Home Secretary branded &quot;racist&quot; for her immigration plans.

The rhetoric coming from the Conservatives suggests they want to turn the UK into a safe space to protect delicate Brits from nefarious foreigners and their undesirable characteristics like work ethic and willingness to migrate to obtain employment.

Reply 2

Dodgypirate

OP

6

Original post by Quantex

The rhetoric coming from the Conservatives suggests they want to turn the UK into a safe space to protect delicate Brits from nefarious foreigners and their undesirable characteristics like work ethic and willingness to migrate to obtain employment.

They're not aiming to wipe out all foreigners from jobs in the UK, they're attempting to increase the amount of jobs handed to UK locals... what's bad about that?

Reply 3

Rakas21

21

I see nothing wrong with such transparency, it's upto the consumers as to whether they wish to shop at immigrant filled firms or not.

In Norway i believe they even make your tax records public.

Reply 4

queen-bee

Original post by Quantex

The rhetoric coming from the Conservatives suggests they want to turn the UK into a safe space to protect delicate Brits from nefarious foreigners and their undesirable characteristics like work ethic and willingness to migrate to obtain employment.

Spot on

Reply 5

SHallowvale

14

I wouldn't say there's anything specifically racist about this. That said I don't necessarily agree either.

In the long term, yes, it would be beneficial to train the home population than rely on labour abroad. The short term still exists though and some skills require years to develop.

You would also have to factor in that some British people don't want to do jobs X, Y and Z, or wouldn't want to work for a certain wage. You could also argue that this'll stigmatise foreign workers.

I'm sure some people would support this based on racist ideas.

Reply 6

Reality Check

22

This attitude that any discussion about immigrants is automatically racist has been the principal driver of the current anti-immigrant protectionist Brexit world we now live it. It's not racist to discuss immigrants, and it's not racist for a country to nudge its citizens to look after one another.

Reply 7

username1221160

Original post by Dodgypirate

They're not aiming to wipe out all foreigners from jobs in the UK, they're attempting to increase the amount of jobs handed to UK locals... what's bad about that?

The emphasis should be on improving the employability of these locals so that's they've are able to compete, not throwing up protections. If a local loses out for a job to a migrant with low skills and poor English, then the fault lies with the local or the government, not with Johnny Foreinger for being the more desirable employee.

Secondly these locals should stop sitting on their backsides and waiting for jobs to come to them. As Norman Tebbit said "get on your bike", something migrants are willing to do but many Brits aren't. I come from the North East, the poorest region of England with the highest unemployment rate and worst levels of educational attainment. Those of us who have done well were the ones willing to get a good education and migrate to other areas of the country or abroad.

Brits don't need to be mollycoddled. Give them the ability, confidence and skills to compete in a competitive labour market and they'll thrive.

Reply 8

Original post by Quantex

The rhetoric coming from the Conservatives suggests they want to turn the UK into a safe space to protect delicate Brits from nefarious foreigners and their undesirable characteristics like work ethic and willingness to migrate to obtain employment.

Or maybe they want to start to solve the twin problems of underemployed Britons and high immigration by incentivising companies to train and develop the former rather than employing already-trained foreigners.

Reply 9

999tigger

It's not racist, but points more towards being xenophobic. If they want to go down that route, then other countries will return the favour in kind and everyone will lose.

Reply 10

username1022139

20

Original post by Quantex

The rhetoric coming from the Conservatives suggests they want to turn the UK into a safe space to protect delicate Brits from nefarious foreigners and their undesirable characteristics like work ethic and willingness to migrate to obtain employment.

No, the rhetoric from the Conservative Party shows a government standing up for the widespread concerns regarding mass, unskilled immigration.

The vast majority of people who come to the United Kingdom do not possess skills which help to mitigate employment shortages in places like the NHS and the sciences. The UK cannot sustain unskilled economic migration because of the immense pressures it puts on the living wage, employment, housing and social infrastructure. Concerns regarding mass immigration are common in every western European country; to try and dismiss them with some inane, snowflake narrative is not going to solve anything.

