Immigration

[pzz76077]

If the strategy needs to change then the immigrants should pay for it.

How about higher taxes for immigrants?

Dont see a problem with immigrants paying taxes, it they want to live in the South they will have to shell out more than if they lived in the North I guess.

Personally, Id like to see services privatized so that they are away from the Government manipulation and incompetence, then you could pay for the services you need and not use the rest, but that is a bit off topic.



PZZ

[Brussels Slumdog]

Up North Allowance

There is space up North. But not in the South-East. Which is where everyone wants to move to.

The Government should give people up north a higher personal tax allowance to remain up north. I remember when I worked in Australia I received an extra 500 AUD because I worked up north.

[pzz76077]

They have, but the point is that nothing has ever been seen on this scale before. It's the sheer numbers and timescale over which this has been happening. And, according to Saturday's leak by some govt advisor, the driving force behind this was not only an economic one but a political one in which the goal was to engineer a multicultural society and rub the Right's nose in diversity. Scandalous, absolutely scandalous.

I seem to remember reading that in the passt, a squirrel could go from Lands End to John-O-Groats without touching the ground. Now we dont have any trees, so I guess that we have seen changes in our natural environment on much bigger scales before??

I would imagine that one of the reasons this figure of 80 million or whatever was leaked is that when it is only 78 million or whatever the gov of the day can hold this up as a big win and say how well they did to stem the tide.
I guess that there is a story behind the story as per usual.


Just finished reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The points he makes about how the USA was built by immigrants, makes this whole immigration argument pointless.
The fact is that any country needs a ready labor force to have any hope of developing economically- where would the UK be without the Irish building the canals, rail and road infrastructure, the UK could not have moved on without them. There are plenty of other examples, West Indians manning the buses, Indian Doctors, the list is endless.

This whole issue is blown up by those with short memories and no imagination IMV.

PZZ

[Doggy Styles]

Plenty of space = our beautiful countryside. Over my dead body will that get built on to provide housing for a completely unnecessary influx of migrants.

Hear hear.

And for those who don't care about countryside, try using the crowded roads or public transport. Or hospitals.

BTW the London green belt was only semi-abandoned in recent years. That was a Prescott decision.

[bekarovka]

The fact is that any country needs a ready labor force

We've got millions of our own trapped in the benefits culture created by successive governments of the last 3 decades.

Why bring in any more, particulary in a time of rising unemployment?

[bekarovka]

The points he makes about how the USA was built by immigrants, makes this whole immigration argument pointless.

Well that's a ridiculous argument. The US couldn't have happened without immigrants because there was practically nobody there before whitey arrived!

[pzz76077]

Hear hear.

And for those who don't care about countryside, try using the crowded roads or public transport. Or hospitals.

BTW the London green belt was only semi-abandoned in recent years. That was a Prescott decision.

I remember driving up the M4 as a kid and seeing lots of green space between Slough and London, now there are none.
Same with the A4, there used to be space between Reading, Maidenhead, Slough and London. None there now either.
Crossrail will make the situation worse in years to come IMV, unless there is a clear policy to move business out of the Thames Valley.
Though that has been tried before and it seems that companies just don't want to move, so you cant blame people for wanting to live where the work is. This is the fault of Government policy and nothing to do with immigration or anything else.

PZZ

[Brussels Slumdog]

It's the benefits system

We've got millions of our own trapped in the benefits culture created by successive governments of the last 3 decades.

Why bring in any more, particulary in a time of rising unemployment?

Originally to do the work that millions of our own trapped in the benefits culture refused to do until they realised that they could also receive benefits. Once you've started the process it's difficult to stop.

[pzz76077]

Well that's a ridiculous argument. The US couldn't have happened without immigrants because there was practically nobody there before whitey arrived!

Actually there was. The fist wave of immigrants (Mayflower etc) settled as farmers etc and made a living out of the land, agricultural trading. These were mostly unskilled people escaping persecution in their home lands.

It was only with the arrival of the second wave of skilled immigrants that allowed the enterprising to make the US the industrialized country it is today.

PZZ

[DimPrawn]

Actually there was. The fist wave of immigrants (Mayflower etc) settled as farmers etc and made a living out of the land, agricultural trading. These were mostly unskilled people escaping persecution in their home lands.

It was only with the arrival of the second wave of skilled immigrants that allowed the enterprising to make the US the industrialized country it is today.

PZZ

Go live in the USA then. They need immigrants.