The dumbing down of the UK

[vetran]

It is interesting to see the "tick box" attitude towards immigration from people who see immigrants through a prism that is far detached from some of the realities. Fear and anger in once-wealthy town divided by insecurity and immigration | Society | The Guardian

the town is 1/3 migrants and they wonder why people feel threatened.

[sal]

So if there's a shortage of potato pickers in East Anglia, they can't increase the wages on offer to coax people off of the dole to come and work for them because their compatriots in New York State don't earn as much?

No they can't increase wages too much because the price of their production will get too high and the supermarkets will just buy potatoes from Africa or w/e.

Also i doubt that you will be able to coax people off the dole with manual labor. Until the system allows for people to get more money as welfare than the minimum wage, there will be plenty of scroungers to exploit it.

[alluvial]

No they can't increase wages too much because the price of their production will get too high and the supermarkets will just buy potatoes from Africa or w/e.

Yes but Batesy was saying that local conditions can't be taken into consideration because they are set intentionally.

Also i doubt that you will be able to coax people off the dole with manual labor. Until the system allows for people to get more money as welfare than the minimum wage, there will be plenty of scroungers to exploit it.

You can coax people of of the dole with a fair day's wage commensurate with the value of the labour given. Of course, if the value of sitting around watching Jeremy Kyle is enough to keep you in fags and cheap Stella, then why the hell would you get up at some ungodly hour to work in a muddy field?

[BlasterBates]

So if there's a shortage of potato pickers in East Anglia, they can't increase the wages on offer to coax people off of the dole to come and work for them because their compatriots in New York State don't earn as much?

If they can't get potato pickers at "International Rates" they'll just close the farm, and the Supermarket will import it's potatoes from Poland.

That's the reality of international markets.

Of course because Poland is having a boom in potatoes the burgeoning farms need finance so they'll pay some Investment bankers who commute to London from East Anglia to help them raise finance.

This is how the modern world works.

[DodgyAgent]

the town is 1/3 migrants and they wonder why people feel threatened.

Plenty of locals say that zero-hours, minimum-wage arrangements inevitably exclude anyone with a family to feed, and rent or a mortgage to be paid – and that they are therefore stranded in a part of the economy where the arrival of Burger King is deemed important enough to make the front page of the Fenland Citizen

At least they have a trainee facility for recruitment agents!

[alluvial]

If they can't get potato pickers at "International Rates" they'll just close the farm, and the Supermarket will import it's potatoes from Poland.

Intenational potato growing conglomerates?

[vetran]

If they can't get potato pickers at "International Rates" they'll just close the farm

ladies & gents the Spudindex!

[lilelvis2000]

Even if that is true one has to ask a) why? and b) for how long?

If we do have problems in this country like welfare dependency, poor education etc. that damage incentive or ability we need to fix them. Immigration is not going to provide any long term solution as the same problems will affect migrants and their dependents. What do we do then, import yet more migrants? It isn't a solution to an ageing population either, migrants get old too.

Fix them? okay let's see some ideas here. We have funded apprenticeships, invested loads in schooling and colleges and universities. What more do you think can be done?

[darmstadt]

Ooh look, a points based system already exists: https://www.gov.uk/government/public...stem-form-vaf9

Although probably not quite what a few people want...

[SueEllen]

Ooh look, a points based system already exists: https://www.gov.uk/government/public...stem-form-vaf9

Although probably not quite what a few people want...

UKIP wanted this extended to EU migrants.

If it is all that will happen is skills not on the list especially those that were removed a few years ago would be put back on.

Then certain people on this board will be complaining even more about competing with certain Commonwealth migrants for work....