Immigration - can someone please explain it to me in simple terms?

[Illbeinthehottub]

So for as long as I can remember I’ve heard that there is a problem with immigration in the UK. There are headlines about it daily and it’s always an issue for government. It’s a big part of what Brexit was about.

I don’t personally understand all about it, what is the issue, is it simply than people feel immigration is putting additional pressure on services?

I’ve just seen another headline saying that Kier Starmer has lost control of the borders.

Conservatives were in power for 13 years, presumably immigration was still unacceptable to people. Now people are unhappy with Labour.

Can someone who understands explain to me a) what is the problem with immigration b) why hasn’t any government been able to have an acceptable policy that works c) is immigration just something for people to whinge about?

Have you guys ever been to Bradford?

Yes, but I think its always been that way.

Just here to add that “illegal” immigration aka asylum seekers is newspaper rhetoric. In order to seek asylum you have to enter the country, and there is no illegal way to do that, only offical and unofficial.

Try this thread OP for one problem associated with immigration being badly managed. Basically British doctors have to compete for jobs in their own country with the rest of the world whilst every other country (except possibly Ireland) prioritises its own workers.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5337022-junior-doctors-unemployment-in-august

At least when we were in the EU we had the right to go and work in other countries.

No idea why the Conservatives did it. Just not very competant and easy prey for lobby groups?

@DownsideUpside is correct. Also worth remembering the percentage of irregular migrants (mostly arriving on small boats right now) as a proportion of the overall figure. In 2024 net migration was 431,000 - 44,000 of this was irregular migration so about 10%. Not an insignificant figure of course, but from the rhetoric online and in the media, you'd think those figures were the reverse.

It was never as bad as it is today. My family lived close in the 50s and 60s and it was their nearest "go to" city that was prosperous and vibrant. Yes, there were immigrants but they were working in the mills and factories etc. Over the years/decades, it's just gone down and down and is now a pretty unpleasant place. I last went a couple of years ago and couldn't believe the filth and squalor - and the huge number of angry looking young blokes hanging around on street corners, and all the money laundering shops, barbers, etc with "bouncers" standing guard outside and top of the range cars parked on the forecourt! I'll not be going back!

Can someone who understands explain to me a) what is the problem with immigration

It started when Blair allowed new EU members from EE to come unfettered to the UK. People, especially trades, got fed up with lowered wages and increased competition. Businesses were advertising in EE countries for cheap labour.

b) why hasn’t any government been able to have an acceptable policy that works

Businesses want cheap labour and universities want foreign students as they charge them a lot of money. Immigration went from around 250k during Blair's tenure to 1m under the Tories.

c) is immigration just something for people to whinge about

No. We have a housing crisis and wage stagnation. In fact we prop up low wages with UC.

Increased immigration puts a strain on underfunded resources. However we have an aging population and fewer tax payers. The NHS has a huge number of vacancies.

It’s very costly to have high irregular migration numbers.

The whole system is very expensive and then you have the downside of criminal gangs profiting.

At least with visas we see benefits in higher university fees or care jobs.

Coupled with the fact that yesterday the RNLI and border force were too busy escorting small boats over that they had to ask other services to help a couple of boats in trouble.

Same with me never going back to Birmingham. Shithole now.

I’d be interested to see the source for this.

Labour has been in for nearly a year so we had a tonne of millionaires.

Labour has been in power for about 320 days, so that's about 10,000 people. A millionaire is someone with a household net worth of a million pounds or more. The majority of those will have been (early) retirees with a house worth £700k and maybe £300k in pension pots, who have been planning their retirement move to Spain or France for many years (moving to another country takes several months anyway, you don't get on the plane in disgust 3 days after the general election).

So this number is essentially meaningless party-political rhetoric. You are invited to believe that half of the country's entrepreneurs have left in disgust, but if you think about it for a moment, 10,000 isn't actually a lot of people, most of them aren't mega-millionaires, and most of them would have left even if the Tories has won the election.

Also the lack of housing is resulting in the rise in MO properties and our council is rejecting them in a residential area but then it going to the government who will probably allow planning permission

apparently 14000 new arrivals on boats this year, how wonderful

I also dislike those L driver mopeds hanging around the area, are they necessary

Someone has to deliver the Just Eat food and drugs!

People wouldn’t want to come here to work if they couldn’t bring their families

By not allowing dependents, you target migration on young people in their twenties, who contribute a lot, have full working lives ahead of them but don't tend to have major health issues.

Yes

😆 🤣

I am so proud that the UK gave your partner's sister a safe home.

As for the officials you overheard...well from personal experience of working with them, some of the officials in immigration are horribly racist and xenophobic.

Same. Any chance of a link @Parsley1234?

The faux naivety!

Immigration is a good portion of nurses, social workers, social care workers, probably doctors as well. Immigration is increased tax revenue, people who rarely utilise health service, people who need to earn a higher wage so we can send remittances to our home countries (so no thanks to welfare), those who are least likely to go off sick or complain about our human rights. Immigration are people with ambition to own our own homes so graft for it, people who highly embarrassed by handouts when waiting for asylum decisions, people who want our children to excel so that maybe one day they can go and rebuild our home countries. We are NOT the problem dear English people.

While all the time, you are receiving entry to a country, which affords you new opportunities. Why have you only mentioned the English, BTW, in your not so subtle put down?

Not just doctors, IT prefers to hire from overseas. Probably other professions too. And now we're apparently going to make it much harder to hire migrants for lower wage jobs, like care or factory work, while we keep encouraging companies to bring people in for the highest paid jobs. So we'll be looking at a society where the British do the low paid work and foreigners (and children of the wealthy, of course) take all the lucrative work. Guess it saves having to invest in educating our own citizens...