It's simply not true that the UK will no longer have a workforce prepared to care for an aging population. Keir Starmer would lick Trump's arsehole clean at the drop of a hat.

This post might as well been about Trump’s America. Cut social safety nets to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest amongst us. Scapegoat immigrants instead of having a process towards citizenship. Not acknowledging that a 2-3 generations immigrants children & grandkids will be your new middle class.

It's interesting that colonial powers that relied on emigration to displace the original inhabitants, exploited and displaced those peoples, were also displaced by other countries in the past. Anglo Saxons, Norman's etc which they now assume are the rightful inhabitants of their little island

I think it's really important to frame immigration like this - as a distraction created by the rich to scapegoat their theft of society's labour. Talking about how we need immigrants to do shitty jobs is dehumanising, and it conceals the real issue - why do we have shitty jobs at all?

It took decades to realise and legislate against industries that killed workers. It seems few lessons have been learnt when profits are to be made, and corporate taxes can be minimised, and workers can continued to be exploited

Agreed. Applicable to an awful lot of today's hot issues.

The people stealing wealth worldwide come in limousines and private yachts /jets, not in dinghies.

The funny thing is that most of us are immigrants/descendants of immigrants. Even those who claim deep ancestral roots are descended from people who came from somewhere else. Nations, as we know them, are recent inventions in the scope of human history. So really, we’re all the product of movement.

immigration is just another distraction, like nationalism, that helps to maintain power for the few over the many. The only conversation worth having is one that comes under the banner of wealth inequality. Solving inequality will solve most of the worlds problems, including immigration.

The thing I don’t get is that I could have voted for a Rory Stewart Tory Party and here I am feeling like I’m ultra hard left for wanting people to not have awful lives, being accepting of immigration and just not even being fussed about Trans other than them not being hated, what has happened?

It's so disheartening. Why do they always do the most worst, horrible,not beneficial thing? Why do multimillionaires deserve anything? They are already have everything they need as well as everything they crave. Because they're sad,cruel and empty people

This I’m finding it increasingly depressing I literally have no nostalgia sense, I just want a vibrant thriving country

The only righteous war in recent history was World War 2. Fighting fascism across multiple theatres and countries.Apart from the Marshall Plan, nothing of any consequence has been achieved.America and Western countries influencing, invading and destroying those they disagree with. apart from Israel

When will the people rise?

In the end, we have always been okay with immigration. There’s always problems when a wave comes in, the usual crap is said about jobs, housing etc, but then folk get to know them, they settle and have kids, the kids grow up and then there’s no difference other than a surname…

Peak Human gives a worrying perspective on this. www.amazon.co.uk/Peak-Human-W...

You and honest have a loose connection.

This is a stuck narrative as it is aided, supported and amplified by specific media outlets to drown out any other narrative. Polictians are now afraid of losing power to the populist.

Owen I really appreciate your point of view, but I wonder if focusing on the utility of migration and the "value" we bring isn't that useful when people already see life as hard and not improving.

Maybe focusing on the humanity/moral duty that we all have to each other is the route to actually convincing people again. People move, have moved, will always move. We can build structures to help people thrive, or we can hate each other, and we've seen terrible consequences of the latter.

I think your point is by far the best approach to this discussion. We should support the right of everyone to find a better life for themselves. And those migrants all have stories about what forced them to move. Those issues are the ones we can work together to solve, instead of building walls.

So tired of it Owen. Our Political class, almost to a man, are hollow, careerist, lickspittles, willing to jump on any bad faith bandwagon to cover for their deep corruption and incompetence. Meanwhile, systematic problems are never fixed, just tinkered. Their only seeming job, to protect capital.

Vote Green.