If his was the face, I’d say thank fuck for that.
I see the fuckwit was banging on about activist judges today…
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And Climate Change. Because in ten years the mass migration this will cause will make what we have no look like a picnic.
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Yeah…very good point.
Hi all,
Hope everyone is well. I only popped in to see what was being said about Jenrick’s comments, as Handsworth is an area I know well.
Firstly, in my opinion, good points raised by Rambler and an equally good response from Magnus.
I am a bit disappointed (not surprised) that there is little to no debate on the undertones of Jenrick’s comments.
I am not going to debate what he said and whether it was right or wrong, the intentions behind it, etc. but it is an area (one of many) in Birmingham where the Government and also the public need to learn and understand from, if it wants to have a multi-culture population that integrates happily with each other.
I have found it mildly irritating that some posters can speak about immigration/equality from a position of privilege, whether it be from their house in a nice village, where a car speeding and crashing is the only exposure they have to “life”. Or a City Worker who probably starts their day with a Coffee from a tax evading company but then wants to complain about the rich getting richer.
To assume or dismiss people’s problems are based on what they are told by RW media and middle aged white males is why Parties like Reform are more than likely going to become increasingly popular with voters across Europe.
Is it not ignorant to dismiss other people’s concerns on the basis that they are ignorant and you know best?
I worked in Handsworth about 25 years ago - when it had a bad reputation, due to the riots - I used to walk down the Soho Road and I was literally the only White face on the road.
I always remembered walking past a Rastafarian car park attendant who had Reggae blasting from his ghetto blaster, and the characters drinking neat liquor outside the Off licence. Being young I was like ‘they are living life’, I completely missed the poverty and what were clearly mental health issues with an above normal percentage of the demographic.
A few years later, I was working for a Demolition company. A gang of the lads were of Indian descent, where out of the 7/8 contractors only 2 spoke English - which was broken. I used to drop a couple of them off home in Handsworth, I found out that they were only getting paid £50 a shift, of which they would give £5 to the main English speaking lad. They would then do another job in the evening before sleeping in an over crowded house.
My point is, nothing has changed in Handsworth over the decades. It has a 91% BAME demographic and various Governments have just left it to Rot. As a Country we can’t even look after the current population, including historical immigrants and yet people think we should not be concerned about uncontrolled migration.
In Birmingham City Centre to satisfy housing, a loads of apartment blocks are being built. Unfortunately, No extra police stations, hospitals, schools, dentists, etc. The Council can’t even reach an agreement to pay the striking Bin men/women but let’s not worry about that, let’s just increase the stress on the already buckling infrastructure.
If a ship is sinking it is wiser to fix the leaks than welcome more people aboard for the ship to sink quicker.
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Although, not dismissing the perilous direction the world is heading, in regards to Climate Change. Statistics suggest that 90% of migration would be internal to the said Country.
The Irony here, is that Neville, a white middle aged man, has, by removing the Union flag has created more diversity. The same thing he was moaning about.
Neville was moaning about diversity??
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I agree with much of what Lynch04 is saying. I am lucky enough to live in a small affluent city where I don’t think we have an issue with integration and I am aware my experiences of bigger cities (London) are effectively that of a working tourist (I commute in a few days a week). My skewed view of things though doesn’t mean there aren’t big issues that I don’t see everyday.
The one key thing that I don’t agree with is the idea that immigration is “uncontrolled”. This gives the impression that previous governments had no say in the current situation which I dont agree with and also I fear this feeds into the propaganda of parties like reform that claim they have the solution to “control” the problem.
A quick look at the official stats (ONS) shows most of the immigration of the past few years has been intentional. It has been people coming to fill (mostly care) jobs and students coming to pay universities fees. I imagine it was similar the government before that and the one before that also.
The challenge is not just how to put sensible limits on immigration in order to slow the strain on resources. It is how to do that while increasing the standard of living for everyone already in the country by still achieving growth to enable spending and staffing of those same resources.
It appears that growth has been far too reliant on immigration and house price inflation (with related new borrowing pumping new cash into economy) for decades now.
The key question to all of this is what is the alternative? What is the new plan that is going to change this?
