Ignoring the perceived immigration situation will not make it go away and has, in no small part been responsible for the emergence of the BNP, to the point where they secured nearly a million votes. New Labour's knee-jerk denunciation of the far right, (rather than confronting their argument and destroying it) only pushes those voters who have a percieved axe to grind further into the arms of the far right. Not listening to the electorate, addressing their concerns and merely denouncing them as knuckle-dragging racist xenophobes is what has got the BNP to this point. All they have had to say is "we will listen to you". And it has worked. They are not far away from securing parliamentary seats at a general election. Heaven forbid what would happen if they had a leader who had natural political charisma.
Like it or not guys, yes we are a nation of immigrants and our tolerance and openness to other cultures is indeed a very positive thing and has contributed to our society immensely. But that doesnt mean we are in a Garden Of Eden.
The open door policy is not working. Why, if you are a true asylum seeker would you pick Britain, rather than another liberal democracy closer to where your journey started from? Anyone who says it isnt down to money I fear maybe deluding themselves. This policy and that of economic migrancy have to be addressed. Current central government has already made a pigs ear of the situation regarding economic migrants amongst the professions (vis, the ability for a company to send staff over from other countries rather than recruiting locally for particular skills, whilst at the same time cutting back on locally employed contract or permanent staff - Lloyds/HBOS being a singular case in point). It might seem an ugly fact, an unpopular one to confront, but because of the welfare state in the UK, there are not insignificant numbers who wish to join the queue. And, there is a network of organisations out there who will tell them which buttons to press and how to get what they want.
And its all of you lot who are paying for it. Thats before we come to talking about our own sink estates, who have a plentiful supply of equally willing volunteers who wish to make a career out of living off state handouts.
The elephant in the room is not necessarily immigration, but the welfare system, which in turn attracts the non-professional economic migrants in consistent numbers. A culture of entitlement has mushroomed over the last 30-40 years.
If you're worried at all about where all the money is going, and whether youre happy for your kids and their kids too, probably, to pick up the tab for it all, these are subjects that cannot be ignored. Maybe not in this forum, but certainly on a wider political level.
I'm currently an ex-pat in Europe, but still a UK resident, for now and still obviously pay taxes into the UK. As is the case with a significant number in this part of Europe, the ex-pats are professionals, filling specific vacancies, as was also the case in Dubai before the wheels started to fall off that particular wagon. A case of putting more in than you're taking out.
Sorry if it offends, but I dont see those who were cleared out of Calais yesterday as being of a similar ilk. The system is allowing itself to have the piss taken out of it and the political elite are just watching it happen.
Time for me to go and have my Millwall tattoos lasered off and to drop my John Bull Union Jack suit into the dry cleaners, perhaps.