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Immigration to the UK - do you have concerns?

I’ve had this thread on ignore but I’ve taken it off again as I have my wife’s half sister and her husband up with us from Staffs. He just said something this morning that I’ll need to address. With my long Covid I have to pick my times to engage mentally and emotionally.

Anyway, he just threw into the conversation “I don’t think Starmer was right to call us all far right”. I said that the people trying to burn down hostels were far right. And in fact I think Starmer is much further right than me. And then the conversation changed.

But I’m going to have to explore why he thinks Starmer called “us all” far right.

Was wondering if anyone had come across this perception?
do you know if yer man was out on any of the parades of concerned citizens?
 
I’ve had this thread on ignore but I’ve taken it off again as I have my wife’s half sister and her husband up with us from Staffs. He just said something this morning that I’ll need to address. With my long Covid I have to pick my times to engage mentally and emotionally.

Anyway, he just threw into the conversation “I don’t think Starmer was right to call us all far right”. I said that the people trying to burn down hostels were far right. And in fact I think Starmer is much further right than me. And then the conversation changed.

But I’m going to have to explore why he thinks Starmer called “us all” far right.

Was wondering if anyone had come across this perception?
It's been the blowback by some and commentators and press in their "defence"
Hoping they didn't attend a demo and maybe count themselves as one of those "with concerns about immigration". "silent majority", "not far right, just right"
Depressing either way
Good luck!
 
On this ( and this is about something that happened quite a while back) I knew a Filipino here.

Trained as a nurse in Philippines and trying to get himself "regularised" to get job in NHS. Which he knew he could get as they were short of nurses.

He showed me that document he had to fill in. It was the size of a book. And he had to get an awful lot of things dealt with as part of it.

I did wonder why. I realise now it was intentionally made difficult. A lot of immigration policy is performative. Its more about showing the mythical average person that these migrants are not getting away with anything and getting an easy ride.

Even though nurses were needed it was made clear to the Filipino he was here on sufferance. And never forget it.

It's like the stuff about those who take advantage, don't pull their weight and the left make excuses for them

Seems to me a lot of the bullshit waste of time state bureaucracy is a form of resentment politics in action. Its designed not for rational reasons but deliberately to be difficult .

It imagines the resentment of the mythical average person with a sense of fair play that someone somewhere is getting an easier ride than oneself.

With people on benefits and asylum seekers taking same role in this as objects for the state bureaucracy to make jump through hoops. In old days people were put on the treadmill. This is the modern version.

Why it makes sense for Labour politicians to go on about asylum seekers living it up in hotels.
Well said. I think you have hit on a good point there. This stuff seems to be performative. If there is an intended audience of resentful people, then this performative cruelty makes no difference to their attitudes, as they are unaware of it.
 
e2a: I didn't need to read the book to understand what poverty feels like; see, we can all do back stories
Just wanted to jump on and say I’m sorry you’ve experienced poverty.

I’ve been skint, for years at a time especially the first six years of the kids lives. But not the same thing I don’t think.
 
I’ve had this thread on ignore but I’ve taken it off again as I have my wife’s half sister and her husband up with us from Staffs. He just said something this morning that I’ll need to address. With my long Covid I have to pick my times to engage mentally and emotionally.

Anyway, he just threw into the conversation “I don’t think Starmer was right to call us all far right”. I said that the people trying to burn down hostels were far right. And in fact I think Starmer is much further right than me. And then the conversation changed.

But I’m going to have to explore why he thinks Starmer called “us all” far right.

Was wondering if anyone had come across this perception?

I think it might be helpful to begin by asking him what he means by "us all".

Where the conversation goes after that depends on his answer to that question.
 
That’s what I didn’t want to have to tackle this morning and will need to address when I have the energy.

I agree it's worth picking your moment carefully.

Do you have much of an idea of his politics?

Also, to what extent would your partner appreciate having a family visit turned into a (possible) political argument?

