Little Things That Irk You 3 1/3: The Final Insult

[sj33]

I've had a fair few people on Facebook defriend me this week over my scathing criticism of racist UKIP. I don't mind that, but it does seem that a fair few people are voting for them not simply out of protest. This is the most depressing thing,

The fact that so many people subscribe to the (false) idea that the UK has mass immigration, and that this is somehow a bad thing, irks me, The fact that this myth is peddled by all of the main political parties despite being factually incorrect irks me. The fact that anti-immigration and crypto-racism is becoming more politically acceptable irks me.

[speedlolita]

Guy I know has a 0 hour a week contract and rents a place with his student GF, we work on a website together.

His parents bailed him out (to the sum of ?3k) in April and he's already blown all the money, saying he needs time off of working on the site to get his finances back in order.

Just what the ****, how is that even possible?

[BaronSqwelch]

I think you need to be asking why are they voting UKIP?

People are pissed off with their current & past governments for their lack of backbone & constant dithering over possible future action regarding Europe.

Its obviously a protest vote. Look at how many seats the Tories lost & how many UKIP gained. Its just a warning to the main 2 to let them know that its the people who should have their say & that the main 2 need to take heed.
Everyone knows that UKIP wouldn't even know how to govern mate

They are voting UKIP because they are either racist or they are a moron. Or both. A protest vote is for a comedy party. (like mine for the Greens )

The Tories got battered because they are in power. Last time, Labour got battered...that's how democracy works.

I work in a factory...the guys working for me aren't 'protesting'...its all "****ing immigrants this" "****ing immigrants that"..obviously they could be the exception but I somehow doubt it.

All they seem to care about is immigration, if any if them had the sense to look into their other policies then that "protest vote" wouldn't be such a lark. UKIPs policies on workers rights make the Tories seem like hardcore socialists!!

[Guts]

The fact that so many people subscribe to the (false) idea that the UK has mass immigration, and that this is somehow a bad thing, irks me, The fact that this myth is peddled by all of the main political parties despite being factually incorrect irks me.

Mass immigration is happening in Europe and the UK, and it's only growing in the future. It's not a lie.

One of the more recent trends in migration has been the arrival of workers from the new EU member states in Eastern Europe. In 2010, there were 7.0 million foreign-born residents in the UK, corresponding to 11.3% of the total population. Of these, 4.76 million (7.7%) were born outside the EU and 2.24 million (3.6%) were born in another EU Member State.[339] The proportion of foreign-born people in the UK remains slightly below that of many other European countries.[340] However, immigration is now contributing to a rising population[341] with arrivals and UK-born children of migrants accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that a net total of 2.3 million migrants moved to the UK in the 15 years from 1991 to 2006.[342][343] In 2008 it was predicted that migration would add 7 million to the UK population by 2031,[344] though these figures are disputed.[345] The ONS reported that net migration rose from 2009 to 2010 by 21 per cent to 239,000.[346] In 2011 the net increase was 251,000: immigration was 589,000, while the number of people emigrating (for more than 12 months) was 338,000.[347][348]

195,046 foreign nationals became British citizens in 2010,[349] compared to 54,902 in 1999.[349][350] A record 241,192 people were granted permanent settlement rights in 2010, of whom 51 per cent were from Asia and 27 per cent from Africa.[351] 25.5 per cent of babies born in England and Wales in 2011 were born to mothers born outside the UK, according to official statistics released in 2012.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK#Migration

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

They are voting UKIP because they are either racist or they are a moron. Or both. A protest vote is for a comedy party. (like mine for the Greens )

So if ppl don't agree with the governments stance on Europe, & see the other main party as basically the tories in disguise, then how would you get your point across to those two that you are not happy? By using your vote in a way that ensures they sit up & take notice.

The Tories got battered because they are in power. Last time, Labour got battered...that's how democracy works

But the question is WHY did they get battered last time?

I work in a factory...the guys working for me aren't 'protesting'...its all "****ing immigrants this" "****ing immigrants that"..obviously they could be the exception but I somehow doubt it.

