I have already written this morning of a sense of hopeless, powerless poverty in the UK. There are current trends which can only make this worse. Mass forced migration into and out if the UK is one.
It is shocking when the Guardian reports this morning that:
EU nationals living in Britain should make a file of documents that prove they have lived in the country since before the June referendum, according to the chair of a House of Lords committee.
Helena Kennedy QC suggested collecting together bills, rental or home ownership documents, employment paperwork, or evidence of appointments for those who do not have jobs.
And if this is relevant here it is equally relevant for UK citizens living in the EU. Brexit is creating the risk of massive enforced migration. Little creates hopeless, powerless poverty more effectively than that.
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Yes, shocking isn’t it. But sadly I think it pragmatic to suggest such a thing. It’s getting to the point where I hear or see things that I never thought I’d hear or see in my lifetime on an almost weekly basis. That’s worrying.
Very bleak.
From a related but different angle. I myself left the UK a few years ago and moved to the Netherlands. Having since started a family I had always envisaged us moving to the UK at some point whilst they were growing up. But I just can’t see it happening now, especially post-Brexit.
The standard of living for ordinary people is much higher in the Netherlands than the UK. Austerity has been much less severe here and has started with much lower hanging fruit.
The standard of state education is much higher (there are almost no private schools – the only exceptions being international schools for expats).
Public services are less likely to be run for a profit here than in the UK – for example the railways function well and are affordable. Transport is well integrated.
And my employment prospects here, for high paid work, are now much higher than back home, unless I choose to go and live in London, which is unaffordable, cold and dirty. The public sector that I left behind is now too insecure and low paid to be a viable alternative.
I find that very sad, because I miss the UK and it is where my heart lies.
Growing up I had always bought into the idea that because the UK had one of the world’s largest economies, we were also one of the richest. Now I see that for what it is – codswallop. Ordinary people are better off in a lot of countries with smaller economies, and there are a heap of reasons for that.
I understand that
I see real prospect of my own departure from the UK in the next few years
Before you go, at least share your exit strategy with us as we might find it helpful.
Which strategy?
The one for my move (get a job with an EU university using my Irish passport)?
Or that for the UK leaving the EU?
There is a three minute item from Carole Newman of Trinity College Dublin on the web on the subject of creating jobs in Africa where she suggests that 850 million new jobs will be needed in the next thirty years and pointing to the economic sectors concerned. If so then something may have to give, but what, where, how and to what effect are interesting questions.
As a wise man once said:
‘Immigrants do not cause economic problems in the UK: it is clear that they add value to our economy.I will always favour policy in favour of allowing the UK to provide a home to as many people as it can, and I want people to have the freedom to travel work and live where they can, if possible
But if populations and communities are destabilised as a result then how to address the issues that arise is a proper issue for debate and not doing so is cowardly..we may need to restrict it’
The first differential is good
The second is a problem that needs management
The current problem is that all the benefits of immigration go to the rich and all the hurt is piled on the poor. You have to switch that around.
If a company wants to hire a worker from overseas on the grounds that the skills are not available then it is because the company should be paying the tax to cover the training of those left behind. You cannot allow business to profit from the almost infinite supply of global labour while failing to invest in training and increasing productivity and paying for all the damage that causes. Government has the means to make this work.
The view from the other side of migration is worth consideration.
That other side is the “poaching” of trained/educated people from other countries.
I have long wondered when the backlash against that would start.
In this country, it seems the education system concentrates on educating the majority to be useful, but not dangerously so.
Failing to train people has long been the main employment fault…if the country starts sending people back, or making conditions here intolerable for migrants, it may well be cutting its own throat.
Although the minimally-educated bigots seem to actually relish the prospect.
Your ancestors are the reason this
outrage cannot happen. Because we are
used to free movement with Ire since
‘fore independence and want to keep this
relationship. But Dublin cannot negotiate or
even discuss it with the UK.
A competency that is handled at EU level.
Can anyone really be worried about free movement
under Brexit arrangements ceasing? There is
no practical way to resolve keeping it for some
territories in the EU but not for all.
Richard –
You really need to ban this guy.
He is
I checked all his posts
All are now deleted
And he’s in banning software now
Not discussed enough is the privilege of EU citizenship. Citizenship is always a privilege. Given that this is something we currently ‘enjoy’ and benefit from (if only by joining at particular queue at the airport) we will notice if it is taken away.
I still find it very strange that a majority can vote to remove rights from members of their community against their will. I hope that the clever lawyers will figure out that it is not legal to take it away. I do not want to loose my EU citizenship, and am searching for a way to retain it – help!
No one seems to be discussing this
A letter in the Independent online yesterday asked whether when we lose EU citizenship will we revert to being subjects of the crown again.
Yes. If the sun has its way we will probably have to pray towards BuckPal every morning….funny really, since the royals got their land/property by, basically, stealing it.
I wonder who said this:
“Although socialism is widely held by the establishment to be outdated, the things that are most popular in British society today are little pockets of socialism, where areas of life have been excluded from the crude operation of market forces and are protected for the benefit of the community”
I note Murderoch has had his wicked way with Tracies government…
Still consider that, as it is increasingly clear Britain will be poorer outside the EU, Labour should join the Lib Dems and say they have reexamined the issue and now clearly want to remain. Polls suggest that the electorate too is having second thoughts.
The leave tendency could be tamed by undertaking to provide sufficient resources for proper enforcement of EU freedom of movement rules, which, as we have now learnt, aren’t quite so free and easy as we were led to believe, they have just never been enforced. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2014/10/25/british-politicians-are-clearly-misreading-eu-provisions-regarding-freedom-of-movement/
And then austerity needs to be ended. We now have the stupidity of further school education cuts against an increasing population, which is an open invitation for ‘swamping’ claims, when in fact it is the political choice of austerity that is to blame. I despair that it is taken as a given that we need to reduce the spend on educating our successors.
Comes down to where money comes from again…
And with Trump forecasted to be infrastructure spending in the US, Britain, outside the eurozone, which the Brexiteers are so proud of, will look pretty stupid to be still sunk in austerity – by political choice.
Thanks for this really iformative link – a clear rebuttal of the stream of misinformation emanating from not only the gutter press, but also the so-called quality media who should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
And while I’m doing thanks, I’m immensely grateful not only to Richard, but also to the many thoughtful contributors on this blog for shining a light into my ignorance about tax and money in general. Thank you, and best hopes for a better 2017.
Thanks
Sorry, the above was meant to be for the previous Labour instincts thread!
Next we’ll hear about internment camps whilst the Europeans are processed.
The Guardian haven’t been to Jersey lately. This is normal when you have to prove residential status. Nor have they seen what my mother and father had to go through when they emigrated to France, pre-Maastricht and pre-Schengen – which was unpleasant for them, but God help you if you looked North African.