Cuts to the foreign aid budget.

I'm totally against it. Surely we can find the money from somewhere else rather than punishing the poorest in the world.
How about stopping Trident for a start.

Indeed Lin ??

theworriedwell

Riverwalk that is true. I'm having building work done, have had loads of deliveries, some quite bulky/heavy/awkward things. All the delivery guys bar one had heavy foreign accents. The first thing the English guy said was, "I'm not well so don't expect me to lift anything." All the others really helpful nice people. The English guy was nice when I got talking to him but I did think it was a strange job for someone who couldn't lift anything (I won't go into his condition but it would make lifting a problem.)

It is really strange, in my NE area, not many immigrants doing Professional manual jobs, eg electricians , builders, plumbers, all I have employed have been local, some Eastern European delivery drivers, and I never had anyone say they can’t lift or do anything. Really dislike it when people knock our own countrymen, just to be able to try and prove a point. There will shirkers in all groups, including immigrants, along with misogynism and racism. I speak as I find .

Like someone else in here, I emailed Andrew Mitchell. I told him I am not a constituent but I admire what he is doing and how distressed I am about the proposed reneging on manifesto commitments, bearing in mind who will suffer. Within 24 hours I received a personally addressed email thanking me for my supportive comments. Wish we had more like him who put moral responsibility and democracy before consideration of their own political career.

Yes Aleg I have read before damning reports about the French with regards to migrants, but anyone with children are put ahead of the queue ( even by France) than healthy young men. I’m sure that they do think of the UK as a lot better than staying in France or Spain as they have been told that migrants are treated much better here, but even so, it’s a hell of a risk to take, a small overcrowded boat in the Channel.
Thankfully, most are rescued if they don’t make it across.

I'll not be signing up for statista. Cut and paste?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_development_aid_country_donors

Unfortunately this site won’t let you in unless you subscribe.

Alegrias1

Race to the bottom?

in 2019, Turkey, Sweden, Luxembourg gave more as a % of GNI than we did. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France and Switzerland all gave more per capita. Germany and the US gave more in absolute terms.

Not an exclusive list. Global Britain, eh?

www.statista.com/statistics/263287/ranking-of-the-largest-development-aid-donors/ 2019

This is why Lemongrove.

The most telling phrase in this: Why don't they seek asylum in France? Answer: Many of them do.

The video didn't work for me but the article is there.

greenworld.org.uk/article/why-are-migrants-coming-uk

Alegrias1

theworriedwell When it's said that all the people on the dinghies are, basically, scroungers looking for an easy life, it makes me so angry.

I agree with you Aleg that they are not scroungers.
However desperate they are though, they won’t stay in France!
Now, they don’t all have relatives in the UK so something is drawing them here.
To be in a civilised country ( France/ Spain) etc and to risk your life, and your children's lives on the sea crossing is more than strange.

Riverwalk that is true. I'm having building work done, have had loads of deliveries, some quite bulky/heavy/awkward things. All the delivery guys bar one had heavy foreign accents. The first thing the English guy said was, "I'm not well so don't expect me to lift anything." All the others really helpful nice people. The English guy was nice when I got talking to him but I did think it was a strange job for someone who couldn't lift anything (I won't go into his condition but it would make lifting a problem.)

By the way I don’t accept that by sending more aid to these countries would reduce the numbers crossing the Channel as those are in the main young male economic migrants who see the UK as a soft touch.

Is there not a contradiction in describing someone as an economic migrant but see the UK as a soft touch?

Economic migrants presumably are coming to seek work and not intending to live on the dole - we have enough of our own doing that.

Wherever any of you live in the UK you must surely know that refugees are, in the main, doing a day's work.

biglouis

*young male economic migrants who see the UK as a soft touch*

Funny how these chaps who are allegedly fleeing a war zone all have the latest designer trainers and i-phones.

Many of the young Syrian & Iraqi men are professionals and merely trying to find a better life - do you not have a sneaking admiration for such people who get off their backside and try to better themselves, and be able to send money back to their families in a war zone?

And by the way, but for a quirk of fate, you could be one of those young people in a sinking dingy - nothing to do with any cleverness on your part where you were born.

Who receive aid, not go receive aid!

I think the government shouldn’t have reneged on their decision.
I do think that we should have been looking at the way some countries go receive aid, do or don’t use their own money to solve the poverty in their own country.
Even if the decision to cut funding doesn’t go ahead, I expect to see a similar proposal to appear in the future manifestos of more parties, as it appears to be a vote catcher.

Thank god there are some measured voices on here. That poor little boy and his family

biglouis

*young male economic migrants who see the UK as a soft touch*

Funny how these chaps who are allegedly fleeing a war zone all have the latest designer trainers and i-phones.

Funny how many on GN are experts on trainers and i-phones.

Alegrias1

theworriedwell When it's said that all the people on the dinghies are, basically, scroungers looking for an easy life, it makes me so angry.

That narrative suits some people's agenda.

It reminds me of a woman I worked with, two of her corkers were:

Her father fought in WWII to keep this country white. I asked her if he was in the German army, she was most indignant, I told her they were the racists not us. She worried that her father didn't know that.

Her second was that all the international aid was English as when TV interviewed aid workers they were nearly always English. I said maybe that was because it was easier to interview people who spoke the same language, she was amazed because obviously everyone speaks English so it wouldn't matter.

What's that saying about you can't argue with stupid?

theworriedwell When it's said that all the people on the dinghies are, basically, scroungers looking for an easy life, it makes me so angry.

Alegrias1

biglouis

young male economic migrants who see the UK as a soft touch

Funny how these chaps who are allegedly fleeing a war zone all have the latest designer trainers and i-phones.

Like this one you mean?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57384925

Oh God, that is heartbreaking. Poor little soul.

Lin52

Whilst we were in the EU we had to donate to their International aid budget, as well as giving our own, so in effect paying twice, now we are still paying more compared to Spain, Sweden , Switzerland, Japan, France, Canada, Norway, Netherlands Saudi Arabia. All donate considerably less, so perhaps we should be asking why they donate so little, whilst the UK is expected by the world to pay so much. Don’t get me wrong Foreign Aid is very important, and wonder why others don’t also step up to the mark.

I think the issue is more that British citizens expect more. I have no idea what the world expects us to do.

biglouis

*young male economic migrants who see the UK as a soft touch*

Funny how these chaps who are allegedly fleeing a war zone all have the latest designer trainers and i-phones.

Like this one you mean?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57384925

Race to the bottom?

in 2019, Turkey, Sweden, Luxembourg gave more as a % of GNI than we did. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France and Switzerland all gave more per capita. Germany and the US gave more in absolute terms.

Not an exclusive list. Global Britain, eh?

I read too that many countries don’t donate as much as we do so I don’t think it’s a bad idea for them to put a bit more in first. I think we will probably donate more once the pandemic fall out has been addressed in our own country.

Whilst we were in the EU we had to donate to their International aid budget, as well as giving our own, so in effect paying twice, now we are still paying more compared to Spain, Sweden , Switzerland, Japan, France, Canada, Norway, Netherlands Saudi Arabia. All donate considerably less, so perhaps we should be asking why they donate so little, whilst the UK is expected by the world to pay so much. Don’t get me wrong Foreign Aid is very important, and wonder why others don’t also step up to the mark.