Well i work in a similar environment & its not actually like that here. We work with a couple of immigrants & have no issue with them. The only convo that has emerged regarding UKIP is regarding Brussels' hold on the UK & how much money is being spent there when we have our own government that is now basically powerless, & that we are also paying for. THAT is the reason they are intending to vote UKIP down here. Its got nothing to do with 'bloody foreigners'.
My missus who is Polish btw agrees that the UK should govern itself fully, & she hopes that Poland doesn't go all in & take on the euro as currency.

I see their point of view tbh. No one is listening to the people, the date for a referendum keeps getting pushed back. What can you do to get the message across?

[BaronSqwelch]

(Sorry...am drunk and on my phone so quoting etc won't be happening)

You work in manufacturing Eddie? Then unless its in a Union Flag factory surely you and your mortgage are at least 50% reliant on E.U exports? Leaving, rather than pushing for reform is stupidity.

Why did the Tories get hammered and Labour last time?
Because they are paying for being in power! Making decisions in government is hard!
They promise the world in opposition and get voted in...then reality hits and they upset the public because promises can't be kept. Its happened at almost every election since I started voting in 97.
Look at the Lib Dems lately...lost nearly their whole vote for reneging on their promise to let students remain freeloaders!

UKIPs success has me fearing for the referendum on the EU the Tories have promised. Even for the Scottish vote.

If all else fails I will join the million English people in Spain. Unless of course the SIPs party suddenly gain lots of idiot voters it will be cool.

[shaffy_oppa]

They just opened the damn door and there's already a massive queue for evolve.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

(Sorry...am drunk and on my phone so quoting etc won't be happening)

You work in manufacturing Eddie? Then unless its in a Union Flag factory surely you and your mortgage are at least 50% reliant on E.U exports? Leaving, rather than pushing for reform is stupidity.

The Common Market worked perfectly well before.

Why did the Tories get hammered and Labour last time?
Because they are paying for being in power! Making decisions in government is hard!
They promise the world in opposition and get voted in...then reality hits and they upset the public because promises can't be kept. Its happened at almost every election since I started voting in 97.
Look at the Lib Dems lately...lost nearly their whole vote for reneging on their promise to let students remain freeloaders!.

Sorry mate, i don't think i mentioned that i was talking about local elections, not the General Elections for the reasons why ppl vote in this extreme way, as they know its not as damaging but can still give a clear sign to either of the main 2 that they really support.

UKIPs success has me fearing for the referendum on the EU the Tories have promised. Even for the Scottish vote.

I thought (forgive me if I've misinterpreted) that you were all for joining the EU regarding our reliance on exports & so didn't want a vote on it. Maybe you're unhappy with certain areas of it?

If all else fails I will join the million English people in Spain. Unless of course the SIPs party suddenly gain lots of idiot voters it will be cool.

Plenty of English idiots & morons & racists living in Spain right now. I'm waiting for the huge 'bloody english' backlash from Spaniards that will no doubt in the not so distant future.
Lets not forget that Spains economy is not so hot right now (unlike their weather ) which is a worrying sign too

[sj33]

Mass immigration is happening in Europe and the UK, and it's only growing in the future. It's not a lie.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK#Migration

It's called labour mobility, and it's a good thing. Immigration is always characterised in a one-dimensional 'they took our jobs' manner, as if immigration is simply one way traffic putting strain on one single nation. The reality is very different - emigration from the UK by British nationals is also high, as high as immigration - if not moreso.

But the big issue is how immigration and emigration is characterised as a massive evil. This is the lie.

Nobody stops to think about what would happen to the 2 million+ British nationals in mainland Europe if the UK withdrew from the EU. They would suddenly find themselves scrambling to gain the required visas or else resulting in the separation of families. This is a very real situation that people are already facing due to the UK having some of the strictest visa polices in the developed world.

Unfortunately, people are too busy portraying immigrants as the source of society's problems to see the benefits that immigration brings, and the destruction that tougher visa controls and a withdrawal from the EU would bring.

