1,027 irregular migrants arrive here on rubber boats in the last 24 hours.

Very well said woodenspoon

I take comfort in the knowledge that those apparently happy to have potentially millions of illegal arrivals (about whom we know nothing) are in the minority.

The astonishing rise in popularity of the Reform party demonstrates the strength of feeling in this country about what is happening. Farage is accurately tapping into the mood of the country, but personally, I would need to know more about his other policies before I would consider voting for him.

Maybe a solution would be for Reform to join forces with the Conservatives.
I have long felt that the two of them combined would be an unbeatable force.

BlueBelle

This is in CHAT, GrannyGravy and FGT has bandied her anti immigration views to death so yes I was rude, sorry to offend you, but I m tired of it all

Oh Frogoet how I agree with your post
Our local hospital is so proud of the fact that the staff there come from 52 different countries and I ll tell you what I ve never had a nasty nurse, cleaner or doctor in that hospital
My dentists so far have come from Greece, South America Hungary and India
Why is everyone so scared, this country was built on immigration.
I have absolutely no problem with sending criminals right back where they came from and they can take some of our home grown variety back with them but this awful awful position of hate we are in now screams of Hitler s white blond haired regime think of that more closely and remember what followed

I think you are going a little too far with that statement bluebell

Whenever FGT posts about this topic the same names pop up in every thread defending these male migrants.

Now, of course, we have migrants working in the NHS but they have come in with documentation and are qualified and working legally, paying taxes as the British people mostly do. Not the same as boats full of fighting age men with destroyed paperwork who are NOT working, contributing, paying taxes but taking as much as they can from this country.

Of course there are backlogs in the NHS, because these jump to the top of the queue along with the Gazans due to land for operations on the NHS. They will also be allowed to claim benefits, be housed while they’re here and to claim asylum.

I’d like to know from the usual suspects, those who think there’s nothing wrong with taxpayers funding these people forever and a day WHY they think it. What’s in it for them? How do they see this country supporting these migrants indefinitely? Why should we support them from our taxes? At what point do these posters think hang on, enough is enough? More importantly, do they have any of them living cheek by jowl next to them? Do their jobs as charity operatives, for example, impact on their idealistic thinking? I think the rest of us should know.

If FGTs post is toxic, as said by one of the usual suspects, what would she think of immigrants moving right next door to her in a HMO, paid for by her local council. Brighton I believe she said on another thread. I’m sure Brighton and Hove working residents would love it.

My opinion is that some sort of assessment has to be done for the future of this country using data we already hold on illegal migrants. We must ask ourselves can it go on? Nothing against any people, just the pragmatics of is the growth rate sustainable with it affecting the countries infrastructure?

Oreo

Maremia

It'a a wee bit shocking/depressing how many GNs were quick to believe that dreadful hoax scenario suggested in Sparkle's post.

How many 😄you mean 2.

One and a half-hearted one?

GrannyGravy13

We currently have three threads on Angela Rayner.

How many threads were there on Brexit?

How many threads on Boris Johnson?

How many threads on Covid?

FGT2 has posted what is/was on every news programme last night.

Nobody is forced to read every thread, I am not a knitter nor am I into arts and crafts or games so I just do not bother to read them, simples…

I agree.
I understood that we have freedom of speech or so we keep being told.
Does freedom of speech only extend to an approved agenda on GN? I understand that there are guidelines of course.
Clarification by posters of what can or cannot be discussed would be useful.

I was not trying to control what other posters read or contribute to when I suggested skipping by or hiding threads. It just seems sensible thing to do.

nanna8

I wasn’t aware that Farage was an ‘irregular’immigrant perpetrator trying to get on a boat. Shocking news.

😂

Although some people would like to put him on a boat heading away from the UK!

Maremia

It'a a wee bit shocking/depressing how many GNs were quick to believe that dreadful hoax scenario suggested in Sparkle's post.

How many 😄you mean 2.

"A couple of people on here have mentioned Starmer wanting these immigrants because it means more votes for the LP."

So what about the ones who came in during the 14 years of the abysmal responses by the Conservatives? Were they allowed to stay to boost the Conservative vote? Totally ridiculous suggestion. This government has returned 25% more failed asylum seekers in a year, the most since 2017!

A couple of people on here have mentioned Starmer wanting these immigrants because it means more votes for the LP. I believe this too. I also believe as soon as they’re in and settled they will turn on the LP. That’s when the trouble will really start!

I see where you're coming from. Those people ( who can't vote anyway?) are not here out of necessity but part of a cunning plan hatched by the LP. Yes, damn smart idea.

Primrose53

A couple of people on here have mentioned Starmer wanting these immigrants because it means more votes for the LP. I believe this too. I also believe as soon as they’re in and settled they will turn on the LP. That’s when the trouble will really start!

I was discussing the small boats topic with my friend from Tanzania. I have said many times that she is so angry that she had to conform to the rules to come here legally after she met her British husband. I asked her what would happen if I went on holiday with her to Tanzania and liked it so much I decided to stay. She could not stop laughing! She said “you wouldn’t even be allowed IN without a return ticket!” She is 100% against the illegal immigrants coming here.

A very muddled post.

But basically you have a friend who is against irregular immigrants arriving on our shores.

Aren’t most people?

PaynesGrey

Farage wants to abolish the UK Human Rights Act 1998.

These are our rights under the act.

