What can labour do about immigration?

[CrispyEye]

Current poles showing Reform is way ahead of labour now. I’m so worried Reform will win the next general election if Labour don’t get a grip on this issue. And I say that as a Tory voter.

Realistically, what can Labour do, what should they be doing and do we think they will do it?

I think they’re headlines mostly to try and get Reform voters back.

Most of that happened before Brexshit already. And there were further steps that could have been taken to reduce immigration had the government chosen to, even within EU rules. Immigration was not a valid reason to leave by any measure.

In my head , those who voted for Brexshit for any immigration reason were essentially saying "hey government, you're doing a shit job of managing this, so I'm going to vote 'leave' in order to give you complete control to fuck it up even more, while removing any assistance from neighbouring countries". Guess what? They did indeed fuck it up even more.

Yes, you're Probably right ES. Unfortunately, for Labour, it's too late.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I analyse economic data and policy for living, thanks!

Immigration is a problem. The nonsense about people using it as a protest issue is just another way of saying that people would vote differently if, if, if. No, they wouldn’t.

The minimizing of people’s feelings about immigration is straight out of the ‘public is stupid’ playbook. Keep going, how did that work out for you on Brexit?

Immigration at these high levels is bad. It’s culturally divisive, whether you like it or not. It’s actually bad for the economy as GDP per capita is shrinking. And it’s bad for the strain on the infrastructure. All of this while we have 10 million people of working age already here who choose to not work or are underemployment, living on the taxpayer’s dime. While the country brings in more people who on a net basis don’t earn enough are further needing to be paid for the ever shrinking number of net contributors.

’Smash the gangs’ is total nonsense. It’s basically a way of avoiding doing anything about the problem. The illegals immigrants should be processed offshore, the levels being granted asylum is clearly inflated as Ponzi scheme as this country approves the cases of way more people than France. The system is being gamed.

On visas, there should be a bigger focus on temp visas, like in the Middle East. And a full charge of use of public services. Paying a nonsense £1k or £2k NHS surcharge doesn’t begin to cover the cover of cost of use of all public services by immigrant workers who bring their children followed by elderly parents and extended families over.

Finally the welfare system is far too generous and a total gravy train by all who have made it a lifestyle choice to not work. Until this is slashed back properly to stop the excuses for not working, nothing will change.

Cue the outrage and frothing.

I think so. It does shift the conversation from Labour ignoring it to saying it’s a problem. Which will likely help Reform.

It’s not so much about safer, but about the fact that we can’t cope with current numbers, so there would be zero appetite for even higher numbers from the public from all political sides. Surely you can understand this?

I think that would be a tall order for any government, because the general public aren’t stupid. Especially the ones already living with high levels of asylum seekers.

I'm not sure about how learning English as a foreign language is monitored. I used to teach it and observed much, which told me many were there to prevent their benefits being stopped. I'd like to see a crackdown on that with tougher measures.

Go back into Europe. We would then be entitled to send asylum seekers back to the European country they came from (as we did previously)

Many of the asylum seekers do not want to work.

The ones we come across at work (nhs) want medical attention for numerous “symptoms “, end up having a plethora of medical investigations, get diagnosed with mental health issues or spurious conditions that don’t need positive test results, then ask for evidence of all of their Investigations to use to jump the housing queue and obtain a house not a hotel.

Then years later they are still not working, claiming sickness benefits. This is true, we see it all the time at work and everyone is fed up.

The DA was a few hundred, we took more than we sent back.

I agree. I saw this many a time in my TEFL classes. Some of the excuses for not attending mandatory classes were mind staggering. There was much manipulation.

Because it's obvious. The "economic burden" or "economic boon" argument is just a smokescreen.

Ultimately people like living in places that remain culturally homogeneous.

If they didn't, you wouldn't have Guardianistas heading off for a "taste of authentic Tuscany" (read: a version of Italy that is single-note and "untouched"). When wealthy people travel or emigrate they are usually looking for a culturally homogeneous experience.

For millennia people have fought for the right to keep places the way they always have been.

It's a normal human instinct.

Climate change is going to increase immigrants fleeing parts of the world that will become inhospitable. On to of that wars over resources and water will increase. This means immigration is going to increase.

1: Increase the border force, go hard on stopping/ intercepting the boats. Transport all captured immigrants to the detention island.

2: Create a detention island off the coast where all immigrants are held while being processed (Mingulay for instance). Once there case has been approved, only then can they enter the mainland.

3: Increase the number of searches in the UK. Use stop and search powers to remove illegal immigrants from the population.

4: Any approved immigrants cannot access the benefits, housing or health systems for their first 3 years.

Stop making it so appealing for immigrants to want to enter illegally. No hotels paid for by the taxpayer, no benefits for the first five years until they’ve contributed into the system and that includes free NHS. Before anyone comes for me I know they don’t get benefits while they are being processed but once that’s done they are entitled to everything.

Agree with every single word of this. You try getting a NIMBY admit to it though.

They can only apply for asylum when they are in the UK. Once asylum has been granted they have the right to remain, claim benefits and get a job . The system needs to be much quicker to hear their application and determine whether they can stay or not.

It has been suggested that asylum seekers should be given tents rather than housed in hotels.
on the streets of Glasgow there are people living in ‘tents’ made of wire and black bin liners! They would probably be grateful to be housed in proper tents!

The problem is two-fold: the length of time it takes to get to their case and then to monitor their efforts in getting work. How many slip through the net once they have been granted residency?

Hear hear

The facts are immigration is at a record high at a time of terrible public finances ,crumbling services and homelessness.
Immigration doesn't cause those things. Resource thrown at 'addressing' immigration would be better directed at tackling wealth inequality and taxing the rich.

Same problem as how many British nationals are claiming benefits who are capable of working

I don't want reform to get in.
But if labour don't get a grip of the immigration issue, they will.

After reading this thread, the useful ideas I have garnered are:
Run a high profile campaign explaining exactly why returning asylum seekers to France isn’t possible.
Counter reform sound bites with facts clearly and with no accusations of bigotry or racism.
Invest heavily to massively speed up immigration processing.
Make people aware that Labour have reduced immigration by a third since they were elected last year.
Point out that net migration is down considerably and that more people have been returned by the labour government in 9 months or so than the Conservatives managed in years.
Work more closely with Europe - with a goal of being able to send asylum seekers back to the European country they came from.
None of the rest of it is helpful as far as I can see.