UK general election

[blibbka]

Immigration is pretty low on my list of priorities - I'm more concerned with things like congestion and public transport, pensions, the nhs, education. However probably one of the reasons immigration seems to have such appeal to some parties as a vote-winner is down to the fact that you can use it (unfairly in my opinion) to cover various different concerns. For example - waiting lists in the nhs - blame it partly on immigration bogging down the system.

Do any of you think we need tighter controls on immigration? Do any of you think that there is at least a crisis of confidence in the governments handling of immigration policy that needs to be dealt with in order to prevent right-wing extremists making political capital out of it?

[Chris the Chees]

Quote by: billycotton I will be voting for the British National Party as they are the only party who will do anything to tackle the immigration issue. I dont want my country to continue to be flooded with thousands os asylum seekers and immigrants. VOTE BNP BRITAIN FIRST.

What immigration issue? Do you mean the huge immigration issue invented by the nationalist tabloid press? While I accept that immigration is a problem, it is hardly as pressing as the other social issues that face modern Britain. For example time and resources could be far better spent solving the issue of social degradation, which I believe could be solved by large scale urban rejuvenation.

While BNP rhetoric relies upon public misconception, it has no solution for the real problems which are rife in Britain today.

[Matt W]

And as for asylum seekers - have you seen the 60% fall in applications since 2002?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4285431.stm

Blibbka - I don't think there's a problem. Not in the slightest. What I do think is that certain sections of the media (specifically the Sun, Daily Mail, etc) have a problem that refugees and asylum-seekers these days are more liable to come from further away, and have different coloured skin & social attitudes to us 'natives'. As a result, they've whipped up their readership into a frenzy using long-held stereotypes, and the main political parties (bar the Lib Dems, as far as I can see) are scrambling in a p*ssing contest to show who's toughest. The Tories have now been tarred with the same brush as the BNP, which is no bad thing, and Veritas & UKIP are just being idiots. Sadly, Labour are being swept along with the tide.

[rcne]

From what I've been reading, it seems that immigration and its enforcement is becoming a front running issue in many European elections.
Most European nations, Britain included, are concerned with the influx of immigrants and the stress caused by the sheer volume of those immigrants.
Additionally, it seems that the Muslim immigrants don't really care to integrate into the society of their new country.
If the immigration issue is just an issue caused by the nationalistic tabloid press, it seems to affect the whole of Europe.

[G. Adams]

Those who are scared of immigrants are both cowards and ignorant. I would like someone to explain to me what would happen to our health service if we removed all of the immigrants? Because all of my doctors are indian or pakistani, and half of the nurses I see are philipino, thai and australian (oh of course the aussie could stay, cause they are a white iimigrant...)

I can't stand the BNP. It is mostly English, not British to begin with. And if we are dealing immigrants, well lets re-patronise everyone except those who can prove they are direct descendants of the Beaker people, oh wait they are from Spain, out with them too.

[Matt W]

rcne - Yes, immigration has become a major issue in several European elections. One theory is that, due to the fall of the Iron Curtain, several East Europeans are moving West to find decent jobs & lifestyles. This should become less of a problem now that the EU extends practically to Turkey & Russia's borders. As for it being a 'stress' on our nation - that, truly, is b*llshit of the highest order. Like I said, the UK makes a huge net profit on immigrants - I can't remember exactly where I read that, but it was fairly reputable, if left-wing (most likely the Independent), and, like G.Adams says, I can't wait to see how quickly several of our national institutions would fall over if we excluded immigrants.

[blibbka]

Quote by: Chris the Chees While I accept that immigration is a problem, it is hardly as pressing as the other social issues that face modern Britain.

Quote by: Matt W Blibbka - I don't think there's a problem.

I'm not trying to square you guys up, but either there is a problem or there isn't, right? Sure it's not even a little bit of a problem?

I think Labour are doing their best to sound tough on immigration to cut out the "appeal" of the Tories without actually sounding like they are pandering to tabloids. In my personal experience I can't think of any time I've been particularly hampered by immigration. I'm told that it's harder to get a doctors apppointment nowadays than at any other time due to immigration / asylum seekers, yet I can nearly always get an appointment the next day and I live in the cetner of Bristol, a city with plenty of immigrants.

Whereas everyday without fail there are frigging traffic jams all over town and they definately piss me off....

[G. Adams]

Quote by: blibbka I'm not trying to square you guys up, but either there is a problem or there isn't, right? Sure it's not even a little bit of a problem? I think Labour are doing their best to sound tough on immigration to cut out the "appeal" of the Tories without actually sounding like they are pandering to tabloids. In my personal experience I can't think of any time I've been particularly hampered by immigration. I'm told that it's harder to get a doctors apppointment nowadays than at any other time due to immigration / asylum seekers, yet I can nearly always get an appointment the next day and I live in the cetner of Bristol, a city with plenty of immigrants. Whereas everyday without fail there are frigging traffic jams all over town and they definately piss me off....

Thats always been my experience of the health service, and to a lesser extent, my dentists. Although I rarely need a GP, do visit for prescriptions that arn't auto-renewed, and sometimes for unexpected things like shingles (my god how they itched). In every instance I've always been able to get an appointment within 2 days at the very most, and thats only for the prescriptions. This is in Middlesbrough, a city with higher than average illness in practically every area of health. And we also have a large immigrant community.

The immigration issue is, as far as I can tell, not a problem at all. As has been stated, immigrants bring in an additional £2 billion to the UK economy, and fill the gaping wholes in many of our public services. I know a good handful of native brits who are unemployed and refuse to do a number of unlikeable jobs, including the factory work I did over summer last year. Most of the people in that factory were immigrants, so if you eat Quorn, your dinner is dependant on immigrants.

[Pooeypants]

I'm a second gen immigrant so the BNP most certainly isn't in my good books. What I find worrying is how some, if not many of their supporters are ordinary people are aren't usually right winged (like my long time school friend) but somehow got caught up in their propaganda and swallowed it whole.

[blibbka]

Quote by: Pooeypants I'm a second gen immigrant so the BNP most certainly isn't in my good books. What I find worrying is how some, if not many of their supporters are ordinary people are aren't usually right winged (like my long time school friend) but somehow got caught up in their propaganda and swallowed it whole.

Yes that is very true. PERSONALLY I've never been hindered by immigration, but because we are constantly hearing about how it is a problem, I start to think, "well, maybe it's just not a problem where I live" / "maybe I'm lucky, being young-ish, middle-class, not relying on benefits" / "surely not ALL of these complaints can be the result of ignorance or moral corruption... no smoke without fire?".

And I'm fairly liberal overal, so it doesn't surprise me at all that many other-wise sensible people get caught up in this kind of stuff. It is difficult to tell the facts from the propoganda.

[G. Adams]

Well, seeing as the whole immigration issue was brought to the front by the Daily Express, Daily Mail, the Telegraph and The Sun, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a shifty agenda behind all of this, like trying to push the country back into Tory ground, as Labour has been doing so well. And afterall the Express was run at the time by bigot Richard Desmond, the Torygraph and the Sun are owned by Murdoch, and the Mail is notoriously remembered for pushing anti-semitism for 50 years under the same family that still owns it today.