The Conservatives are not against immigration, but they are against vast numbers of people coming to the UK to take advantage of its employment sectors. 300,000 people per year is an appalling number. And it's ironic that the left are advocating mass immigration given it's the left who complain about housing, hospital and infrastructure shortages.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 11

This is reminiscent of the Saudisation process currently happening in Saudi; it has reached the point at which they are now fining companies who don't employ enough Saudis and subjecting them to heavy sanctions. I don't think that companies should miss out on hiring exceptional talent just because they came from overseas. After all, it has already been made much more difficult for non-EU migrants to move here for work and international students to stay following their studies. The proposals don't make her racist but they are extreme.

Reply 12

Original post by 999tigger

It's not racist, but points more towards being xenophobic. If they want to go down that route, then other countries will return the favour in kind and everyone will lose.

True, once Brits start getting kicked out of other countries because they're getting fired, the issue of a shortage of jobs will arise again.

Reply 13

Original post by WBZ144

I don't think that companies should miss out on hiring exceptional talent just because they came from overseas.

I agree, but nobody is saying they should. Resorting to people overseas as a first port of call is not the same thing, though, when perfectly good candidates who may need some training are already available. We have an immigration crisis partly because companies find it easier and cheaper to bring in trained and experienced people from abroad instead of developing the people they already have.

This is substantially why existing employees miss out on career development and the unemployed, often young people, find it difficult to establish themselves.

Reply 14

SHallowvale

14

Original post by Good bloke

I agree, but nobody is saying they should. Resorting to people overseas as a first port of call is not the same thing, though, when perfectly good candidates who may need some training are already available. We have an immigration crisis partly because companies find it easier and cheaper to bring in trained and experienced people from abroad instead of developing the people they already have.

This is substantially why existing employees miss out on career development and the unemployed, often young people, find it difficult to establish themselves.

But at the same time these 'perfectly good candidates' may not be available, or it too expensive or unwise for the company to invest in training them. Naming and shaming companies who hire foreign labour suggests that they can employee local Brits, which isn't always the case.

Reply 15

Original post by Good bloke

I agree, but nobody is saying they should. Resorting to people overseas as a first port of call is not the same thing, though, when perfectly good candidates who may need some training are already available. We have an immigration crisis partly because companies find it easier and cheaper to bring in trained and experienced people from abroad instead of developing the people they already have.

This is substantially why existing employees miss out on career development and the unemployed, often young people, find it difficult to establish themselves.

But as of April 2016 it became a lot cheaper for companies to hire people at home and overseas. Now they have to pay out salaries of at least £35,000, which is higher than most graduate jobs if they want their non-British employee to be granted Teir 2 visa. That's why I think that a measure such as this one is too extreme. It is now much harder for people to migrate to the UK for work if they are not EU citizens, and I can understand why it was done but the new measure will ostracise people who already live in the UK permanently. If they have a spouse or children who are British, obviously it's going to be problematic.

Reply 16

Original post by SHallowvale

But at the same time these 'perfectly good candidates' may not be available, or it too expensive or unwise for the company to invest in training them. Naming and shaming companies who hire foreign labour suggests that they can employee local Brits, which isn't always the case.

And not just companies but the public services too. Many of the NHS staff is foreign, for an example and it's still short-staffed.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 17

SHallowvale

14

Original post by jake4198

No, the rhetoric from the Conservative Party shows a government standing up for the widespread concerns regarding mass, unskilled immigration.

The vast majority of people who come to the United Kingdom do not possess skills which help to mitigate employment shortages in places like the NHS and the sciences. The UK cannot sustain unskilled economic migration because of the immense pressures it puts on the living wage, employment, housing and social infrastructure. Concerns regarding mass immigration are common in every western European country; to try and dismiss them with some inane, snowflake narrative is not going to solve anything.

The Conservatives are not against immigration, but they are against vast numbers of people coming to the UK to take advantage of its employment sectors. 300,000 people per year is an appalling number. And it's ironic that the left are advocating mass immigration given it's the left who complain about housing, hospital and infrastructure shortages.

Er, the proposals are actually about skilled, non-EU immigration, not mass, unskilled immigration.

Reply 18

Original post by WBZ144

It is now much harder for people to migrate to the UK for work if they are not EU citizens.

Excellent!

Reply 19