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

I would advise you to get your British passport asap if possible.

That is incorrect - see my post at 17.40

Er not really. If I was going to be deported away from my children, I think I would start thinking about it a little bit before it happened.

Absolutely this!

My Ggrandparents came to England from Ireland. My GGrandfather fought for the British in WW1. He came over the water to give his family a better life. He had one son who died fighting in WW2. One of his 2 daughters (my grandmother) had 7 children all of whom became teachers, lawyers (one a high court judge) & civil servants.

It seems that, unlike the 2.4 children that we used to have, we're having 1.4 children. So we're not having enough children to replace ourselves. We need to remember that it's the workers of today that pay the pensioners.

Not only that, we are living longer. So the real population problem is people like me & my DH who are in our late 60's/70's.

We need young people to work pay tax & NI contributions.

If I had the power I'd give all immigrants NI numbers, allow them to work & make them regularly sign into the local Jobcentre while their application was going through. That way we know where they are, they are paying into the system & we can chuck them out shout it be found that they have no grounds. Also they can pay their own way & not be a drain on our systems.

I would be too. Given our Government has rendered born and bred Britons stateless, removing citizenship from a naturalised Briton is easier by comparison.

It’s at least more secure than ILR though.

All the “repatriation now” / “deportation now” comments do tend to worry.

My friend is Finnish and has been here for years with ILR (married to a Brit). I don't think she has anything to worry about being European but nevertheless she is now applying for citizenship and that seems sensible to me, just to be on the safe side.

You are right. I meant to say new immigrants do not get benefits until they get ILRs. So five years of contributions..That is something people don't know.

I’m not going anywhere. He can go F himself

Yes my parents get that a lot. Someone rabbiting on about foreigners and then they realise and say "oh but I don't mean you". So who do they mean then. All foreigners by definition includes my step dad who is foreign. I am deeply worried about the impact a reform government could have. The rhetoric, outrageous ideas and utter BS being circulated is next level and all sense has gone out of the window.

It's the illegals and the benefits to legal migrants that they want stopped. Makes sense really. You should have gained British citizenship by now surely?

It fills me with terror but if we had an election tomorrow the stats show them winning.
I joined labour to get them to propose proportional representation, they promised they would do it and Starmer is an idiot if he doesn't.

It’s obviously not going to apply to you. It’s the boat people they will go after

And what are British people doing? Why are you not advocating for us?

It's not our job to be justifying our existence and rights to be here. These should never be questioned or threatened by your "politicians" as we're here lawfully.

It's also not our job to be forking out £2k per person on British citizenship to retain rights we ALREADY lawfully have.

You lot really need to wake up, not us.

Why? I have paid my taxes for 3 decades. Why do I need a British citizenship to be entitled to also be supported by that very system?

I think we need to ask the Brits living on Costa del to become Spanish citizens too, right?

Have you not read the thread?

Again- do you people not read the news?

I think that there’s some very naive replies.

If you think that everyone is ok with legal immigration and can differentiate it from
illegal immigration then you’re deluded. If Reform are voted in then it will become like the US where non white people are viewed with suspicion, possibly verbally abused and reported for the crime of not being white hence illegal. They want a country where everyone is white and the businesses are owned by white Anglo Saxons.

It’s strange that some replies suggest that if you like living in another country then you should become a citizen. Would they say that about Brits retiring in Spain? You can enjoy living in another country but want to preserve the nationality that you had from birth imo. My mum has ILR but would never go for citizenship as she’s proud of the country that she was born in. The UK is where she met her husband and raised her family.

OP you’re not unreasonable to prepare for the worst now. If you’re not white, then I think that things could get tougher for you even though you are a law abiding tax payer who is an asset to the UK.

And I really hate the term “boat people”.

I am livid. My brother in law has ILR, he has lived in the UK the majority of his life now, owns a house, a car, has a kid with my sister, has always worked and paid taxes. He is such a responsible citizen and a good person-- but not the right kind of citizen! It is almost 2K to get citizenship and not everyone has that.

It is just ludicrous. Yes, immigration needs to be carefully managed, like any other societal and political process. I do think that if you are coming to any country you should at least respect it and the laws-- although challenging/pouring scorn on these things is very British.

So called 'foreigners' have been contributing to England for hundreds of years! With labour, with goods, with culture, with politics, with food, with music, with stories. They are us and we are them!

We are greater because of all the different cultures here- nevermind that our economy strongly relies on the work and taxes of immigrants. I have a male friend (fighting age!) who is a refugee, muslim, father of 5 sons here-- and what a nice man, kind, hardworking, gentle- an asset to any country.

Many people here are unhappy and angry, clearly, and they are looking for someone to blame. I love my country, the beautiful land, the smell of the air, the safety, the freedom, the attempts at fairness. I would fight to protect it-- but this is not the right fight.

Maybe you prefer "doctors & engineers ??

Comments from a law firm:

https://reissedwards.co.uk/immigration-blog/nigel-farage-immigration-plan/

in particular the U.K. has an agreement with the EU for EU citizens in the U.K. which is linked to agreements for U.K. citizens on EU countries so that couldn’t be unpicked just by U.K. law changes.

There was a piece in the NS recently, "The Age of Deportations", which pointed out that it's happening all over. Not least in the US, of course. India is another one.

Your not being able to imagine it doesn't mean that isn't the next step.

I'm foreign, OP. We are getting out for good in November-l- husband, kids, dogs, the whole kid and caboodle. House sold and tickets and dog quarantines booked. Counting down the days

Wow.