To agree with Andy Burnham that it’s about time the middle classes took their fair share

[Morningteacup2]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/08/11/burnham-middle-class-areas-must-take-more-hotel-migrants/

Not a huge fan of Labour I must say, but this is well overdue!

I live in a middle class area and we have 2 homeless and refugee hostels at the top of the street and have had for more years than I can remember.

No longer true. We don’t need to import workers. AI is going to have a huge impact on jobs, which is already taking hold. Have you tried to get a job recently? If Burnham reviews the Welfare system and gets people back to work, we should have more than enough people to fill jobs. There are trained nurses here who can’t get jobs after they qualify. And the quality of care workers we have currently is really poor. We have uneducated unskilled people, with poor command of the English language, being recruited into these roles. We need to give proper training to people with a decent education, with a good salary. Too many care homes just see caring for vulnerable people as a cash cow, with no interest in actually giving good care, and more about raking in money.

The illegals should be shipped back to whatever sage country they came through. I don't see why any areas in UK should be having to take them. We live on an island FFS surrounded by water so we should protect our island from invasion. We are bankrupt as a country so should not be taxing or borrowing to take these people.

Working class, though not sure of your definition
46% white British in my immediate area, 79.1% in my city (I am white British btw) - I also live directly opposite a migrant hotel
I call out racism wherever I see it without class barriers.

So I should be going through this thread and at least correcting misconceptions on asylum seekers, but I have done that many times before on MN, and not sure the facts seem to matter on these threads.

Very interesting interview with Gerard Knaus on TRIP. The suggestion was to reach a deal with France whereby anyone picked up in the channel, whether in UK or French waters is immediately returned to France and processed there. You advertise the start date of the policy widely on social media and then rigorously enforce it. The suggestion was it would stop the boats in two weeks flat as no one will pay the thousands required to the people smugglers for a trip that has virtually no guarantee of success. You can do this without breaching any international conventions or UK (or French) laws. The “1 in, 1 out” policy is no help to anyone and even worse is no deterrent as there has been no publication of it in the social media channels that migrants actually use so they are simply unaware of it.

What a refreshing thread this is. Nobody calling us far right racists. Well done Burnham for this one. I think there's quite a few stunned Guardian readers hiding behind the curtains.

How about the upper classes/posher areas get their fair share at long last?

I'm 43. When I went to school there were very few ethnic minorities, less than 3-4%. Now over 50% of my sons school are ethnic minorities with the majority born overseas, many are on free school meals and have additional support.

I dont have a problem with immigration or ethnic minorities. I have a problem with the pace of change. I didn't vote for this and no one to my knowledge has been asked about this.

We say we don't have enough social housing - we have basically the same amount as before the tories sold off council housing (look at the stats, we have pretty much the same amount as before) - the housing issues we have are caused by the huge numbers of immigrants. 48% of social housing in London is occupied by people not born in the UK.

I never voted for immigration and never had a choice about it.

On average immigrants earn less than average wage and cost us 250k each if they work here and then they retire here. That's a huge amount of money. It makes everyone born in the UK poorer.

They did that in a Welsh valley twenty miles from town. It lasted 16 weeks. Buses were twice a day. Taxis crazy expensive.

They apparently already live within walking distance of asylum seekers. Their daughters have never had any problems with these doctors and engineers harassing them.

And be replaced by who? The Tories are making all the right noises, but they also let the immigration fiasco get out of control during their 14 years in power. Reform are determined to sort out the issue, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to do all they want to do, because we would need to come out of the ECHR first, and I doubt that’s going to be as straight forward as they think. It’s all a big mess. In a couple of decades this country is going to have spiralled to a place where we have lost complete control, and I just despair for the next generations. It’s going to be a third world country beyond recognition.

It's cheaper for us to pay low wage immigrants 50k each to return to their country of origin than for them to stay in the UK.

They are so expensive. It's the UK born poor who have lost the most from immigration.

Yes I’m actually quite amazed. Usually there are quite a few of posters saying we need to take in more refugees, we need easier routes for them to get here, and the numbers are exaggerated by the right wing press etc.

Where are these posters now?

Asylum seeker accommodation is in cheap areas. It wont be in middle class affluent areas because the government contracts for accommodation only pays so much, its not going to pay for hotels/rooms/resources in 'leafy naice' places because it wont pay enough.

So this is all hot air anyway.

They've been in hiding since the Jason Arday story broke. When things don't suit their leftie musings, you don't see them for dust.

Yeah, this thread is weird

In spite of the fact that not many posters have addressed the OP original question, I haven’t been called a racist yet. Amazing.

and having experienced the whole Asylum hotel on the doorstep thing and all the problems it caused - it was pretty dreadful - I get a strong sense that for once there are posters here who understand how dreadful it was. And have the same fears for this country that I have.

I guess the stars aligned for once and put us all on the same thread!

I'd like to see them all, all 3000, in Hampstead Garden Suburb and the rest to come in Kemptown in Brighton.

I would then send them off to areas with Green and Labour MPs, as they're so fucking fond of them.

But, for preference, they should all be put back on the boat and sent back from whence they came and if they refuse to say where that is, they can make like The Ancient Mariner and sail The Seven Seas for eternity.

In ancient times, the Trojans had to hide in a horse and, more recently, wars were fought now we just open the doors and invite an army in and if anyone doesn't believe that it's an army that hates the west, that person should be locked away in a padded cell.

I assume they finally woke up and smelt the coffee. There’s probably vanishingly few people who still think like that left

Much as this made me laugh, I suspect it’s more likely they’re on holiday in whatever the latest place is that I’ve never heard of.

You’ve just shown your lack of understanding of the difference! Anyone arriving on the boats and claiming asylum, is here legally up until the time their application is accepted/rejected! At that point they become illegal and should be being removed. The other type of illegal migrant is the one who overstays their visa and then disappears! No doubt you believe the lies Farage spews! Perhaps apply a bit of critical thinking, as do you know whether any of your neighbours maybe paedophiles? They are given more protection and hidden away in communities than asylum seekers are!

Our politicians have been rubbish and have a lot to answer for. They all seem to be in it for themselves, not for the good of the country or with the interests of future generations in mind. As a mum of two I feel so utterly depressed at the state of this country and what kind of future my kids (and any future grand children) will have. They are at an age where they are still blissfully unaware, but I literally lie awake at night worrying about their future.

😆 🤣

Part of the reason the birth rate is low is because housing costs are so high, so responsible people who are working can’t afford to start families. If there were less people continuously adding pressure to our housing stock, the people who are already here might be able to afford to have more children.

Actually @EmeraldRoulette they're on the latest Binface thread. They are more worried about Farage than they are about illegal immigrants raping and murdering our women and girls.