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.

"Where are you getting resources to accommodate more people?"

The furore about net immigration figures seems to have blurred the reality of the UK's population growth.

The UK population has grown by about 0.33% a year - a net increase of around 224,000 - 227,000 people a year - since 2020. If it were not for net immigration, the UK population would have been falling by 450,000 - 518,000 a year for the last few years.

The people coming to the UK are for the most part young, ambitious and willing to work - people without whom there would be huge shortages of workers in the construction industry, in healthcare, in factories, hospitality, agriculture and food production.

It's all very well for the Conservative and Labour governments to talk about building more hospitals, more houses, more infrastructure etc. but there is a huge shortage of skilled and unskilled labour in the UK and a demographic make-up that means that there are too few young workers coming through to replace the older workers who are retiring (or to replace the European workers who were told to leave), whether these are bricklayers to build the hospitals, or brain surgeons to work in them.

There is a shortage of housing - just as there was when I left home and left university decades ago; just as there was when I moved back to the UK 20 years ago after working abroad; and just as there is now - an ongoing situation which has never been caused by immigration alone.

The blatant denial of the simple fact that some cultures value women more than others is laughable. If you don’t think that certain religions literally deem women as lower-class citizens and treat them abhorrently under the guise of religion as a result then I suggest you look at some of the recent changes the Taliban are implementing in Afghanistan under Sharia Law.

This is such a backwards loop-de-loop self fulfilling perspective to have.

Wages are able to stay low BECAUSE of mass immigration from low wage countries.

Asking a likely middle class mother whether anybody in their immediate circle would pick fruit for a living makes no point whatsoever. Do you not think we have people in this country who work low skilled jobs?

So we can never stop people coming over - so we need to have unfettered and unlimited mass migration akin to the size of Wales over multiple years? No, we don't.

Australia was "built on immigration" yet they have some of the most stringent migration rules in the world.

It's peculiar how only the West are expected to let down the drawbridge and relieve the guards of duty and let anybody and everybody come into their countries while many of them, ESPECIALLY the UK, is completely on their arse in terms of public services, quality of life in comparison to previous years, and financial stability.

We need to encourage millions of people to come here and wait years on the public purse for their asylum claims to go through to placate the aging population? Good idea!! Sorry, but really?

What we actually need is a complete rethink on just how we've ended up in a position where our young feel they can't buy a home, they can't have children, because they can't afford it. How are we in a position that apparently only foreigners are willing to do certain jobs because they are so low paid you can barely get by on it in this country? Why has the gap between house prices and wages grown so, so much? Why have wages stagnated to the point that skilled workers are on a couple grand more than those on minimum wage or benefits?

I personally find it......peculiar, how there seems to be a perfect storm happening where the only solution being floated about in the mainstream is "more immigrants".

@Cockwomblers you are claiming certain brown men are a threat to British women.
When in Britain rape by British men is effectively decriminalised and domestic violence is common.
Its an old racist trop. British women (usually meaning white women) at risk from these black or brown foreign men, whilst the risk from British men is ignored or minimised.

Obviously some posters here are happy with an ‘age of consent’ of 9 years old. Great!

You're not allowed to notice that if we didn't have borders, we wouldn't have women's rights.

You can NOT see that some cultures and countries have NO respect for women. Some moron will attempt to say that because men are not perfect in the UK, then it is exactly the same as countries where women can't drive, vote, divorce, own property or even leave the house without a man present.

You don’t sound goady.

If people learn a Western language at school, it is likely to be English. (Those who learn French tend to favour France as a destination for sanctuary). In Commonwealth countries and other countries of the former Empire, there is still a mystique around the UK. It is held up as the country of opportunity and fair play. The current dilemma is to some extent the cost of the Empire.

If persecution is down to religious or political affiliations, current asylum seekers may be following family members who have already fled. (The same for civil war) Having family here (or anywhere) people are highly motivated to join them.

I am sure there are other factors but these are 2 that I am aware of.

This is an interesting report:

"The UK's Baby Bust"

www.research.hsbc.com/C/1/1/320/GhMdwLG

I wish governments would just admit they need migrants and stop pretending they want to reduce it. We have an increasingly elderly population and less taxpayers of working age.
Either we allow working age migrants, to increase the tax take to pay for the increasing elderly population or we increase the tax burden on the current tax payers, which is never a vote winner.
Governments chose not to invest in improved infrastructure to cope with the level of immigration, instead they adopted a 'look a squirrel ' attitude and allowed the immigrants to be scapegoats for their lack of planning.
Now they pay lip service to reducing immigration, without actually making a significant impact on the numbers coming.

Please quote where I’ve said anything about ‘brown men’? Or rape in fact?

are you okay?

Where are the 906,000 new arrivals going to live or do they not need homes? I’m confused.

Lifes to short to worry about a none issue.
Its only a problem in someones life if they want to make it a problem.
Couldnt care less.

I don’t even have a response for this level of idiocy

excellent and stewart lee? er no.

Maybe that fall in number is ok for the time being. UK's net population growth is unsustainable. It is not going to adopt China's one child policy. So let the population come to a number where it's ok to push immigration again.

Thank you.

Um... everything is breaking down because of austerity, Brexit and poor political choices. But yeah, let's blame all the immigrants.

You are right but we do not need 1 million of them a year. Fast forward 30 years and these migrants will be aging too. We cannot feed and house the world.

Do you realise the cost of having those British pensioners in our countries (Spain for example)?

British pensioners don't contribute to our tax system and they benefit from our very good and expensive health care system. In the Spanish press you can always see the amount of hip replacements our country is providing to all your pensioners. It's not just the sun, its the quality of living.

A pensioner cost money and does not generate money.

It always puzzles me how many British are against having migrants to working in the UK doing the work their own people wouldn't do, providing very neccesary services. And at the same time they think Europe is happy to absorb the cost of the British pensioners when they need lots of care.

So true, but you know, let's blame migrants/ immigrants instead because it suits the narrative.

I'm going to just say that when you open the floodgates to anybody, from anywhere, who have potentially grown up in a war torn country with no education, in a country where the culture is already against the favour of women, and then bring them into a country who's government has caused or been involved in destabilising said country, you should expect at least some people coming in to 1) dislike the Uk and perhaps its people due to governments actions, and 2) to have very different attitudes towards women as its commonplace for them to be, say, stoned to death, or gang raped in the street, or any other multitude of awful things.

It's more reasonable and logical to expect there to be an increased risk of harm to women when you have millions of men entering from countries in which it is acceptable to abuse or rape women.

It's not skin colour, it's culture.

This is a really interesting thread. Love it when people ignore the attempts to scold and shame everyone into taking the 'correct' position, in case someone is looking, and just go ahead and have the honest debate that those people claim to want but are actually quite frightened of!!

Thank you :)

Would you say that neither of those two really align though with the true need for safety/sanctuary or desperation that must come with fleeing war or persecution? I suppose im mostly referring to those who choose to further put their lives in danger by crossing the channel. It’s hard to fathom how residing in a country (temporarily even) where you might not speak the language well or know anybody is a worse option than putting your life at risk crossing the channel to reach the UK.

Germanys age of consent is 14. Have you ever complained about that?
Have you ever campaigned against sharia courts in the UK? They should not be allowed, but I bet you don't care about the impact on women. If you cared about women would you be kicking up about this. Do you understand that Islam is different in different countries? It is like Christianity, there are different branches.

Interesting point. Yes Brits don't think of themselves as a burden when they go elsewhere.