You said a few thousand. A few would suggest 3. I pointed out there’s a considerable difference between 3000 and 45774 and you respond with a laughing emoji making out I’ve said something hilarious. Can’t see the joke myself.
I don’t think I’d last too long on the stand up circuit using that as material.
FFS, its common knowledge that “a few” isn’t 2 or 3, or a handful, or half a dozen, all common phrases to describe " a few", its over 45,000 
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“Hello everyone, great to be here. Been arguing with some bloke on the internet this week. I pointed out there’s a big difference between 3000 and 45774!!”
*waits for laughter.
*room empties.
*walks offstage, perplexed.
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Don’t use it then. People just roll their eyes when they hear it.
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I don’t use it. I don’t see any reason to when expressing my views.
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Anyway, I’m off to buy a brand new Audi. Heard they only cost a few grand…
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I’m not so sure. I think under current political thinking that might unfortunately be true. I think these are issues that can be fixed with a little bit of creative thinking, but of course not everyone attempting to come here at this time, unless we’re talking specifically about those who are eligible for asylum.
Specifically, I’m thinking about those areas in the UK which are facing demographic problems age-wise, which could do with a healthy injection of younger people, which unless I’m much mistaken, tends to be the demographic of immigrants. I’ve read recently about schools having to close because of shrinking intakes, leaving many areas under-served, with students having to travel hundreds of miles to their closest school. I don’t know if there’s a shortage of housing generically or a shortage of housing in the right places, but I’d wager that it’s more the latter.
I’m thinking of examples like The refugees who brought hope to a Scottish island | Scotland | The Guardian which could probably be replicated in many more places across the country. This example sticks out in my head because I’ve heard of Helmi’s, and I think it’s meant to be one of the places to eat in the region. At least, if that’s the correct one I’m remembering.
As for healthcare and schooling, I think part of the ongoing issue in both is a lack of trained staff, which I think immigration can be a key contributor to solving.
Financial support, I’d agree. But if you look at the overall picture, immigrants coming in on visas do not have access to public funds and so are not eligible for the welfare system. Asylum seekers may require financial support, but if you listen to the stories, the interviews, the overwhelming opinion is simply that they want to be able to restart/get on with their lives. Processing them quickly and providing minimal support for them to get on their feet would negate the need for any of this financial support. There was never a need for hotels or Bibby Stockholm if the government had done its job properly and just processed the damn claims.
Overall, I’d say that if Labour can actually sort out the government, and by that I mean the governing processes, which seems to be Starmer’s key belief, then I think there’s promise to fix those problems. But these are more structural issues with the entire country, and not very much to do with immigration in and of itself.
I can understand where you’re coming from, but I think there’s a lot of nuance in this.
I can understand someone growing up in an area which is largely a monolith ethnically speaking, being part of the ethnic majority, may not understand that certain things they say, certain attitudes/perceptions/believe they have are racist. That’s fine. It’s a question of intentions. ANECDOTE ALERT: I was reading an account of someone growing up in an area where a slur was used to describe Chinese takeaways, not necessarily because of malicious intentions even if it may have originated that way, and then getting a rude shock on going to university and using it in the context of getting a takeaway. I think it’s always an opportunity to educate someone on that. Being someone who grew up in an environment where I was in the ethnic majority, and moving to places where I was an ethnic minority, I can certainly see the harmful stereotypes I grew up with and have been trying to get rid of. I will never shame someone who is well-intentioned but poorly informed.
But if a person persists in saying those things, holding those attitudes and beliefs in the face of correction, then I think it’s fair game. Particularly if they then double down, or complain about political correctness.
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No some people may use it that way but it is more common to think of it as a range between 3 and several. It is therefore highly relative to the context of the discussion, and on what is being discussed, especially the scale.
If we’re comparing against immigration in total or the existing uk population, then the word applies to even the higher figure of 45k @cynicaloldgit gave.
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Ok, I’ll bear that in mind moving forward. Next time a mate suggests going out for a few drinks I’ll prepare myself to drink 45-50 pints. Or if they tell me they’re going away for a few days I’ll assume I wont see them for 7 weeks.
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One of my favourite incidents was when my sister and I were having a quiet pint in her then local (she has moved now). The landlord came back from a shopping trip effing and blinding because a “Paki” had carved him up on the way back. He launched into a tirade about how Pakis all stink of curry, have too many children, don’t even learn the language and try to impose Sharia law on the country.
He then looked up and saw us sat there. “You two are all right, though. We know you.”
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The idiot. It’s obviously Korma law.
That’s the thing about areas with low ethnic diversity. It’s too easy to see them as the “other”, and I say that with more than just towns and villages in mind. It’s a problem with ethnic enclaves in larger cities too, and is a huge barrier to sociocultural immigration when new immigrants just stick to people they know. Looking at you, @SBYM.
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Just for context, Germany had 329.000 new asylum applicants in 2023. That number doesn’t include the 1.3 million Ukrainian refugess that have come since 2022.
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Ah, but how many of them arrived in rubber dinghies? Zero, I bet.
I propose we copy the German model.
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A few less dinghies, a few more people
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Heard it said this morning, there might be a few goals in our game this afternoon.
Looking forward to us giving this a run for it’s money.
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If you are confident what you are saying is not racist, you don’t need the qualifier.
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I read somewhere that witnesses said/a video showed him saying something at that point about having been threatened?
Still not really excusable, but more understandable if there was a real threat to his safety.