

That’s the meaning of the phrase ‘net migration’ I believe.

It’s the total number of people who came in minus the number of people who left. Leaving you with the number of people who are actually ‘extra’ so to speak.

WildCat2877 · Today 12:23

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 12:19
This again?
The UK was founded on migration. We need immigrants.

We need LEGAL immigrants! Not all these groups of men coming on boats illegally! There’s a hotel near me that’s now closed down and it’s sole purpose it to accommodate hundreds of illegal males! And they cause so much trouble to the locals

They aren’t illegal. They are asylum seekers waiting to be processed. when their application is considered, they will either be granted leave to remain or not.

And in the mean time we have to pay for them?

Hang on.

According to the OP the number of people travelling to the UK illegally is equivalent to a town - so say 20,000 people?

That means 980,000 are coming here legally then?

Which do you think is having the biggest impact?

Oh and that hotel issue you mention was created on purpose by the last govt, perhaps to drive division and distraction.

By the way I hope you don't use nail salons, cleaners or car washes employing migrants without checking all their insurance details and documentation as they are all known for migrant labour on the black market.

Due to the falling birth rates we actually need migration.

Because who will do all the jobs in decades to come?
And more importantly, who will buy stuff to keep the forever upwards trend of the economy?

I am quite happy for any country to decide who they want to accept as permanent or temporary residents. If, for example, Spain or France decide they have enough sunshine seekers they should be perfectly at liberty to stop/restrict more of that demographic coming into their countries. They may decide that they are quite happy and it is worth their while for people to spend their pensions in the local economy or they may decide they only want butchers, bakers or candlestick makers. Entirely up to them.

Yep - migrants are less likely to claim unemployment benefits than UK born.

FGS - most of that number is legal migration.

Critical skills workers in shortage occupations and international students paying an absolute fortune to study here. The university system would collapse without them.
Circa 400-500k International students a year which the stats show are leaving again when their courses end.
The other 50% or so are legal workers.

There has been an 83% reduction in care and nursing applications this year following the pre-election rise in salary thresholds and restrictions on dependents accompanying parents. Nurses and care workers should be paid a lot more and certainly enough to be able to house themselves and their families but while this policy has had the desired effect, I can only imagine the impact it is having on the NHS and the amount being spent on temp workers to supplement.

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/long-term-international-migration-flows-to-and-from-the-uk/
Govt stats - under 40k were illegal immigrants arriving on boats and under lorries.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-september-2024

Boat refugees are not our problem. Companies offering artificially low salaries that no-one will apply for SO they can then advertise them overseas and bring people here to do the jobs at a low pay is the issue. This is widespread in IT.

Re jobs that Brits won't do - this is a fair point. That said, I think it's also fair to point out that quite a lot of the migrants in question are non working dependents.

The illegal ones!! No problems with people that want to come here and contribute to our society but those who don’t are not welcome! I don’t use any of those things. My cleaner is an english lady, my nail lady is an English lady and I clean my own car. It doesn’t matter who’s idea the hotels was but they cause nothing but trouble the police and fire service are there at least twice a week and there have been so many muggings in that area since they all moved in

Fears around immigration fascinate me. There must be some primal thing going on because otherwise intelligent people get so stupid about it. What is it I wonder?

A human that was born in another country is still a human, with the same chance of being great or awful as anyone else. Sandi Toksvig is an immigrant, Rita Ora is an immigrant, Freddie Mercury was an immigrant. Categorising people according to their place of birth is so weird - it's typically the least informative piece of information about a person and yet it can decide where are person can live, what job they can do etc etc. I wish we could move on and behave like evolved creatures rather than animals who are scared of other animals that don't smell quite right.

Surely that is just because we are all getting fat 😁

@MrsSkylerWhite The UK wasn't founded on migration. What a strange thing to say. Did you copy paste that from a US website?

I have no problem with immigration - my own grandparents were illegal immigrants tbh - but this is just a really weird claim. There's no reason to pretend it was always like this in order to say it's ok or even desirable now.