Waddatit.

I love the way it polarizes into

1) Petty nationalism
2) Extreme retorts (you'd let everyone in, let no one in, all x are bad and so on).

The reality lies somewhere in the median. You want some immigration, access to asylum for and a well structured process with a funded Immigration Service suitably equipped to do the job at hand.

Plus you need to hit the places that employ illegal workers, which generally ties into a black market human trafficking operation. As it stands the consequence of employing illegal workers is a fine, that rarely exceeds the equivalent of a 20k a year salary.

Ironically each time the UK has taken stricter and more rigid immigration laws, its resulted in an increased problem with illegal immigration, human trafficking operations and illegal workers (who you can pay a couple of quid an hour, rather than eight quid a hour, and only risk a fine that difference easily makes up).

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

Indeed, its worth noting that the French police are involving in clearing out camps (which are illegal camps), but each time they do, new camps spring up.

Of course its their problem. Ours seems to be a baffling inability to detect people smuggling themselves over an ocean, on which there are minimal points of ingress (ie to get from Calais to the UK you can either use a ferry or the Eurostar / Tunnel).

It shouldn't be a problem.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

Jamie mate no they are not. They are actually encouraging the camps, one example is them giving some of the camps fresh water supply FFS.

How is that "clearing camps" ?

"It's not the bullet that's got my name on it that concerns me; it's all them other ones flyin' around marked 'To Whom It May Concern.'"

What I was getting at was there are people who think that the immigrants are a homogeneous mass rather than individual stories and reasons to be where they are. Of course I'm not denying there is a group mentality when trying to get across.

Tarring them all with the same derogatory brush as is seen in large sections of the media only serves to dehumanise. As someone said the other day, they were more upset by a lion dying than the death of a migrant.

Read in the paper today that cash for the families of illegal immigrants will be stopped. Not sure if that includes family members that are legally here.

I wonder how much of the 'immigrants have a cushy life' narrative seen in our press (which seems to have esconsed itself in the national vernacular) filters its way to the countries that these people are coming from? Be ironic if the anti immigrant stance is actually encouraging more.

I find it interesting how these issues become moral ones.
Morality and reality are often very different and although morality can effect reality it should not be in denial of it.
The reality is that the migrant problem is not finite it is virtually infinite in fact. As quickly as we allow migrants here there will be another group right behind them. That is a practical problem and one where morality has to be tempered with common sense.
Regardless of circumstances, we cannot continue to allow an endless stream of migration into this country. Any one who disputes that is insane.
The question is, at what point do we say enough is enough with net migration numbers ? Do we wait until we are at crisis point or do we act sooner rather that later and head of a disaster. There will be no point in crying over spilt milk.