It is the political football that is migration or more to the point immigration, as we are the offspring of….says YZ Patel
Always the first, second , third , fourth and fifth topic to be discussed on Question Time on every show. It’s a obstreperous subject for most of us as without it we wouldn’t be here, yet puts us in a onerous position to give a view that is impartial and achromatic.
It is the political football that is migration or more to the point immigration, as we are the offspring of. What stance can we therefore take on this highly contentious and highly divisive issue? Can we the beneficiaries of immigration ever take the stance that the country is busting at the seams unable to cope, the essential services the National Health Service , education and housing are unable to handle the constant influx of migrants in the numbers that are arriving ? These migrants who are the direct result of the United Kingdoms’ membership of the European Union whose fundamental tenet is the ‘freedom of movement’ between member countries and the evident flaw now it being totally unmitigated.
Certain countries are more attractive for employment and as often reported in various streams of the media with their particular standpoints which is pro or anti, it is more often the benefit system that is available that attracts certain sections that hold membership to come to these shores rather than to add value to the country yet others will argue otherwise that they actually put more in and take less out, depending on what report you read in which publication.
The current political incumbents are now trying to bring in legislation to curb the ability to immediately claim benefits, to some , the ever growing UK Independence Party this has come a bit too late. To many this is not a protest vote, it is what they see as a issue that concerns and resonates to put in now two Members of Parliament. It is a issue that simply won’t go away whatever report whichever side puts out to support its’ views.
People from other countries from the former Soviet bloc, this country is more attractive to them and despite the guardianistas proclaiming that Slovakia is a great country is developing very very fast has all the infrastructure in place I have yet to hear many in fact anybody from the United Kingdom setting up shop there en masse.
That simply is a fact and the numbers revealed this week simply prove that. That being 250,000 nett migration to these shores is a very big number as big as the population of one of the UK’s bigger cities no less. There is therefore with that number the inevitable pressure on public services and the visceral change in the make up of certain areas.
The difficult yet glaring answer is simply to manage migration. To cherry pick the best people who are most needed, if farmers in Hereford aren’t able to find people within this country to pick in their fields then allowing them to bring in people to do that work. Make no mistake about it as Michael Gove intimated in the said programme there are people that contribute a great deal to this country who add to it being a great country and it’s not about stopping those but those who don’t and having a mechanism to control that and at the moment the United Kingdom unlike others simply do not have the tools to do that.
The UK have had to abandon their borders by virtue of their membership to the European Union. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle and unless there is a referendum on membership as the European Union are not in favour of changing their stance (Mr Barroso the other week) then this is a issue that will continue to be the first second third fourth and fifth subject on every programme until something does happen and what the forthcoming election will be fought on. Try as they might to shift the focus it is simply something that will not go away.