We aren't actually showing anyone any charity!

We are meeting internationally agreed conventions. I can only imagine what the EU's response would be if we did not.

We cannot patrol every inch of coastline. Nor can we legally just return people to their countries of origin, if they have a legitimate claim to refugee status. That needs to be established, and that takes time and resources.

You might wish it otherwise, but we are a law-abiding country who accepts our responsibilities.

We have no other choice but to work with others to solve this. We cannot do this on our own. We cannot just set up an offshore processing centre and then put people back on boats to whence they came.

You won't like being told this, but Brexit has made solving this much harder.

If people aren't refugees, then they certainly ought to be returned. Illegal economic migration cannot be accepted. The problem is, unhappily, despite your cynicism, it appears that most are.

It's really easy to look at this and criticise. We can all do that. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Finding impractical solutions is also easy. It's much harder to find practical, workable solutions. So far, no-one has. Other than co-operation and attacking the gangs at source.

The only realism in the above is the need for European governments to get together. The rest is just hot air.

Identifying problems is always easy. Forecasting the consequences foolish. Preparing for possible eventualities wise.

We now live in a changing world, which is going to see the pace of those changes increasing. They affect us. We cannot isolate ourselves from them. We need to manage them, and mitigate the negative impacts.

Coming to terms with these realities might be very hard for some, but as a country it is essential that we do so.

Forecasting implies a degree of expectation and certainty. In an uncertain world, that is foolish. We need to prepare, retain flexibility and adaptability. If we face a future which we can realistically anticipate will involve migrant flows, both in and out of our country, then we need to stop thinking that the only answer is to erect barriers to stop them. Barriers don't work. They also isolate. We need to redouble our efforts to both manage the flows, in partnership with all the other stakeholders, and to learn how to absorb those we do accept. Currently, we are failing at both.

The idea that anyone actually just allows this to happen because they can profit from it is the kind of stuff found in the worst type of conspiracy theory site. It's in no-one's interests to have a dysfunctional world economy at war with itself. Of course, there are mega rich people. That's not new. They, though, are as intimately bound up with ensuring the world both survives and prospers as anyone else. They don't need any short term gains. What difference does it make if they have 10 billion or 100 billion? They want to make sure their grandchildren have 5 billion in 50 years time and are still alive to enjoy it.

That's why forums like the WEF are so important, and why the ideas that it's all a way to defraud the ordinary person such nonsense.

That isn't at all what I am saying. It is just what you think I am saying, so read it again and this time try a little harder to understand what I actually said.

The idea that I don't care is an insult. I love my country, and want it to be a safe and successful place for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

That isn't at all what I am saying. It is just what you think I am saying, so read it again and this time try a little harder to understand what I actually said.

The idea that I don't care is an insult. I love my country, and want it to be a safe and successful place for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

That's what Millenials said about old people who voted for Brexit.

Edited by Slimey Toad (25 Mar 2022 10.56am)