Are all of us foreigners just going to be told to pack up and leave if Reform win?

[Onegingerhead]

I might be totally unreasonable here (or not), but please hear me out.
(Bloody) foreigner here — I’ve lived in the UK since 2001. Built my whole life here: house, husband, DC, the lot. Worked the whole time in a field that requires the highest level of qualification.
I’m getting increasingly worried about the talk of Reform winning in 2029. Some even say it could be sooner if Labour are pushed into early elections. This week (as we all heard) our beloved Reform suggested rescinding ILR or even settled status from Europeans. God knows what else they’ll come up with, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they went after naturalised Brits next and started revoking citizenship, just to please the voters.
I know a lot of foreign-born women — some married to born-and-bred Brits, some to other Europeans (not always from the same country), some to men from overseas. All sorts of combinations.
So what do you think lies ahead for us? Will we be politely asked to leave, or will things just get so hostile that we’re pushed out anyway? And how likely is it that people who aren’t very white, or who have an accent, will face more discrimination in work?
I’m meeting my foreign friends tonight and we’ll be talking about it. For most of us, moving now would be incredibly difficult. We’re late 30s to early 50s, and starting over in a new country isn’t exactly easy. Some of us are married to men from different countries entirely, and we don’t even speak each other’s languages well enough to get proper jobs there.

AIBU and should think we will actually be allowed to stay?
AINBU sorry but you’d better start planning your move now

Don't be so naive, plenty have a problem with the colour of your skin being brown
You sound like a reform voter who is trying to convince themselves they aren't racist.

waves merrily

My mum was Scottish and I was born in Scotland; however, dad was an Eastern European Displaced Person.

When I was in my first middle management post in a central belt Secondary School very close to my birthplace, a new chap got a job as a Behaviour Support teacher at our school. At the time, I was still using my maiden name.

He approached me one day. I thought he was going to ask for information about a pupil. "So...when did you come to this country?"

I gave him my time and date of birth.

"Wow. You even remember that? It must have made quite an impression on you!"

"No, but it made a helluva impression on my mum."

The new bloke was from the south of England. I guess my Scottish accent sounded foreign to him.

'EU nationals make up the majority of benefit claimants by people with ILR.'

Farage won't publicise that, of course. Easier to blame PoC.

You can't see why someone being shouted at by a group of teenagers wouldn't be intimidating and make someone fear for their safety? Don't be ridiculous.

So Nigel Farage is a massive racist then?

I mean I suspected as much...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-ilr-immigration-policy-nigel-farage-b2831087.html

Well thankfully as there another 4 years to the next GE, all these dozens of deform praising threads are merely conjecture and little else.

Besides, they’ll quite possibly have rattled themselves to bits by the next election anyway.

Why do people keep denying that Nigel said what he said?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-ilr-immigration-policy-nigel-farage-b2831087.html

I believe it will not stop at illegal immigrants, lots of things already out having a pop that anyone that has a different skin colour. For some reason a lot of them really dislike Asians and gay people. I truly believe if Reform get in the country will end up a million times worst than it is now.

Nigel Farrage is going on about human rights regarding the id card well it is in his policies to get rid of our human rights.

If anyone thinks "they won't come for me" because people slavering for deportations don't mean white people - why wouldn’t they? a) deporting a few white people provides cover for racist motives - “see, the rules are for everyone, not just black or brown people” & b) once new rules exist, “I'm sure the politicians didn’t mean me” will mean jack shit when grinding, inexorable bureaucracy holds all the power.

I think deportations are pretty unlikely but if they ever happen I don't think they will be overtly race-based.

This is a really helpful reminder of the immense privilege of not having to worry about this shite and the people saying it’s scaremongering frankly sound like the same people who say to people of colour ‘oh it’s not you, it’s the rest of them’. I am so sorry you’re having to think about this OP. I’m white British and considering what options we might have if they get in because I don’t want my kids growing up in the little England that reform wants. And for the people saying it’s only about illegal immigration, don’t be so bloody naive. Nigel Farage has recently earned thousands speaking at events that are aimed at helping the very wealthy get the best passport to avoid the maximum amount of tax. If anyone thinks they can trust him as far as they could throw him, they need their head examined.

Because they only want to pick the bits that suit them.

He uses "asylum seekers" and "illegal immigrants" as distinct terms, but not interchangeably, which is what you seem to be suggesting. Unfortunately, there are too many ignorant people who hear these terms and think they're the same - that's not Starmer's fault.

Come off it shuggles - teenagers catcall adults all the time. She's not disabled, not elderly, was on a train and not alone and was composed enough to film them. She wanted to create fear by exaggerating, she wanted attention.

The emphasis is on 'right-minded'.

At the time of the Brexit vote, I was still teaching in a Scottish high school. The children of 'Leave' voters were loud in stating that their parents were voting 'Leave' so that the immigrants would have to leave. Yes, it showed a lack of understanding, but also the mindset of their parents.

No, the threshold would be £60k. Lots of people work and do not earn £60k.

As for applying for citizenship, I really understand why people won't want to and they shouldn't have to. I think the rhetoric is getting close to a point where if I only had ILR I might see being outraged and refusing to do that as a luxury I couldn't afford though.

A more extreme example is Jewish families anglicizing their surnames - no one should have to do that, but I understand why they did because sometimes being safer just wins over everything else.

If I only had ILR and kids here, I’d probably weigh citizenship even at an unfair cost, unless I had a clear, rapid exit plan to another country.

I'd also be thinking it might be better to apply for citizenship while it's £2k - if Reform do get in what if they decide it should be £5k? I wouldn't wait and see if it starts to look more and more likely they'll get in.

It costs thousands and shouldn't be necessary.

@AngelicKatycould you say how this tweet makes sense?

@ Keir_Starmer
We have detained the first illegal migrants under our new deal before returning them to France.

And this
Facebook page
“If you come here illegally on a small boat, you will face return.”

How are the people who arrived that way illegal migrants?

I was born in the UK, from parents who had lived in the UK their whole lives, whose parents were born in the UK, who were themelves born in the UK. Actually in my whole family tree going back to the middle of the 19th Century, we were all born here, and lived here. My dad fought for the UK in a war, It is of course possible that some of my family arrived by boat but if so it was a viking longboat. How please do I get the hell out of here if Farage and his bunch of horror clowns get in? Because jeez this is just embarrassing

Not thankfully. We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. God only knows what damage Labour are going to do before they’re thrown out. That worries me more than what might or might not happen in 4 years.

No way will this happen. You have rights to stay with citizenship?
I certainly won’t be voting Reform that’s for sure. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side as Kier Starmer / Labour has proven.

People have an emotional connection to their citizenship, patriotic one might say. So not a simple transaction. Ex pat Brits in Spain, Australia etc don't give up their passports.

It's actually over £3k to apply for British Citizenship via Naturalisation.

Even worse! Many EU nationals will still probably still feel the need to pay it rightly or wrongly for peace of mind.

Citizens Advice say it’s about £1800 though for those with ILR, with an added charge for Life in England & English test if needed?

Further to clarify the misinformation spread even on this thread...

Since people with SS ILR holding EU citizenship have been incorrectly challenged as to their understanding of their own status and rights by those who really do not understand it...

...and misinformation was reposted several times regarding what Reform's policies are...

I invite you to follow the group 3Million which explains the facts very well. The group was created during Brexit to clarify various complexities associated with it to directly affected EU citizens. I am reposting their latest publication directly below so there is no misunderstanding and I hope you give them a follow on social media pages - well worth listening to, unlike Nigel Farage.

That is me done for this evening, hope you all have a good night, even if we might not share the same political views or values.