Does she have a point?

[vetran]

Quit describing me as "pole" while you are repetitively obsessing over Polish minority. Also let me remind you, that the entire EU migration over the last 10 years accounted for only a fifth of the total 'net migration'. I gather that you do not consider exponential increase of the migration from outside of the EU to be a 'mistake', but it does not imply that the moniker 'pole' is in order.

you really have a persecution complex don't you?

I wasn't referring to you at all, you aren't that important.

The discussion was about EU migration.

There are a lot of changes on non EU migration that has started to reduce it.

[mos]

you really have a persecution complex don't you?

No I do not. Media and politicians of every single denomination suddenly decided to laser focus on the single minority, branding our foreheads with iron as the biggest sore on this country and 'the biggest mistake this country has ever made'. In addition, Farage is going around disparaging us and anchoring us in public consciousness as total losers, the results of which are apparent everywhere I go, also in your posts. They are banking on the fact that nobody remembers or wants to remember how it was really like in here before 2004. But I do!

If you believe that my outrage is unfunded, try spending one day in my shoes.

We do not deserve this.

[SueEllen]

Yeah you do - you think Indians, Greeks and Portuguese look the same.

You don't like it when the shoe is on the other foot.

[d000hg]

The referendum is making the EU afraid they will lose their gravy chain.

This sounds like something NLadyUK could chip in on.

[doodab]

This sounds like something NLadyUK could chip in on.

Chips and gravy?

[mos]

Yeah you do - you think Indians, Greeks and Portuguese look the same.

You don't like it when the shoe is on the other foot.

When did I say that Greeks and Portuguese look all the same? You seem to be projecting deep prejudice on me.

You will probably twist my words to make me look like a racist monster (because thats how we Poles are), but it is my personal experience that up to 2008 some Pakistanis, Lebanese and Jordanians represented themselves as Greeks. Since 2008 their identity of choice is Portuguese and sometimes Italians. To be fair, because the period of reference is December2012-September 2013, Romanians would also have strong motive to fake their identity. I am not saying that this actually happened in every single case. I am merely trying to work out the reasons behind the fact that the number of 'bogus students' was so perfectly offset by the increase in the immigration from Southern Europe.
The trend could be triggered and supported by an increase in unemployment in these countries in the period leading to January 2013. On the other hand these countries have been suffering high unemployment rates for considerable number of years and yet the immigration to UK stood still at 50% of the last reported number. Is it possible that the level of unemployment in these countries reached the tipping point? Is it possible that Romanians and growing illegal migration from outside of the EU crowded out intra Mediterranean migration? Or perhaps they were consciously recruited to UK to offset the 'bogus student' gap, but unintentionally the numbers overshot the target?

I do not know, but I would like to find out.

[darmstadt]

At least in the UK we have a press that constantly scrutinises the activities of politicians and we have a democratic electoral system that has the power to change government. Not so with the EU.

What, like News International?

[darmstadt]

The EU benefits Germany hugely especially the Euro. The Euro has kept the price of German goods disproportionately low and it has eradicated price competition from the rest of Europe. its agenda for any reform will be entirely different from that of Italys, Greece the UK or anyone else.
Mitch your comments are based on the assumption that each country wants the same reforms. They do not. The UK wants freer markets, the French want to protect their markets and keep the main functions of the state in government control. How on earth does this get reconciled "from within"?

Furthermore Angela Merkel will not be in power for very much longer. The people who run the EU do so motivated by a desire to strengthen their own positions. These people have been around for a very long time and will remain in place longer than the leaders of the governments of the member states. They will see off any attempts to reform them.

There is a lot of talk about reform but no sign of any action. What I do see is that the stronger these people become the less accountable they are the more likely we are to see anarchy on the streets of Europe.

Can't be bothered answering this...

[xoggoth]

In addition, Farage is going around disparaging us and anchoring us in public consciousness as total losers

Please provide a link to Farage doing any such thing. I don't think Farage or indeed many of us have any problem with reasonable numbers of decent migrants like yourself. It is only the unsuitable individuals, very large numbers who create pressures on our housing and schools, or those who remain separate from our society and create unnecessary divisions, that we object to. Farage has simply called for similar controls to those in Australia or Canada and he is quite right that we will never get that within the EU as it stands.

I agree with you that migration from outside the EU is the greater problem but the two are not unconnected. It is far more difficult to control the UK's borders when those controls are effectively outside our control.

[vetran]

Chips and gravy?

she told me that was extra!