Population of UK increases by 2 million...

[colonel]

Which under the present circumstances, they shouldn't

[Stewie_McGriffin]

I drive a Japanese car, but we don't have (or need) half a million of them over here to make them. A lot of our culture these days is imported from America, but we don't have mass immigration from the US. So we don't need 2 million Indians, Pakistanis, Africans or whatevers. from outside the EU, to enjoy a curry - a few selected immigrants could easily pass on the knowledge.

[ You obviously didn't read my post correctly. What I was trying to say is that people such as yourself are stating that the "British way of life" is eroding quickly. The fact is that if it wasn't for immigration and inventions abroad the British way of life would be nothing like the way it is now. Similarly you state that you drive a Japanese car. Most likely it'll be a Nissan (built in Sunderland) or Toyota (built in Swindon or France). So where do you get your figure of half a million from? And what is this "them" that you refer to? ]

[max_tranmere]

Stewie. British culture is hard to define, you are totally correct that we have embraced many things that have arrived from overseas, but, as I said earlier, there is a differnce between cosmopolitan and saturation. When your child is one of only two kids in his/her class that speaks English as a first language, when the nativity play - which that primary school did every year for the last 150 years - gets scrapped because hardly any kids in the school now celebrate Chritsmas, when Christmas lights don't go up in a certain district because of the huge muslim population that now lives there, when 100 year old pubs close down in muslim areas of cities in the Midlands because none of the locals drink, when you don't hear anyone speaking English on the bus in London, or Birmingham - these are all things that are evidence of our way of life and culture either being eroded or it disappearing totally in whole areas of the UK. That are many other examples of this changing too. This is bound to freak people out.

[sparky]

Max,

So much of what you describe is disturbing, particularly the school situation and how things will potentially be in 20 years time when these children are adults and creating the next generation.

Fortunately I do not live in an area where the change is so profound.
I really do not know how I would handle being in an area or situation where I felt like I was the foreigner.

My father owned a shop in a Birmingham suburb 50 years ago, and I am sure then those living in the area were almost all true British Citizens (i.e. had British parents, grandparents, great-grand parents...).
I know that area now has a very substantial immigrant population including many muslims.

[jeffhaskeft]

i kind of agree with some of the points addressed by stewie but your point about the polish and Romanians going home because they are 'homesick' is total bollocks!

the fact is, this country is probably heading for a recession, (i said probably) all indicators lean to this theory/fact

poland and Romania are actually growing economically very well, while the uk is in a slow down

i know that in my town where a lot of polish came to work and have settled down for good ( a family live on my street) a lot of them have gone back to poland because they can get good jobs with the skills they have learnt over here and have a better standard of living back in poland

also, you point out that many doctors etc, are of a foreign national
while i was on holiday in india i spoke to a taxi driver (and had in confirmed by a guy who worked in a Restaurant i frequented ) that a vast number of indian doctors worked in the uk for around 5 years to make enough money to go back to india and then live the good life

[JonnyHungwell]

No, my car was built in Japan - it's a Honda, one of the models not built in Europe at the time.

I accept the fact that this country is made up of immigrants - but that was then and this is now. We can't afford to let people move to wherever they want, because before we knew it, half of the Africa and the Asian Sub Continent would be on our doorstep. The time of cultures being formed by immigration is over - now they're formed more by TV, movies, global corporations and the internet.

I've nothing against controlled and limitedimmigration from the third world, but by-and-large their place is in their own sector of the world, until such time the economies level up or down. Taking highly educated people from poorer regions is obviously good for us, but not so good for them - but taking manual workers and those with no skills at all is the economics of the madhouse.

[Von Boy]

A funny thing happened a year ago with a work colleague. He was offered job in switzerland, and could move there permanently......his wife and two children.......no problems.........

BUT

A little known law was introduced by this government, in late 2005, that if you are looking to move abroad and claim non dom residence from the UK, and have any assets in the UK, my friend has a house left to him that he rents out, he will have to pay an "exit tax"....... this is around 22% of what the assets are worth at that date.........(pensions excluded as they will always be taxed in the UK)....that is if the the taxman will allow it !!!

Simply this is to stop people avoiding inheritance tax in years to come......I wonder how many people are aware of this law ??

NO LAWS FOR THE INCOMING PEOPLE >>>>> But for the hard working families who want out .......they've got you by the balls !!

[JonnyHungwell]

Just as well, because they'd use it as an excuse to export all their criminals to London - as did the Bulgarians, Romanians and Hungarians. God help us if Turkey do get in, because next would come Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. You could then bet your life that all the fundamentalists would move on mass to London.

[one eyed jack]

Im with McFister and thats been my thought a long time now.

I drive up and down the country all the time on the way to shoots and I often wonder with al the vast empty spaces of land that a villag or a town could be built there instead of cramming people into the already busy cities.

Spread em out. 2 million people means more taxpayers. Not necessarily 2 million more spongers off the dole.

If the people who fiddled the dole all suddenly stopped I wonder how many people would actually be on state benefit.

Oh yes and there has to be at least 200,000 consumers of porn in that figure and maybe 10 more One Eyed Jack fans for sure...Ha ha just joking.

Ok maybe 4 or 5 at least.