Xenophobia: Brexit official discourse

[jaws5]

Hearing one minister after another at the Tory conference today has made me feel ill: So foreign doctors are welcome UNTIL more British doctors have been trained in a hurry, foreigners will be treated as second class citizens when applying for a job, and EU nationals are one of the "main cards" in Brexit negotiations. I cannot imagine any other country in the world where the official discourse of the governing party would include these statements without it being condemned as xenophobic. Shame on them.

Oh not in a good way - simply that she's buggered up any leverage we had on attempting to get an extension to the 2 years and/or an interim trade deal if necessary.

We're heading for chaotic Brexit.

Did anybody see an article to say the government could be u-turning on the non- British workers list proposal? I am suspecting they are vote mongering for ukip voters.

Oh didn't see you there Helen.

I would highly surprised if they don't U-turn given the outcry.

Well, they are vote mongering among the 51% who if you mention 'foreigners' to them will clearly wag their tails with excitement.

Their metaphorical tails that is, I wouldn't want to suggest dumb creatures at all.

Has this been posted?

On immigration and jobs Theresa May employs post-truth politics

"My objection is based on a simple, old-fashioned belief that politicians, like anyone else in a position of power or responsibility, should tell the truth, saying things that are factually accurate rather than things that just sound right.

The truth is that there is little solid economic evidence that British people are indeed “out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration”...

...She could also have addressed the complicated and challenging question of why so many British employers chose to hire foreign-born workers and not British ones.

She might have talked, as David Cameron once did about the level of UK school-leavers skills and their work-ethic. Or the role that welfare plays in encouraging British people to work.

Or the reasons why British companies don’t invest more in developing the skills of British workers and candidates, set out in the Telegraph’s leader column this morning.

Mrs May didn’t do any of those things. Instead of shades of grey, she offered black and white. She told people who simply suspect and fear –based on sentiment, not fact - that or others are poorer or out of work because of immigration that they are right. Her essential message: your feelings matter more than the facts"

Still no mention of the fate of British "expats" (let's not call them migrants) in Europe.... I wonder how Leavers would react if governments there threatened them in the same way! But unless the extreme right rules in those countries that kind of proposal is unthinkable

Our fate ("our" because I am one) has been discussed a bit but tbh we are irrelevant to the UK government because many of us can't vote and many of those who can don't. We're just collateral damage. Fortunately in most EU states, citizenship applications are not expensive - unlike in the UK.

Can't link from my phone but Guardian reports that senior Tory peers have complained and so have top business leaders. Corbyn has also condemned it! Good news...

The damage has been done though.

It's disgusting. I am a Brit in another EU country and I am ashamed of this hate speech. I am applying for Italian citizenship now and hope the rot doesn't set in here too!

"The truth is that there is little solid economic evidence that British people are indeed “out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration”..."

Yes quite. The truth is also that many low-skilled jobs done by Europeans would not be touched with a barge pole by Brits looking for work.

The truth is also that many EU citizens we know do highly qualified, professional jobs for which they were recruited, head hunted etc. because they were better qualified than other candidates including British born candidates. These people negotiate reasonably high salaries so there is no undercutting or anything going on. They are simply more qualified and therefore more of an asset to the company they work for. There are 10s of thousands of EU employees like this especially in London and surrounding areas. I wonder what will happened to these businesses once they have to select a less qualified British born candidates, because.... just cos they were born in Britain.

On second thought, will this be enough for you Ms May? Perhaps people should have to prove that they have British born parents too? Or maybe bring a copy of their family tree along with their CV? To make sure that jobs go to pure bred Brits?

Yes, the damage is done, sadly. The seeds hatred are truly implanted and we'll see the consequences

Whereas, I am not thinking about leaving the UK, taking my family with me.
That means my UK born children who I have never known anything else but by having a dual citizenship have been told already they should 'go back home'.
That means my British husband who certainly never chose the life of an immigrant, sorry an expat.

I'm interested to see that, in all tha rethorics about immigration

• no one talks about how many immigrants are married to a British partner, have British children etc... (I believe about half of the 'immigrants' are in that position but I might be wrong)
• no one talks about how such a strict policy will have some impact on the British population as such. This has already been highlighted with the current policy for non EU immigrants and how it has already separate families or pushed British people to immigrate somewhere else so they could save their family. This was not really talked about though. maybe too few people affected, maybe it was a very deliberate thing to do.

But it would be worse if that was applied to European 'migrants'.

• during the campaign, lots of people were at pain to highlight it wasn't about people already living in the uk, that no one would ever been asked to leave etc etc I ahven't heard any of that for a while now. It seems to be a fair accompli that it is OK to kick European citizens that have been living here for years and years just because ....

Actually jaws you have a point there.
Even if for all those'decisions' nothing really comes to it, it has planted a seed and it is too late to try and pull it out.

scared who would have predicted we'd be speaking like this? It's so sad, but I hope our children are learning a valuable lesson about tolerance and liberal, democratic values and how fragile they truly are!

I, like most people who have the courage to move country at a young age, also have ambition for my children to study, better themselves, speak as many languages as they can, follow their dreams, all with my support. That is a common trait of migrants everywhere and I'm proud of it!

And what a difference one whole year doesn't make. Link to article regarding the backlash from Theresa May's racist spew of economically illiterate bullshit at last year's conference:

metro.co.uk/2015/10/06/people-are-losing-their-minds-over-theresa-mays-speech-on-immigration-5424698/

Fantastically damning comments except at the bottom from the deeply supportive Farage.

RedToothBrush I think your post at 15.23 makes some very good points about beliefs and values.

Yes Red posts have all been very insightful.

Actually it makes me wonder. How are they going to count people with dual citizenship?

In schools when they ask for language used at home, you can only out one language. Apparently having two (or three) language at home just isn't possible .
So I have two dcs with a British passport who have my mother tongue as the language spoken at home...

When they do all the count re being citizen, will they count them as British or as foreigners??

My 9y/o has told me that today he talked about brexit with another EU friend at school. He asked me whether we'll be allowed to travel to see family and be able to come back. Bright, bilingual children who have a lot to offer to this country and now feel insecure despite my reassurances.

A year ago, of course, no one bothered to listen much to the Party Conferences. They were mostly for the loonies committed. Now, in the light of Brexit, people are analysing every word. The worst of these words haven't been said by the loonies in the fringe meetings, but by the PM, the Home Secretary etc. This is what worries me.

Nottoobothered we're in that situation too. it's sickening.
The only plus side I can see is that if we all get dual citizenship (and being multilingual and all) we'll be in a very good position for jobs if the drawbridge does close us off, as we'll be able to work either side without too much paperwork.
But nevertheless I am so depressed this evening.