Have to agree, am opposed the fox hunting. Why it's being brought back up is beyond me - are people really that bothered?
Much valued! By who? The runts of the Barbour Cavalry? English traditions include walking on the prom in the pouring rain, eating chips from a newspaper, and bowing your head to a war memorial. Butchering foxes is no tradition. Not in my England. And there are pure-bred Englishmen, FHB. My Saxon heritage tells me so.
Mine neither, Ponders. Apart from the 'English eccentris' stereotype, a bunch of aristocrats armed with dogs pursuing a fox with the intention of tearing it to pieces is'nt tradition, it's ridiculous. Pure bred from what though. Celts, Goidels, Saxons, Normans and William of Orange. Plus assorted visitors from Asia, Africa and most of Europe? Life is change, and the history of England (or the UK if you prefer) is a small reflection of the world. Slavery, invasión and migration ever since the race descended from the trees. I'd count myself as English as a) I was born there and b) so were my parents, but I'm sure if I traced it back a few generations, there would inevitably be other nationalities.
This is a myth. ken, perpetuated by Guardian readers and women in dungarees with suspiciously short haircuts. The rural community needs and welcomes fox hunting because it provides substantial employment -many of its workers are also in tied accommodation arrangements, making it even more essential.
This is a myth Royston, perpetuated by Daily Express readers and women calleds Tabitha with hyphenated dungarees. I've Heard many of the same arguments here in Spain regarding bull fighting. It comes with it's own Brand name #changenothing
Am I alone in being staggered by today's official immigration figures???!!! Migration to the UK in 2014 - a staggering 614,000 Net immigration figure for 2014 - 305,000. The highest since 2005. Unsustainable, and frankly offensive.
Cameron is talking about clamping down on illegal immigrants which is all well and dandy but the fact is they make a tiny proportion of those coming in. They are coming in from Eastern European countries and bringing wages down. The only way to stop this, is to to leave the eu as they are not willing to renegotiate on free movement of workers, or at all it seems. Over half of the 576,000 jobs created last year, over half went to immigrants, truly shocking.
Don You are right. The free movement of workers has become, in reality, the free movement of benefit claimants, beggars, criminals, and unskilled workers. The current immigration system discrimates against highly skilled doctors and engineers wanting to come to the UK from Commonwealth countries.....but welcomes with open arms Poles who want to make lattes and Romanians who want to pick your pockets. Ted Heath and Tony Blair in particular should be indicted for this.
The in-work benefits are propping up these low-skilled workers on minimum wage. £25 per week in tax and NI is wiped out by tax credits, free NHS, and all the other perks of mug-Britain.
Exactly, they should only be allowed in if they can prove they have a bona-fide job and, like Australia and USA, that job cannot be filled by a local. If they meet that criteria they're in - but can't claim benefits or free NHS until they've made at least two years NI contributions.
That's all well and good, but how do you deal with the backlog and the people whom are already not fulfilling this criteria? Is it unfair just to say to them, "F*** You, you're on your own now?" Or the ones with children? I'd feel pretty lousy if the actions of the government led to the deaths of innocent children in this country. This is Britain, not Sudan!
I was pontificating on what should happen in an ideal world. It should have been brought in 50+ years ago like Australia. Too late now, we all know it'll never happen so no need to worry about the backlog or your other points .
614,000 new citizens in 12 months makes my p1ss boil with anger, regardless of those allegedly "leaving". To those who bleat that these people are coming over to England 'for a better life' , I say "bollox".....your presence here is making my life and everyone else's WORSE. Where on earth are all of these people supposed to live ? At the same time as this, our own young people struggle to get on the work ladder as all of the traditional starter jobs have been taken by immigrants, and young people have very little chance of being housed in London. This view won't find universal acclaim but I honestly don't think the WW2 generation would have bothered if they had seen what the UK has now become. And who was it, way back in 1989, who commented in private that the EU as nothing more than "a German racket to take over Europe" ?
