suprised there is no thread on this, french close down "jungle"

[2shoes]

suprised as this will affect us
wonder if they will all be allowed over here now.
can we keep taking all these people, considering the goverment is talking about cutting education due to lack of money. it isn't like they are fleeing a war torn country.

Out of 53 commonwealth countries, 7 are ethnically Caucasian, so that doesn't follow at all expat.

France fyi is 210 026 square miles, with a population density of 294.6 per square mile.

UK is 93 628 square miles with a population density of 651.3 per square mile.

Stats are from the Grauniad by the way.

That would suggest that France is 2.25 times larger with 50% less population density per square mile. They are bigger and have more space and less population. (Rolls eyes back)

242,900km2 UK area
551,500km2 France.

7 are ethnically Caucasian. Let's see some stats on how many who immigrate from those nations are also Caucasion.

Otherwise, I don't buy it at all.

And besides, it already is easier for people from Commonwealth nations to come here and work than it is for other non-EU/EEA nationals.

And nope, don't buy the 'small island' argument, either.

That's what living in the Phillippines will do for ya.

If we don't want to take in immigrants from countries we don't approve of, maybe we should stop going into their countries and making wars.

Where does this 'countries we don't approve of' bit come from?

I'd rather have a hard-working, law-abiding Afghan than a driver from eastern Europe who can't be bothered to learn the laws of the roads and nearly killed another (Polish) friend of mine on the M20 a few months ago. I'd rather have a clever and honest Iraqui than an indigenous idle Brit who's spending the day watching TV.

You can make this into some zenophobic, racist argument if you want, but I'm not going to play. It's about numbers--as far as I'm concerned.

you are tarring all Eastern Europeans with the same brush abr1d. Would it be acceptable if you said 'I'd rather have a hard working, law abiding Afghan than a driver from African who can't be bothered to learn the rules of the road...'
Surely you know the vast majority of Eastern Europeans here are hard working and law abiding? I know several care homes for the elderly who would have to close without them.

and it is xenophobia.

Erm no I'm not, actually pofaced. Rather the opposite, in fact. I'm pointing out that, as far as I'm concerned, there are no 'approved countries'. You can find examples of 'good' and 'bad' behaviour in each group.

And did you not read the bit where I said the driver ploughed into my Polish friend? Actually she's a very senior academic. Very distinguished in her public sector field. But still very proud of her Polish ancestry. Actually she and I are going on trip to Poland at some point.

Zenophobic? I don't think so.

it came across a bit differently. You know an academic Pole? Can't be many of those around.

I was hit as a child by a car. Was in hospital 3 months. Must find out what nationality the driver was....

Re the comment from MilyMolly - am I the only one who didnt read it as being directed at Riven? I read "likes of you" as being directed at immigrants/asylum seekers, not Riven!

Don't forget those UK population density figures include Scotland, which is mostly empty. If you look at England it's far worse (can I join in the eye-rolling please? )

130,281 sq km 383 per sq mile

(apols if this has been done already, am at work & keep being interrupted)

383 per sq km, sorry

Actually I'd be all in favour of us taking more people from the Commonwealth and fewer from the EU. As a nation, we do owe a debt to our former colonies, so should perhaps treat their nationals with some generosity.

Don't owe the Continent anything at all, quite the reverse in fact - and no-one in this country ever voted for the EU. We weren't asked whether we wanted some self-important organisation to start interfering in our business - our parents were asked in something like '75 to vote on joining the European Economic Community which was quite a different thing.

(I am in favour of some things the EU has done but against it as a profoundly undemocratic, corrupt, power-grabbing organisation - no-one ever gave it permission to over-ride national law, it just decided it would and the auditors have refused to sign off the accounts for decades.)

Which commonwealth countries are ethnically Caucasion?

i thought she meant poor people like us(you and me

yes us and our burdens

I construed it to mean someone who is on benefits, myself.

But I'm sure we'll get the old 'I didn't mean you' or some other exception clause.

Apologies if anyone has already posted this - but i was truly at a caller to Nick Ferrari's show on LBC yesterday, who suggested we should get ALL the young Afghan men in this country (including those wanting to enter) and train them in the Army, the send them to Afghanistan to train the army over there!!

He thought it would "restore their sense of pride in their country".

Honestly

can I be in it Riven.......sorry i already am

I couldn't let this pass, so sorry to go back a few hours:

On 2shoes "riven, so when you next want a SW or a bed in a hospital and you can't get it, you won't mind."

Well, perhaps you would't get the bed anyway if there were no medical personal to treat you, and as far as I'm aware, the NHS is one of the main "importers" of immigrants, a good percentage of medical personal are actually immigrants, so there.

And don't start me in Universities as many studies would be impossible to be thought anymore if it were not for the great number of foreigners who teach at them.

Obviously there are other immigrants that are not so well academically prepared, but even those are very hard working when the opportunity arises. Unfortunately, many times the opportunities are scarce, particularly in places where people are somewhat wary of people that look a bit different from the locals.