A big revision required to move that needle a long way.
I sympathise with the concerns. The Welsh language has been completely decimated as a result of English policy (1847 onward) but more recently from natural erosion largely due to the migration of English who then do not learn the language. We are equally guilty of not encouraging them to do that either.
I think it’s very sad to lose a language and much of the history and culture that goes with it.
That´s net migration (people in - people out), not immigration. If more Brits leave, net migration drops but we´re actually being replaced here faster.
People leaving is up to 700k from 500k in 2022.
Though immigration did drop from 1.3 mil to 900k 2024 to 2025, albeit provisional 900k.
I agree. I am a big fan of the Welsh keeping their language and heritage.
I heard recently that since a few years, Switzerland are trying the following in order to reduce the influx of illegal migrants: they are sending representatives into third world countries from where we get a lot of illegal refugees, and hold conferences in all towns and villages of these countries, informing people about the reality of what it means to go on the journey towards Europe. They show them the dangers of the travel, of being exposed to ruthless human smugglers who will take all their money away, they show them the poor accomodations for those who manage to get into the country, the absolute lack of perspective… in short, they show them that it isn’t worth bothering. It seems to bear fruits. Many people in these countries consider Switzerland as an unattractive target now, and rightly so.
Of course, it won’t stop those whose life is in danger because of wars, civil wars, droughts or extreme poverty. But for these extreme cases, there is an opportunity to obtain a refugee status.
Another thing they are trying to do is to set up a migration system in these respective countries: if you think that you have the profile, go to a Swiss consulate and look if you are right. If yes, Switzerland will help you with the travel and grant you a refugee’s right. If not, it saves you the hassle of a dangerous journey without any hope of success of bettering your life.
Clacton by-election today. The press has been saying it’s between 2, but it’s actually the longest list of candidates in British electoral history. 34 candidates
I guess it boils down to how many do we need versus how many are we getting.
Absolutely we need and benefit from immigrants with vital skills & experience.
But, we would do just fine without an influx of McDonald’s deliverers, Uber drivers kebab shop servers and barbers.
Take Albanians for example, 10% of all Albanian immigrants are in fucking prison, and thats just the ones who’ve been caught.
Get them to their (early) release date and send them packing
You specified ‘taxpayer funded’ and very little of what you said is funded by taxes.
If people want to set up charities to help asylum seekers, and people want to support those charities, what has that got to do with you? There are loads of charities set up to help people in a variety of different situations.
You can get annoyed all you want about what people choose to support. I personally do not understand how people can give money to donkey sanctuaries when there are people sleeping rough, but ultimately it’s up to them.
And maybe they are basing it on what they are being told by people with their own agenda.
The fact remains that people believe Asylum Seekers get all range of tax payer funded support that they absolutely don’t get. They are reading this stuff somewhere.
I’m sorry it’s being shit for you, but I really don’t understand that.
JSA is supposed to be awarded independent of other savings? Are you over state pension age? Are you already drawing on your pension? I know that they’ll deduct the amount that you are drawing from a pension.
I hope your joint claim goes somewhere.
But regardless of the circumstances, this is all a bit ‘that foreign lad wants your cookie’. Asylum seekers aren’t your enemy here.
Well in roughly 10 years, 10 percent of our country would be foreign born (ignoring other changes and assuming everyone here now is born here, which of course isnt true).
They get free access to the NHS, free prescriptions, free dental care and free eye-tests, plus help paying for glasses. So like I said, you’re right to an extent.
They also get £49.18 per person each week, and extra if pregnant or have a child under 3. Plus a one-off £300 maternity payment.
Gas, water and electricity are all paid for at tax-payers expense.
But yeah, mobile phones etc are from charities if you want to claim you’ve won the internet.
You stated the problem with the whole immigration debate is people basing their opinions on information that is ‘transparently bullshit’ and seem incapable of accepting people can form their opinions by what they see with their own eyes. The taxpayer funded benefits I listed above are correct. It’s pretty easy to find.
I’m not sure what you don’t understand?
I was 59 at the time. I was in receipt of 2 small workplace pensions I took at 55 and the government used those pensions to deny me contribution based JSA even though I’d payed into the system for 43 years and was also paying taxes on those 2 pensions.
There was no joint claim to be made. My wife was working on a casual basis in the passport office which meant she worked for about 7 months of the year. When it was shut down permanently she tried to claim JSA but was refused it on the grounds she hadn’t payed enough contributions in the years she worked there.
If you can find the bit where I blame ‘that foreign lad’ for any of it let me know.
You also claimed driving lessons and trips to the cinema. I’m sorry, but if that’s what you believe you’ve been sold a lemon.
[quote=“jaffod, post:1647, topic:5783, full:true”]
[The taxpayer funded benefits I listed above are correct. It’s pretty easy to find.[/quote]
And yet, you also thought that Asylum Seekers got free driving lessons, mobile phones and trips to the cinema. So where are you finding that stuff?
I think I understand - those two pensions were bringing in more than the £95 p/w JSA. Yeah, they’ll deduct that from what you’d otherwise get.
And when I mentioned the joint claim, I meant to collective action you mentioned after that.
You do seem very angry - more so than your usual thing of wanting footballers to get career ending injuries - and a lot of that anger seems to be directed at people you perceive to be getting benefits they are undeserving of. I can see why you would be furious at the system letting you down - it’s a really shit position to be in and it isn’t fair.
What I would say is that threshold for unemployment benefit is where it is because that all the country can afford, and it’s all the country can afford because all the fucking money has been sucked out of the economy by billionaires. And now those same billionaires are feeding you lies about asylum seekers because they would rather have you fix your anger on people who aren’t them.
And the politicians of both left and right pretend to fix the problem whilst benefit fraud increases…and the majority of them dont have names that are native English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Ireland.
Politicians from ALL parties, not the journeymen low level ones, the cabinet level millionaire ones, couldn’t give a flying fuck about immigration levels, NHS waiting lists, food banks, illiterate kids who aren’t toilet trained, etc etc
Anyone who thinks otherwise is part of the problem
I conceded those things being untrue when I said you were right to an extent. The other taxpayer funded stuff is real, i.e the free medical treatment, to which you responded-
You mention mobile phones and driving lessons while conveniently ignoring the bit about free medical treatment.
Fair enough, I didn’t know what you were getting at when you said you didn’t understand and didn’t connect the dots on the joint claim.
And here you go again twisting what is being written to suit your narrative. If you read back through my posts it is pretty clear where my anger is directed, and that is at the government. I’ve been pretty scathing in my criticism of them and how I think they go about things in order to shaft us all.
My anger isn’t at the people you claim it’s aimed at. Do I think they should get all these benefits? No, I don’t. Do I think their numbers would drop if those benefits were slashed? Yes, I do.
The migrant crisis is a result of succesive spineless governments being unable and possibly unwilling to do anything about it. I fucking despise the tory and Labour party’s in equal measure. I don’t want the migrants here, we can’t cope with them, but I can’t say I blame them for coming.
You do seem very angry about billionaires. It comes across in many of your posts. It’s borderline obsessive I think.
To blame them for the threshold for unemployment benefit is laughable. “Oh yes, we’d love to pay you something back out of all the contributions you’ve made throughout your working life but unfortunately the billionaires have got all the money”. Must break their hearts eh?
Funny how they found £140 billion down the back of the couch to fund businesses and the furlough scheme during the pandemic isn’t it?
There’s no money? I’m sorry, but if that’s what you believe you’ve been sold a lemon.
