The reason that everyone wants to come here is that they know we have a generous benefits system, lax borders that you could drive a bulldozer through un-noticed and soft politicians who are scared of their own shadow and are petrified of being branded racist. Some people are so ashamed of our illustrious past that they denounce everything that is great about Britain and are hell bent on changing the social make up of this country. These politicians are usually the left leaning kind.
They should remember that this country has done some great things, we won battles that we probably shouldn't have, we punched well above our weight. We had great inventors, scientists and engineers, but just because the left is ashamed to be British we have this ludicrous situation where we can't control who's coming in. Blair and Brown should be shot for deliberate dereliction of duty the way they abandoned the borders of this country. The damage is now irreversible.

We really don't. In order to claim UK benefits you have to have worked here for at least three years or be considered for Asylum (those considered candidates for Asylum are forbidden by law from employment in the UK, meaning the state necessitates paying them welfare benefits - irrespective of how qualified they actually are).

The UK Borders are much harder to get through than almost any of the European countries, the problem has been that our Border forces have been using an antiquated system that was supposed to have been replaced by 1996 - its was finally replaced at the end of 2014, and even that system is just a fix. The UK has also always been reluctant to become directly involved in the idea of a European police force and databases etc.

We're exceptionally fortunate we're an island nation and points of ingress are limited.

Problem of the UK, we often claim we want something, but then we never actually want to pay for it (which applies to left and right wing).

So,Brown and Blair "abandoned the borders of this country" with the result that "we cant control who's coming in".,did they?

Do you have any idea what you are talking about beyond blind prejudice?

If you are referring to EU freedom of movement,the roots of E European EU immigration lie in Margaret Thatcher's speech in Bruges as PM in 1988 and the Maastrict Treaty under Major's watch.

As Tory MEP Roger Helmer put it in 2002 (well after Blair came to power):

"We are in favour of it (the EU enlargement) , for three reasons. First, we owe a moral debt to the countries of central and eastern Europe, which were allowed to fall under the pall of communism after the second world war. Second, by entrenching democracy and the rule of law in eastern Europe, we ensure stability and security for the future. Third, an extra hundred million people in our single market may be a short-term liability, but long term will contribute to growth and prosperity."

If you are talking about granting asylum to refugees,the rights are based on a UN Convention signed in 1951,not as one might think from reading your opinions,1997-2010.

If you are talking about neither,but non-EU economic migrants,that's a situation spanning well beyond the UK at the present time,with other countries taking a heavier brunt,and about as closely linked to Blair/Brown,as your expressed views are to the objective.

Under the (non Labour) Coalition's spending review,the UK Border Agency was required to implement cuts of 23%.

The current situation in Calais results somewhat more from events in France,events within the wider EU,and events further afield,rather than from lack of border controls by the UK,whether under the last Labour government or otherwise.

Edited by legaleagle (27 Jul 2015 5.20pm)