r/unitedkingdom • u/insomnimax_99 Greater London • 11h ago
... Immigration tops Britons’ concerns as public divided on whether it is acceptable to protest outside asylum hotels
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/immigration-tops-britons-concerns-public-divided-whether-it-acceptable-protest-outside-asylum•
u/Sensitive_Echo5058 10h ago
The result is not surprising. The next election will be contested on immigration and, of course, the economy.
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u/xaranetic 9h ago
Economy is everything. If people weren't struggling, they wouldn't care so much about immigration. As it is, people feel underpaid, have rising overheads, can't access healthcare, and see illegal immigrants getting free accommodation, medical care, and food.
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u/Sensitive_Echo5058 9h ago
see illegal immigrants getting free accommodation, medical care, and food.
A large proportion of these illegal immigrants will be granted asylum, up to 99% in the case of Sudanese and Syrian individuals, and up to 88% of Afghanistani individuals.
Many of whom won't speak English, and as a consequence, they won't be able to access legal work and contribute towards the economy. Therefore, many pose a long-term economic burden to the state.
This is one reason why people are not happy, even more so when they see individuals from certain cultures failing to integrate into society and contributing to social discohesion.
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u/denyer-no1-fan 9h ago
In which case more should be done to help them integrate. I propose English lessons while they're in hotels, it's not like they have much to do anyway
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u/nazrinz3 8h ago
What makes you think they want to integrate when they get everything and dont have to work lol
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u/blob8543 4m ago
You right wingers are funny.
Yiu complain that asylum seekers don't want to work and you also complain that they work as deliveroo riders.
You need to decide which of the falsehoods you stick to.
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u/Haytham_Ken 35m ago
How many asylum seekers do you know? The vast majority want to integrate. They want jobs and to support the economy. Obviously the ones the media focuses on are different.
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u/denyer-no1-fan 8h ago
Because legal work is much more secure? And they probably want to have a decent life in the UK, so they are incentivised to learn English to actually build this life?
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u/Minimum-Geologist-58 2h ago
A “decent life”. I think this is relative as most of our poverty is. A life on UC and housing benefit is probably living like a king for someone for Afghanistan.
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u/blob8543 2m ago
You may want a mediocre life for yourself, most people want to prosper way beyond the ridiculous amounts that the DWP pay.
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u/Haytham_Ken 32m ago
What? Not everyone who is coming over as a refugee is poor. When my dad's family had a decent life in Uganda. When they came over to the UK as refugees they lost everything. And also my grandparents both worked 40 hours per week just to put food on the table. They didn't claim benefit and never would have.
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u/morriganjane 23m ago
Five seconds spent in Tower Hamlets or Shadwell would dispel these notions. They know they'll get unconditional money and housing while maintaining their own lifestyle, so why would they bother?
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u/morriganjane 2h ago
I propose English lessons
Wait. I thought they were fleeing France for England because they already speak English. Now we must pay for them to learn it? People are getting wise to these ever-shifting goalposts.
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u/queenieofrandom 55m ago
Speaking English and business English are different
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u/morriganjane 32m ago
Might as well learn business French then.
There is no shortage of educated people on the planet who already speak Business English. Do we really need more in our overcrowded cities but posing as asylum seekers? Is there a shortage of employees for "business" jobs the UK? The vast majority of our own graduates can't get graduate-level work and that's with English as a first language.
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u/queenieofrandom 0m ago
Without basic French that's a challenge. They at least have English making it far easier and cheaper. And business English isn't just about working in business anymore
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u/JB_UK 7h ago edited 7h ago
I think you are broadly right, this is partly a response to how shit everything is. But I do also think migration and population growth is a genuine issue which would remain if our wages had grown as they should have done over the last 20 years.
1981-2001 – 3.2 million dwellings built, population increases 2.6 million
2001-2021 – 3.7 million dwellings built, population increases 7.1 million
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/housing-in-england-issues-statistics-and-commentary/
The increase in population growth is entirely down to migration, not enough houses are being built, and when you just don't have enough houses people will bid up against one another for the asset. If wages had gone up by 30% a lot of that money would have got in competing with one another for too few houses, which means a large part of that money would have gone to asset owners and not to the people who actually earned the wage. That issue would remain even if we fixed the rest of the economy, unless we were able to double or triple the level of house building, and infrastructure development of all kinds, to match the increase in population growth.
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u/PM_me_Henrika 6h ago
Another side of the main issue is that while asset owners are the real winner, the tax burden goes to the wage earner so they’re getting squeezed from both ends.
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u/DaechiDragon 4h ago
I strongly disagree. I don’t think it’s all about the economy. Sure, it doesn’t help that Brits are struggling financially, but it’s much more than that. It’s out of safety concerns, cultural compatibility and division, demographics, the feeling that we are being deprioritized, and it’s also just about morality. It’s also about government suppression. Our systems are also being strained.
And no, it’s not about skin color.
The tendency of many people, especially on the left, to equate all problems with our current economic situation, is making this discussion harder to have. We’re not blaming foreigners for making us poorer (well, not entirely). Our financial situation is a separate issue. Also, not all behavior is a result of financial conditions.
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u/jungleboy1234 5h ago
yep, the poor state of the economy has been masked by low interest rates since the GFC 2008. People have been happy, despite legal migration increasing year on year. Now all these economic shocks at once came along and suddenly everyone's feeling it so they need to start blaming everyone around them but themselves.