ETA If you disagree with his answer to the "us all" question, maybe helpful to talk about what your answer who "us all" is, and why.
 
I agree it's worth picking your moment carefully.

Do you have much of an idea of his politics?

Also, to what extent would your partner appreciate having a family visit turned into a (possible) political argument?

ETA If you disagree with his answer to the "us all" question, maybe helpful to talk about what your answer who "us all" is, and why.
all the best family visits involve heated political arguments
 
...he just threw into the conversation “I don’t think Starmer was right to call us all far right”...

"us all" is interesting isnt it; who do we lump ourselves together with, and why? What do we gain from being part of any particular "us all" (especially an "us all" that confers no tangible or even obvious benefit or support structures) and what does it tell others about how we see ourselves?

I'm intrigued.
 
Just wanted to jump on and say I’m sorry you’ve experienced poverty.

I’ve been skint, for years at a time especially the first six years of the kids lives. But not the same thing I don’t think.
Genuinely appreciate that. Was child poverty; had a loving stable family but Dad was disabled from labouring and Mum had loads of jobs, mostly cleaning. Made me an angry young socialist.
 
I agree it's worth picking your moment carefully.

Do you have much of an idea of his politics?

Also, to what extent would your partner appreciate having a family visit turned into a (possible) political argument?

ETA If you disagree with his answer to the "us all" question, maybe helpful to talk about what your answer who "us all" is, and why.
Oh, he’s not got a political home, but he loves conspiracy. Often for the wrong reasons.

He’s often told me he firmly accepts that the BBC reversed the Orgreave footage. But when he explains why, you’re left wondering “what the fuck?”.

He’s a retired firefighter, and after retirement from that worked as a technician in a school science department. But despite his connection to the practical and to science, he believes all sorts of mad shit about JFK and Diana and moon landings.

So, yeah, we’ve had heated debates before now…
 
And yet, people into conspiracies often do not seem interested in the actual conspiracies, such as the secret plainclothes British Army unit that engaged in random murders of people from the Roman Catholic community in Belfast in the early 1970s.
 
It also makes people feel special, I think. I know something you don't.
I know a couple of conspiracy people over here . It’s a minefield once they get into full flow over a few beers, loads of random so called facts about what is ‘really’ going on that those who only engage with msm don’t know . Last week I was arguing with them about Freemasons , blood sacrifices or some other trash and went to the bar to get some drinks. Some random Portuguese bloke then says that he didn’t want to be rude but he overheard our discussion and he is a member of a local group called The Resistance and would I like to bring my friends to a meeting on chem trails . 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Well said. I think you have hit on a good point there. This stuff seems to be performative. If there is an intended audience of resentful people, then this performative cruelty makes no difference to their attitudes, as they are unaware of it.

It's one of problems with discussing peoples concerns. However much government thinks it responding it's never going to be enough.

Plus there are people who make sure they are unaware. That's those who are grown ups who think controls are what grown up sensible people should support.

But they don't want to know what that means in practice.
 
Reading Maya Goodfellow excellent book Hostile Environment there is a lot on migration in general. Not just about asylum seekers.

In fact one her arguments so far in the book is that the distinctions made between different kinds of migrants is part of the problem.

Take so called economic migrants. The mainstream discussion gets into how "we" need them. So then it goes into what kind of visas, what categories, skilled or unskilled etc

Ends up treating migrants as commodities not people.

Which is one of the problems with engaging with people who have concerns. One can end up accepting the parameters of the discussion without meaning to

And she says the distinction between skilled and unskilled isn't as commonsense and obvious as it may seem.

Looking at footnotes and this website came up


It was designed for teachers. However it gives a lot of historical info across British history in short pieces that are accessible to read. Little case studies of the different migrants who came here from Roman times.

She mentioned it as she recounts in book how she was asked on radio show with Melanie Phillips. Who went on about Europe being white and immigration being unsettling.

That people who support migrants coming here are virtue signalling. Seen that kind of criticism in some posts here.
 
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