We want to stop them crossing in small boats and eliminate the profit motive for traffickers don't we? Are you telling me there are people who just want to stop refugees getting here altogether?
You seem to be someone who can’t seem to differentiate between “refugees” and “economic migrants” so my comment seems fair. But coming from the political persuasion you do that’s hardly surprising….Ursula
I don't have to differentiate, the asylum system is there to do that. Someone on the radio this morning said that 75% of those arriving in boats were granted asylum eventually. Don't know how accurate that is.
Just donate to the Tory party you’ll get let in, if you can afford a bit more they’ll throw in a peerage
Then surely the current system works well and genuine refugees are being granted asylum when needed ?
If 75% of those desperate enough to cross the Channel in small boats really are genuine refugees, plainly it isn't. You only have to look at our pathetic response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis to know it isn't. As to economic migrants, we've always had a need for these, more so since we kicked the Europeans out.
So everyone of those crossing in boats (or lorries, or cars)…is a genuine refugee ? None of those whatsoever is coming here for financial betterment ? I don’t blame these people but to not acknowledge the difference is a complete error….which people of a certain political persuasion are happy to make. And that’s all because people of that political persuasion, like yourself, need to treat people as a commodity….something to be used to serve their coffee in Pret…or to pick their vegetables.
Jesus Nige, read what I said. Not all are genuine refugees, but most are. If people want to come here for financial betterment and this also benefits our economy, it's a win-win.
Unfortunately, we are a small island with already crushed welfare, education and health facilities. We simply cannot afford to take 30,000 plus asylum seekers each year. There’s no need for them to cross the channel. If it’s truly persecution they are escaping from, they are quite safe in France where they have come from or anywhere else in Europe. Jumping in a dinghy to cross the channel is merely for economic reasons. We need to look after our own pensioners who have contributed to the state all their lives and now cannot heat their homes, before opening our arms to (more often than not) illegal, male migrants entering from France.
The economic arguments here are interesting. Yes, we need to improve our welfare, education and health services and yes, we need to look after those that can't afford to eat their homes. It needs political will to do this, though, and we've elected a government that just doesn't have that will. There's more than enough wealth in this country to do all of these things. Immigrants aren't to blame for any of these failings, in fact single male immigrants (the ones the government wants to send to Rwanda) contribute in a massively positive way to the economy.
Obviously it benefits some more than others. But I guess you know that Ursula…along with austerity it’s what you people do well.
Sorry, I simply do not agree. I don’t see many of these immigrants actually working. I am based in London. Looking at what some might disparagingly call low level type jobs, I see shop workers, Uber drivers, bar workers and all manner of other people who seem to me, to be of East European or Asian background. Hospitals are full of mainly female nurses of foreign extraction. (Why British people seem unable or unwilling to do these types of work is another question). I’m not necessarily supporting the Government but logistics and economics are clear, we just cannot continue with such an influx of people looking for handouts.
Which is the bigger drain on the economy - a Ukrainian mum with two kids, or a single male Syrian wanting to work and pay tax?
I’m ok with graduates paying back loans for their higher education if and when they can afford to…..however when I’m seeing headlines of them having to pay up to 12% interest on these loans…..it makes me think they are trying to dissuade working class kids from putting themselves into such debt, thus leaving the “elite” to become the educated class and keeping the status quo.
Both are a drain, sadly. That is not the point I am making. I would say that many of these immigrants are not able (and/or necessarily willing) to work. I don’t see them working. If they have little or no command of our language, what can they actually do in the short to medium term? Anyhow, I stopped reading and posting on the Politics pages ages ago because, love you all as I do, we cannot be expected to agree on all levels of politics and I’m too busy here at work to argue my points. I’ll bow out gracefully and agree to differ.
