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I was reading this in the economist and i wonder if this an accurate reflection of british sentiment on immigration?
Quote:
Though rarely racist, Britons are exceptionally hostile to immigration—more so than Germans, French or the Dutch. According to recent polling by YouGov, 80% backed the government’s cap and 69% want zero net immigration.
I know immigration is a contentious issue (as it is in most places) but this if the first i've heard of the british being actually anti-immigration in general? What is the sentiment really like?
This is a fairly accurate picture. The problem over the last decade has been the huge amount of eastern european migrants able to come to Britain under the Schengen agreement.
The immigrant workforce has driven down wages at the lower end of the scale, severely harming the standard of living of lower paid British workers, and there has been a big rise in rents on lower value housing due to the higher demand.
The migrants are also placing a big demand on NHS and social services.
This is breeding a lot of resentment among the general population
Many immigrants passed through other countries where they could have stayed but came to the UK... I wonder if the NHS or the DSS caused this.... we have many who live in houses that others in Glasgow waited years to obtain... I worked for years to be able to get a deposit for a small flat that some of these people walked into on their way from the plane..... its not right or fair and many of us are not one bit happy...
British people seem to confuse immigrants, EU citizens with freedom of movement and asylum seekers - what tends to happen is the average Brit lumps them all as one. Simply put, immigration has made the country a more vibrant place to live, the problem is - it is one of the most crowded places for real estate on the planet - but if you got rid of every asylum seeker, immigrant and EU citizen - you would still have the same problems. More so if you brought back every British citizen from places like Spain, Australia, Canada - which totals to an extra 5 million people.
those other countries have much stricter immigration policys , the uk , ireland and sweeden were the only countries which effectivley adopted an open door policy in the aftermath of the enlargment of the EU in 2004
True, EU migration has changed demographics in the UK but it has also given British people more freedom of movement than they previously had before so it is all about give and take in my opinion. I would rather have the situation we had today than go back to how it was, still - it looks like the British government are going to stop the hordes of Romanians and Bulgarians from coming over in 2014.
True, EU migration has changed demographics in the UK but it has also given British people more freedom of movement than they previously had before so it is all about give and take in my opinion. I would rather have the situation we had today than go back to how it was, still - it looks like the British government are going to stop the hordes of Romanians and Bulgarians from coming over in 2014.
its not like brits were planning to move to poland or the czech republic , the biggest beneficarys in the uk and ireland of immigration from eastern europe was wealthy employers who got access to cheap labour
True, EU migration has changed demographics in the UK but it has also given British people more freedom of movement than they previously had before so it is all about give and take in my opinion. I would rather have the situation we had today than go back to how it was, still - it looks like the British government are going to stop the hordes of Romanians and Bulgarians from coming over in 2014.
We were doing just fine with our 2 weeks a year vacation in Corfu and our second homes in Spain or France. The only advantage for me is that I can get cheap day labour...gardening, fitting new
bathroom etc.
There are problems within our immigration policy, as with other rich industrialized democracies. The government and most of the media tend to over emphasize the downsides rather than celebrating any benefits. Immigrants have contributed billions of pounds to the British economy over the last decade, have brought in needed skills and have added to a vibrant diversity: clearly evident in the south.
Like I said, there are problems, but we have a 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' attitude toward immigration. This particular government are doing immigration a huge injustice. This is an article I read in today's New York Times and whilst it is an American story, its still a beautifully written piece:
its not like brits were planning to move to poland or the czech republic , the biggest beneficarys in the uk and ireland of immigration from eastern europe was wealthy employers who got access to cheap labour
Obviously but the 'Brits' moved to Spain, France, Portugal and Cyprus in large numbers, you can't cherry
pick who you want in the country based on where our citizens move to. We enjoy and take advantage
of the EU 'freedom of movement' more than anyone else except for the Poles probably.
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