With all due respect Mick, a lot of people don't differentiate.
This may surprise you but I was once one of those who had to take refuge in the country, who was able to accept the hand of Britain's hospitality and generosity. I dragged myself up, got educated and contributed, along with my wife, a large amount to this country, both in terms of public services and the huge amount of tax we were both obliged to pay. And I was always more than happy to do so, such was my happiness at what this country had done and my appreciation of what people can go through. I've always found it very strange that people in Britain can be so proud of their military, their universities, their football teams etc but not their welfare system and their tolerance. That for me is one of the greatest things about this country.
Does Britain have a problem with immigration? Yes. Does it need to be controlled? Yes. But whenever this discussion comes up now, it has become the fashionable thing to inflate the problem. Use inflammatory language, while ignoring the very real benefits of immigration. And while there are certainly people who come to the country with the intention of ripping the state off, I volunteer in a refugee centre still and the lucky ones live on 35 quid a week. The sensationalist stories we hear are not the norm.
I'm not quoting any sensationalist stories am I?
I'm talking numbers, and the vast amount who have squirrelled their way in and are now lost in the system.
I'm sorry if it seems to be contrary to your experience, but we need to take care of our own backyard, before curing the worlds ills (India actually tried to give our aid back, and we insisted they kept it - explain that pearl of wisdom to me!) And that means you, and your children now (assuming you stay - and I hope you do)
You and your family are everything that is right about the system and how it should work, but we have a social issue with illegal immigration which needs to be rectified, and trust me - I don't care about the colour of anyones skin, or their religion - I just want the country to stop being the worlds refuge, after the US.
I also want us to stop this free movement brick in the EU, which is having a similar damaging effect, not because I'm a xenophobe, or a supremacist or a racist, but just simply because I want the people that have a right to be here, to have an opportunity to work, live thrive and survive and plant a platform for their own offspring and family.
If we all walk round and give a fiver to every big issue seller, and every chugger, we end up with a great feeling of bonhomie, and no money to feed our own family with - so we don't. I just want the tacos running my country to take a similar stand.
And I would have no issue with any country taking the same view on Brits in their community. Including where I am now.