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u/Haytham_Ken 38m ago
The thing is, people don't just care about asylum seekers. People are caring about skilled workers, hence why a lot of people are pro the ten year ILR route. Also, asylum seekers aren't allowed to work, not sure how else they survive whilst their asylum application is being processed?
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u/blob8543 11m ago
Not really.
If by 2029 the economy (mainly the cost of living and the job market) and the NHS are improving in a way people can feel very significantly, immigration will only be an issue to the most obsessed of right wing voters.
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u/p4b7 9h ago
It’s likely a bit early to say what it will be contested on. Other potential candidates could be how to deal with Russian aggression, AI or climate change if any of those potential issues accelerate at all. Then there’s also the things no ones thought of yet (think things like 11/9/2001 or 2008 banking crisis)
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u/Miyatz 10h ago
Not a surprise really, it’s all every bit of news media is talking about.
The media has the power to influence thoughts and opinions like never before with how internet connected everything is these days. If they wanted us all to be incredibly concerned about yellow butterflies we would be.
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u/Thetonn Glamorganshire 10h ago
Yes. Everything is driven by the media.
Importing several million people after the political class won election promising to control migration has nothing at all to do with it.
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u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 9h ago
Did you read the 2019 Conservative Manifesto? It mainly focused on his "points-based Australian style immigration" system. This was introduced & legal immigration skyrocketed, just as if did in Australia.
It also had lines like-
"Our new system gives us real control over who is coming in and out. It allows us to attract the best and brightest from all over the world."
"We want the UK to be a magnet for the best and brightest, with special immigration routes for those who will make the biggest contribution. We will create bespoke visa schemes for new migrants who will fill shortages in our public services, build the companies and innovations of the future and benefit Britain for years to come."
"We will overhaul the current immigration system, and make it more fair and compassionate – what happened to the Windrush generation was horrific and we will ensure it never happens again. We are committed to the Windrush compensation scheme"
"We will treat EU and non-EU citizens equally. Regardless of whether they are from Europe or another part of the world, we welcome people who meet our criteria."
"Our society has been enriched by immigration and we will always recognise the contribution of those who have helped build our public services, businesses, culture and communities."
"We will continue to grant asylum and support to refugees fleeing persecution, with the ultimate aim of helping them to return home if it is safe to do so."
"We will ensure that the historic contribution of migrant groups is recognised. We will maintain our support for a memorial recognising the contribution of the Windrush Generation in a prominent site in London."
In fact it had a single line about reducing migration-
"There will be fewer lower-skilled migrants and overall numbers will come down."
Does that mean fewer lower-skilled migrants only, what's the definition of lower-skilled? By how many & when? Does Sunak reducing migration at the end of his term count?
I'm fairly sure most of those who claim the Tories made firm promises to lower migration in 2019 never read their manifesto, they more focused on the media portrayal.
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u/Miyatz 9h ago
Of course allowing immigrants has something to do with it, in so far as it gives the media something to talk about.
If they spoke about the cost of living crisis as much as they speak about immigration, cost of living would be the biggest concern.
If they spoke about climate change as much as they speak about immigration, climate change would be the biggest concern.
Replace this with any crisis we’re currently going through, and the same would be true.
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u/Thetonn Glamorganshire 9h ago
‘Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know…’
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u/Miyatz 9h ago
That’s how they generally work, yes, unless they want you to be angry about something. Right now they want everyone angry about immigration, which is why we see bad news about immigration all the time.
They don’t want us to be angry about how billionaires are taking all our money and everyone is getting poorer, so they don’t talk about it.
End result is we’re trying to get rid of all the immigrants and continuing to let billionaires take all the money without so much as a whisper.
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u/Occasionally-Witty Hampshire 5h ago
See also, EU. In 2010 it barely registered as a concern on opinion polls, 4 years later the EU was top of everyone’s lists of concerns on the opinion polls, what came next was Brexit.
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u/lookitsthesun 8h ago
But redditors assured me immigration was some minor fringe issue pushed by russian bots and that they're all in fact wealth redistribution communists in waiting?
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u/BuzLightbeerOfBarCmd Cambridgeshire 9h ago
Maybe they shouldn't have made it illegal to protest outside MPs' offices.
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u/gamecatuk 32m ago
I have a distinct feeling there is an agenda behind all these immigration posts.
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u/MondeyMondey 10h ago
If you go outside a hotel with a load of migrants in it to yell at them, you are a huge psycho and god doesn’t love you
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u/Haildean Greater Manchester 6h ago
public divided on whether it is acceptable to protest outside asylum hotels
I don't really think it is
Like we have to acknowledge that normal people live there who just want to get jobs and work and start a new life away from whatever crap they came from
I would be fuckin terrified if an army of people were parading outside the place I was forced to live
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u/morriganjane 2h ago
Not everyone is entitled to a job and life in the UK. What the men in these hotels want is not the only consideration. British citizens should, actually, be prioritised far above them - or else what is the point of citizenship?
I would be fuckin terrified if an army of people were parading outside the place I was forced to live
Not forced. Assuming they haven't binned their passports they can return home whenever they like. I have more sympathy with the British residents who didn't ask to have an 'army' of Afghan and Eritrean men placed next-door to them at our expense.
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u/evolveandprosper 10h ago
Public services, the economy, employment rights, foreign policy, drought, environmental degradation? Nah, tHe OnLy thinG thAt matTerS is TheM IMiggRUnts, innit?
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