Now I don’t know the answer to this question personally.
But I’m pretty sure it is not simply “stopping the boats”.
Part of it might be changing the way young people come here to work and study so that they are more likely to leave before they have kids and / or grow old.
Part of it might be stricter rules to let people in based on skills, experience etc.
Part of it might be digital IDs making it harder for employers to pay people who don’t have the right to work here.
But anyway, it is a many facetted issue which will require many solutions. Some of those may be less palatable to some of us than others (e.g. greater powers for governments to deport people, or reframing asylum rights)
I can only hope that this government finds some that work. The looming alternative is the UK becoming another outpost of the ever growing global facist movement.
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Oh by the way I’m not saying don’t try to stop or slow the amount of people coming across the channel in small boats.
It is an issue and improving it is part of an overall improvement.
Just don’t trust people (in politics) that try and make out that it’s the only problem.
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I fear it will be just more to weaponise sadly.
To me this harks back to the fundamental issue of how the UK and for that matter the global economy works. It basically drives inequality and this area is clearly (based on your description) at the sharp end of the bottom of it. That inequality is widening.
And to clarify, when you have a system that allows for the extraction of “money” rather than recycling it back into the world we live in, this is what you ultimately get. The so called “social contract” where we pay tax and get this back in the form of services, infrastructure and so on, is basically being stretched broken.
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Why are people leaving their countries for a better life? Syrians, Iraqis never wanted to leave their countries until they became war torn.
Who started those wars? Either the US directly or through proxies.
Of the other countries, Afghanistan has been a war-playground for invading forces for decades now.
African countries were colonised and maps drawn across tribal lines, practically guaranteeing war and strife.
Common people just want to life a peaceful life and take care of their families.
Maybe look at the real reasons why the boats are coming.
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As extension to this, the historic role of empire is factor here.
People often ask why are people coming here? Why aren’t they claiming asylum in the first safe country they come to? Why don’t the claim asylum in France?
There are a few answers to to this, but we have to remember that we are nation that spend 200 years invading the rest of the world and forcing them to speak English at gunpoint. There is a soft power in the way the English language has a stranglehold on international cooperation. People speak English everywhere.
I don’t think it’s unexpected that people fleeing will try to make a country where they speak even a little of the language their ultimate destination. I know I would.
The other answers to the question are a) they don’t have to and b) they don’t anyway, and they are probably more pertinent answers, but I think the language issue is an interesting point as well.
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Presumably he meant division. Maybe autocorrect?
Maybe important to note that when it comes to asylum seekers, when adjusted by population size, in 2024 the UK ranked 17th in number of applicants compared to Europe (EU+), and 14th in granted asylums.
Source:
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They also did a damn good job closer to home.
Thanks - this is what I was getting at bottom of the post.
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not sure on this bit… crossing the english chanel just becuase you speak a bit of english instead of learning a bit of french/italian/german seems like the greater of the two evils
i thinks its becuase we paint this picture of some utopian society where unicorns shit candy floss and coca cola rains from the heavens…best thing they could do for border control is advertise the fact that just becuase Boris Johnson is an incapable fuckwit who makes money, that door is only open to a select few… certainly not anyone arriving by a dinghi…advertise it as a locked shop, less of the hollywood, rags to riches is possible shite
Someone with better memory of 80s politics than me remind of Michael Heseltine…I just saw some pretty stellar comments from him and it triggered something in my brain about him being “one of the good ones” from Maggie’s government but im not sure why Im supposed to think that or even if this is a fake memory.
I think it’s maybe something to do with the issue that forced him out of her cabinet was a principled stance from him that he got credit for, and was what started the ball rolling on her having to step down, which he got more credit for. But I was 10 so remember nothing
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He was towards the more progressive wing of the party. Pro Europe. Supported redevelopment in Liverpool (festival gardens!) and other areas of the north. Unlike much of the cabinet of the time he often stood up for his views rather acquiesce to whatever thatcher wanted.
I cant remember if it was his sacking or leadership challenge that began her downfall. I’ve got a hazy recollection that it all ended with Howe’s threatened or actual resignation but may be wrong on that.
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