What do you say to people who blame immigration for the fact school places are in short supply?

[Lottielou7]

Of the few people I know who voted for Brexit, they are adamant that school places are difficult to get because of immigration. The one who says it the most has 6 children! I can't stand this scapegoating. Personally, I think birth rates have risen generally. My friends and I all mostly have 3 children. I'm an only and as a child of the 80s people had mostly one or two.

So what do you say in response when people come out with this old chestnut.

You are wrong that the associations a word has are purely subjective. This argument doesn't stand up to scrutiny in cases where a word is used in a racist way

Well, no it wouldn't

No reason to abandon whole slices of the English language to the racists, though, is it?

I must stand in here, Dacre and I have not seen eye to eye on a lot of things, but I don't think you could ever say that she/he was racist or xenophobic.

Thanks small

Our local,school has become larger. When my dc's went there my dds year group,was not full. Now 15 years' later it has increased to 3 form entry.

Most of the kids are Eastern European or Asian. I think immigration has had an effect on school places.

It is no fun trying to go out when it is school pick up time or trying to park.

Diddums

You know what we desperately need? A high profile demographer or three with media careers.

Yes pita

Maybe with a couple of actuaries thrown in for good measure.

oh sorry that should have been #firstworldproblems

:)

Woodhill everywhere changes. Industry changes, areas change, populations shift around.

Or a PHD economist?

Where might we find one of those?

School pickups have been a mess for at least 25 years. I was working in a small school then. There was a decent sized free car park 3 minutes walk away, but did the parents bother to use it? No, and quite honestly, some parents would have parked in the classroom if they could.

Yes I know but immigration has got a bearing on it. Why do people pretend it hasn't. Especially in Greater London

Ahh but Greater London has just gone beyond its pre war peak of population.

You can have it one way not the other.

Would you like London with the falling population and crumbling infrastructure of the 60s, 70s, and 80s? With lower house prices, terrible schools, huge swathes of areas with poverty.

Or the city you have now?

Best of both worlds doesn't exist.

It was perfectly alright when we arrived 20 years ago so yes tbh

The traffic is horrendous in the morning.

#firstworldproblem.

I live in London too btw.

Don't drive then.

To answer the OP I'd say there are enough school places to fulfil demand - which there is. There are no children without a school place who want one.

I'd also add that if they think that isn't the case they should blame the fact that LEAs are no longer allowed to build new schools - that is the real travesty - we have to rely on carpet salesmen to do that.

Yes i don't have to however it is convenient.

the area has become more crowded

Or a PHD economist?

Where might we find one of those?

You know what they say about sarcasm small

Where did you arrive from wood?

Down the road Dacre.

"Oh no my area of London has more cars than 20 years ago, completely going along with the trend that since 1997 the number of cars on the road has nearly trebled, not due to immigration or a trebling in population but because of the relatively lowering of cost of owning and operating a car."

#firstworldproblem

So not a big change?

London has changed a lot in the past 20 years but London always has.

OP: "I agree. Immigration does a cause serious strain on our resources, and everyone should go back to where they came from. Good luck getting a GP appointment in the queue behind all the expat pensioners and other Brits when they come rushing back from the costas after we leave the EU, the ones who went to Australia will need plenty of school places, how many Brits are off taking other people's jobs in the Gulf, Azerbaijan, etc? They'll be back, out of work and holding you up in the dole queue...."

Where I live they are building 3,500+ new houses, the government stopped new schools being built, reduced the amount that schools could spend on expending.

They thought that the parents that they had misinformed about the education system would open free schools, the parents didn't.

Its not rocket science as to why there are not enough school places to go around.