Does she have a point?

[DodgyAgent]

I think Farage will become an irrelevance before long, but I'm sure to be accused of being an EU sponsored troll for saying it. I don't think young people are as anti-EU as older people and I think what you're seeing in Britain and other 'western European' countries has a lot to do with demographics; we have a large older population of grouchy old grumps who see anything or anyone they don't know or understand as a threat to their way of life. Give it 10 years and I reckon everyone will have forgotten Nigel Farage. I also don't think Britain will leave the EU; it will stay in a seriously reformed EU which might by then be called something different. As for schoolkids writing this cack about Poles emitting greenhouse gases; I don't expect that kids with that level of intelligence will ever have much influence on anything anyway. Plus; Poland will catch up with western Europe before long. It has a GDP per capita around 20,000 dollars and it's been growing faster than the rest of the EU while most of western Europe's economies have shrunk. Before long (20 years or less), Poland's going to be an economic equal of Germany, Britain and NL.

I can see why you're concerned though; at times I have found the anti-foreigner rhetoric that's been prevalent in Holland since 2001 rather worrying, but ultimately the complainers don't get what they want because the economics are against them. Put simply, if Dutch businesses can't hire people from all over the world in specialist positions or from other European countries in low level jobs that locals won't do, then those companies will leave, and that's exactly what they keep telling the government. So what happens here is the government brings out symbolic legislation with no effect other than to make the angry old gits think they're doing something, when actually they do what the businesses want them to do, as they have done since the country was formed; NL is a rich country because it's basically been run for business. Just a shame it has to fund the huge subsidized jobs project that the government has become, but then the government employs a lot of people who'd never stand a chance in business.

Writing people off as old and grumpy is all very well. What you do not seem to appreciate is that the older generations have a first hand experience of post war poverty. They have seen the aftermath of the effects of tyranny (even if many were only born shortly after the second world war). Their skepticism of the EU is entirely reasonable and for what its worth this generation have considerable power and wealth so their point of view is very relevant.
The "young generation" seem to think that freedom "grows on trees" and that our modern civilised society is there to be taken for granted. I do not buy all this "I am a European" sh*t because if anyone actually bothers to think about what it actually means they could only come to one conclusion: That they are a drone product of a homogonised ideal developed in the minds of the bureaucrats that run the EU. A slave to the size and bureaucracy of the EU who wishes to surrender all rights to the greater "good" of the EU.

I like the EU for its open markets and easy transfer of skills (after all it makes me money). I do not like the fact that we ill be governed by the EU. Nigel farage sees it this way and so do vast numbers of voters. You may sneer at UKIP as a bunch of "little englanders" but they have history, logic and a grasp of human nature on their side.

[vetran]

and on to immigration....

I do love the way almost all the supporters of immigration are immigrants.

I'm thinking of supporting fat people without exception or reason because I am one.


The reason the English (and established Indian, African population) dislike the flood of immigrants to the UK is because coming from a lower cost base they undercut their wages, because of their numbers they fill the housing, health & education provision & because of their lack of filtering contain a larger proportion fleeing justice in their home country.

Its the Chinese that create pollution & green house gasses making our cheap toys because our workers weren't willing to work for a dollar a day.

[vetran]

using the Polish helped us in the war argument

one assumes as we stood against Hitler pretty much on our own (at first) then the free world should give anyone with a UK passport the right to settle anywhere in the world? Hurray we can send the Rochdale swamp Donkey to Monaco.

Can't see the French, Italians & Swiss etc. letting that happen.

[doodab]

Can't see the French, Italians & Swiss etc. letting that happen.

You do realise that the French and Italians have let exactly that happen don't you?

[vetran]

You do realise that the French and Italians have let exactly that happen don't you?

sort of and that is the madness of the EU.

[darmstadt]

Writing people off as old and grumpy is all very well. What you do not seem to appreciate is that the older generations have a first hand experience of post war poverty. They have seen the aftermath of the effects of tyranny (even if many were only born shortly after the second world war). Their skepticism of the EU is entirely reasonable and for what its worth this generation have considerable power and wealth so their point of view is very relevant.

A bit weird that as the EU was started and is mainly run by that same demographic group.

[Flashman]

Unfortunately Farage does not help. I do not mind the EU bit, because sometimes I am able to find some grain of populist truth in what he is saying. But his speeches are anchoring Poland in very, very negative place and are resulting in our social and economic degradation.
I myself found life in UK 'bearable' up until last Summer when I was suddenly assigned to work under 21 years old 'consultant' - second generation Indian.

I really do not understand why the press hates us so and I fear that it will only get worse over time because of school teaching. For instance they run 'immigration' projects at grade 9. The task is to explain why English people don't like Polish minority. So the children write: "English People do not like Poles because they emit green house gases" - suitable illustration included, of course. Then the children make essays into mini movies and post it on the internet with artificially high search priority. Someone must be sponsoring this production and I think It comes from Hong Kong.

It is so surreal ... we can only rise our eyebrows in disbelief. Any rational defence would be pointless and it would probably sound just like 02:17

A Witness is Called - The Blackadder - BBC - YouTube

I don't think British people hate polish people at all. They are just very worried and scared by the huge numbers arriving. We are a small over-crowded island as it is.

Oh and how are Black/Asian immigrants treated in Poland? Just wondering.

[mos]

The reason the English (and established Indian, African population) dislike the flood of immigrants to the UK is because coming from a lower cost base they undercut their wages, because of their numbers they fill the housing, health & education provision & because of their lack of filtering contain a larger proportion fleeing justice in their home country.

From the perspective of the specimen of the newish as opposed to Windrush immigration wave I can tell you that it is very wrong of Farage to anchor EU8 as 'poor' and its citizens as willing to do the work 'nobody else wants' for less. His speeches serve only three purposes: to denigrate us socially and economically and to establish cast system which places us below of this enjoyed by Asians and Africans. The second purpose is to divert the public focus from bankers bashing. Finally - to divert public attention from much higher non-EU migration in its legal and illegal portion.

As for your suggestion that the EU minorities in the UK are the new 'criminal masses' I really don't know how to respond to that and I do not really want to. Jeeves & Wooster: Roderick Spode 1 - YouTube

[doodab]

one assumes as we stood against Hitler pretty much on our own (at first) then the free world should give anyone with a UK passport the right to settle anywhere in the world? Hurray we can send the Rochdale swamp Donkey to Monaco.

One assumes that because one doesn't actually know.

If you bother to research it you'll find that the most successful squadron during the battle of Britain was 303 squadron, staffed by exiled Polish pilots. You'll also find out that Polish intelligence was responsible for the initial work on breaking the enigma code and gave us our first enigma machine (weeks before war broke out) as well sharing details of how they worked, operational procedures and details of the bomba machine they developed that evolved into the bombe used at Bletchley park.

So their contribution was fairly major and arguably we'd not have won the battle of Britain without it, never mind "saved the free world".

[Sysman]

I think the point is she is a product of her times, think Gene Hunt.

Er, just a year older than me?

Product of her background, more like.