[Brad]

I don't think anything bad of those who voted ukip. This government has failed those people and failed them massively to allow them to feel the need to vote for ukip.

There are more people coming to this country than there are leaving it and it's been that way for many years. If this isn't a problem then the government should bloody well have explained why to the millions of people who don't have access to, or the ability to understand, all the data surrounding these figures. They just see 2 things: high unemployment and more people entering the country and to many people the start of the solution is simple; close the gates. If you came home and your kitchen was flooded you'd stop the leak before you startes bailing the water out. I know there is more to it than that but many don't and no one is explaining it to them.

[sj33]

That's how labour mobility is supposed to work. People from countries with weaker economies and generally lower skillsets migrate to a country where unskilled labour positions are plentiful and also undesirable to the populace (such as the UK). At the same time, skilled workers migrate to other economies where those skills are in demand (British emigration into mainland Europe - which is much greater than immigration into the UK).

I have very little sympathy for the idea that people vote UKIP due to the lack of accurate information from the government. The main parties themselves utilise the weakest in society (immigrants, people on benefits etc.) to deflect the blame from themselves and their own broken policies, The main parties want people to think that immigrants are the cause of unemployment, because it gets them out of having to find the real solutions to the real problems and explain why their policies aren't working. It's oh so easy to point at immigration to explain high unemployment rates rather than address their own economic mismanagement. And people buy it. What they didn't count on was crypto-fascists like UKIP capitalising on this.

Today, more than any other point in history, people have no excuse for ignorance. More than any other point in history, information and the means to do our own research are at our fingertips. People have less excuse than every to buy into the political propaganda fed into the people through the media. The government should explain things properly? It's in their interests to not explain it, and to let people continue to believe that immigrants are the cause.

[Guts]

That's how labour mobility is supposed to work. People from countries with weaker economies and generally lower skillsets migrate to a country where unskilled labour positions are plentiful and also undesirable to the populace (such as the UK).

Except we ("we" meaning developed European countries) don't have plentiful unskilled or undesirable labour positions anymore even for our own population. We've probably lost millions of industrial/manufacturing jobs to China and Asia in general (where the companies can happily exploit people and work them to death for pennies). We have high unemployment, especially among young people looking to start their careers. Almost 50% of the young Spanish people are without work for example. There's no "undesirable" work, every crappy cleaning job has numerous applicants. In a global recession at the moment, Europe has no need for millions of unskilled immigrants who are even less likely to get employment than the general population, because they cannot speak the language, lack education etc.

At the same time, skilled workers migrate to other economies where those skills are in demand (British emigration into mainland Europe - which is much greater than immigration into the UK)

Seems like that's not the case.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/27/net-migration-uk-jumps-30-percent

The figures show that 532,000 people migrated to Britain in the year ending last September. The figure includes 60,000 more EU migrants and 25,000 migrants from the rest of the world compared with a year previously. More than 218,000 were students.

A total of 320,000 emigrants left Britain last year, 23,000 fewer than the previous year and the lowest level since 2008, when the number peaked at 427,000.

These factors combined to increase net migration from 154,000 in the year to September 2012 to 212,000 in the year to September 2013.

And then there's the whole matter of illegal immigrants, which probably aren't accounted for in the official numbers.

[briareos_kerensky]

Long weekend (starts now), Turtles in Time (SNES) at home, SNES power brick gives up.

[Neon Ignition]

People voting for UKIP doesn't really bother me, its a fad thing like the hype train for Lib Dems at the last elections or the rise of BNP before that. As with the predecessing fads its fuelled a lot by unhappiness in the main two parties so that swell of support vanishes as fast as it rises once reality hits. We'll still be stuck with either the party that strangles the purse strings and the party that merrily drives us into recession. As for immigration, like others have said, its a laughably ironic issue for a nation born of it and also one that has no issue with emmigration.

[DANGEROUS-3]

That they never made a 'Naked Gun 44 and a quarter; The Final Insult Part 2'.