General Chat

Christine, I'd agree with you on this issue. :-)

Steve why should he shut down this thread, cos its peoples opinions and hey some dont agree whats new, Lil

Stenozz, I rarely post on the General Board, especially not on controversial threads, but having followed my ancestors' adventures I find it quite heartbreaking that people are so biased against present-day immigrants. The tabloids have a lot to answer for, I think.

Mary we just dont have the room or resources, FACT

The resources can be found if the politicians want to. There aren't even all that many immigrants in the UK compared with countries like Germany. And many extremely poor countries with hardly any resources take in huge numbers of refugees from neighbouring countries.

What, we owe Billions, we have more than any other European Country for the size of the Island, we will end up a third world Country or Sink if we dont Shut the Gates Lil

come on guys - len is an elderly gentleman who has seen alot in this country change - and his intitial comment stated that the statement had been made by the HEAD of the Commision of RACIAL EQUALITY and that to me speaks volumes - so please as has already been said let's keep it level headed. No bickering Eh?

by the way - the resources i was referring to was water - what about the drought orders? More houses - no more reservoirs. That's what i meant - no more from me now on this subject night xx

If only...........but its not and never will be....xx

Christine i agree with you totally, we are the soft touch of Europe, other European countries have toughened up! We cant afford it!!! Cazxx

The ones that are here ,no matter what their origin ,should be allowed to stay,[exept illegals] to be absorbed into the nation. But it IS time to shut the door to any more, there are too many immigrants screwing the system ,like some of our own , it has to be said ,it has to stop. The latest idea of Tony blair and a £10,000 pound welcome is a slap in the face to anyone born and struggling to exist in this country [including most of the pensioners] because of all the new taxes ,and rates bought in over the last few years.Fred.

Reallity is often quite different to perception; Immigrants are often seen as a huge drain on the public purse, and whilst some are undoubtedly so, and this make good headline reading, there are very many more who make a valuable contribution to the economy. My father was in immigrant in 1945 - he came in the clothes he stood up in. By 1850 had learned to speak english and qualified as a chartered electrical engineer. I will stick to some facts which are from the National Statistict Office else Len accuses me of being Rhetorical, 'In 2001, 4.9 million (8.3 per cent) of the total population of the UK were born overseas. This is more than double the 2.1 million (4.2 per cent) in 1951' 'Among the foreign-born residents Europe was the most common continent of birth, and the Republic of Ireland the largest single country of birth in both 1971 and 2001'. 'Just over a third (34 per cent) of foreign-born migrants who came to the UK in the 1990s emigrated again within four years of arrival.' 'People from the Caribbean, because of their earlier periods of large-scale immigration to the UK, have an older population on average than the UK-born population' 'Compared with the UK-born population, the foreign-born population has a greater mix of ethnic groups' 'While 92 per cent of people born in the UK identified themselves as White in 2001, 53 per cent (2.6 million) of the foreign-born population was White. The next largest ethnic groups for people born overseas were Indian (569,800) and Pakistani (336,400)' Or in summary:- Less than 10% of the entire population is made up of immigrantts Assuming a quarter of of all immigrants could claim benefits, and 20% (twice the national average) actually do, this is still only 250 thousand claimants out of more than 5 million that claim each year. Probably one reason why Gordon Brown is not getting too ruffled. The Irish make up the largest single group of imigrants A significant number of immigrants don't stay. There are more ethnic groups amongst immigrants than people born in the UK. Only 48% of all immigrants are non-white Food for thought if nothing else.

I agree with Gwynne!!:-)))

I still think the media loves to stir up trouble and unrest...

While most of the objections are to illegal rather than legal immigration, there still seems to be a general assumption that illegal immigrants are motivated by a desire to 'milk the system'. That generalisation is no more accurate than any other, and anecdotal 'evidence' of anything proves nothing. Britain, like the USA, can't get enough immigrants when it suits and the population is handed a ready-made scapegoat. It's sad really - we're all just people making a hash of the world's resources in our own way, wherever we are on the planet.

Contrary to the traditional idea that Britain originally possessed a 'Celtic' uniformity which first Roman, then Saxon and other invaders disrupted, in reality Britain has always been home to multiple peoples; and while its population has shown strong biological continuity over millennia, the identities the islanders have chosen to adopt have undergone some remarkable changes, due to contacts and conflicts across the seas, not least as the result of episodic arrivals of newcomers. I am descended from one of the original western tribes. Now, if all you descendents of Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes, Goths, Huns, Vikings, Romanys, Normans etc, would kindly leave, I could get on with my hunter-gathering. It would be a bit lonely though. len

Len dont get me going again LOL, but i know what me next job will be Lol Lil

Standing shoulder to shoulder the population of the UK would fit onto the Isle of Wight.... mind you, it might sink! When the time suited, we were happy to INVITE the people from the Caribbean to the shores of UK, we were happy for them to fight and do menial jobs that were too lowly for the UK residents. The powers that be were happy to tell nations they were part of the British Commonweath and happy to have Indians, Pakistanies and West Indian people come to Britain. Every Country probably has Illegal Immigrants and that is up to the Governments to find them and return them. Here in Grenada when I first arrived, I had to check in with Immigration at a designated time dependent on how long they gave me each time. If I didn't check in they would sought me out and sent me back. When I visited England using my Grenadian Passport, my husband and I had them stamped with the date we had to leave and the comment that we could not use the National Health service or any other service that was free to UK residents. Luckily we neither of us in need of a Doctor. lol Jacquie x

I would just like to say how good it is to see a debate on the boards. As far as I can read no one is getting over heated just each person giving their views and this is as it should be. We can't all agree all the time and this surely is how we learn more...... by listening to other people's views and respecting their views even if they conflict with our own. Jacquie xx

If it's a question of economics, what about some figures to back it up? Why are immigrants (illegal or legal) always seen as 'milking the system' ? Most of them actually want a better life and a job. Only recently there have been reports from business 'leaders' that parts of the British economy would be floundering without imported labour, specifically seasonal work such as veg and fruit harvesting for supermarket demand. The vast majority are contributing to the economy, not draining it. However the right-wing, jingoistic claptrap peddled by certain sections of the media would like you to think otherwise. My opinion only.