1. The right to life
2. The right to be free from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
3. The right to be free from slavery or forced labour
4. The right to liberty and security
5. The right to a fair trial
6. The right not to be punished for something that wasn't against the law when you did it
7. The right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence
8. The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
9. The right to freedom of expression
10. The right to freedom of assembly and association
11. The right to marry and start a family
12. The right to be free from discrimination
13. The right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions
14. The right to education
15. The right to free elections
16. Abolition of the death penalty

Farage wants to take all these away.

Take 15 minutes to watch Richard Murphy explain and expand on how we will all be affected if Farage ever comes to power.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt0fB-5S388

If you cannot imagine how the removal of these rights might affect you then read the examples given by the British Institute of Human Rights under each section headed How might this right be relevant to my life?

www.bihr.org.uk/get-informed/what-rights-do-i-have

If you cannot see the parallels with Hitler (and Trump) you are deluding yourself.

Thank you PaynesGrey 👏👏👏

Calendargirl

^vast numbers of workers who arrive here already trained and who have work visas^

But do the rubber dinghy arrivals have work visas? I understood most of them have no passports, paperwork, anything?

No one is talking about genuine applicants, who have proof of who they are, where from, what their skills are.

Asylum seekers don't need to prove their skills.

Kandinsky

growstuff

Why don’t you start your own thread about the wonders & joy of 1000’s of young males arriving here year on year seeking asylum.
Fill it full of fantastic facts about how they contribute positively towards our economy & society.

Thank you.

Why should I? I don't think it's wonderful and joyful.

This is a straw man argument.

A couple of people on here have mentioned Starmer wanting these immigrants because it means more votes for the LP. I believe this too. I also believe as soon as they’re in and settled they will turn on the LP. That’s when the trouble will really start!

I was discussing the small boats topic with my friend from Tanzania. I have said many times that she is so angry that she had to conform to the rules to come here legally after she met her British husband. I asked her what would happen if I went on holiday with her to Tanzania and liked it so much I decided to stay. She could not stop laughing! She said “you wouldn’t even be allowed IN without a return ticket!” She is 100% against the illegal immigrants coming here.

Rwanda was never going to work.

Its govenment representative, Yolande Makolo was interviewed by BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg just days before Sunak called the election last year. She said her country had only agreed to take 200 people from the UK. She refused to be drawn on how many more people it would take. Sunak was claiming it was 40,000.

In the run up to the election, Sunak was interviewed by Nick Robinson and claimed that people to be deported had already been detained and the planes and runways booked.

Robinson called his bluff and asked why he had not called the election after he had shown that his plan was working.

If the sentiments I read on here are anything to go by, the Tories would have won by a landslide. So why did he call the election when he did? The full term wasn’t up until the end of the year. Was it because he knew the scheme was a dead duck?

Just a month ago, on 5 August 2025, Makolo said Rwanda would accept up to 250 deportees from the US in a deal agreed with Trump's administration. A condition is that that Rwanda would have "the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement”.

This seems to be further proof that Rwanda was never going to take tens of thousands of people deported from the UK.

The point that I am making is that when the small boats are constantly and consistently described as the greatest threat to our society, we can understand how and why the violence, division and hatred witnessed on our streets- in the form of riots, racism and hatred at its worse and the more benign flag fluttering - has not emerged from a vacuum.

There has been a sustained campaign by political parties like Reform feeding into and from SM. This has resulted in certain groups seeing it as their national and patriotic duty to “protect our borders”. Fringe groups of extremists seize every chance to cause chaos and destruction.

That is why I see it as necessary to dial down the constant moral panic we see on these threads and SM more generally.

vast numbers of workers who arrive here already trained and who have work visas

But do the rubber dinghy arrivals have work visas? I understood most of them have no passports, paperwork, anything?

No one is talking about genuine applicants, who have proof of who they are, where from, what their skills are.

FGT and I often disagree about politics but I don’t see this OP as toxic. It’s a fact that over 1000 people are known to have arrived in 24 hours. More will have arrived on private yachts and quietly wandered up the beaches.

I loathe the screaming mobs, find some responses on here offensive. Dismissing so may genuine, thriughtful posters as liberal lefties who have taken over gransnet ? That’s not engaging in a debate about something the majority of posters see as a problem one facing all European countries

Smash the gangs was always going to be a tough, long term aim. Suggesting Starmer’s background as a human rights lawyer means he will prioritise the needs of people arriving in small boats is just daft

It’s becoming impossible to discuss difficult issues on this forum. Sadly, it seems to mirror the polarised shouting we see outside hotels housing people seeking to stay here

Re the information about GP surgeries and asylum seekers:
My understanding is that the GP contract requires them to treat people living in their area, there is a payment for each patient registered. If GP surgeries refuse to register asylum seekers they are in breech of their contract, when they register an asylum seeker they get paid for that individual. TBH I think "facts" in this case are being presented in a way to inflame people.
No doubt that immigration puts pressure on the NHS but it also supplies vast numbers of workers who arrive here already trained and who have work visas. Just to put a context in 2023, 264,822 non-British national NHS staff in England, accounting for 18.7% of the total workforce, fewer than 30K arrived by boat in that same year and they will have been distributed around the UK not just in England. TBH I think we would be a morally poorer country if we refused medical care to people who need it because they have arrived on a small boat.

Not criticising you Sparkle. Leave it up, if you wish, as it shows how easily we can all be misled.

I am going to report my post myself and get it removed. I posted it in good faith. This is why I usually avoid the political threads.

It'a a wee bit shocking/depressing how many GNs were quick to believe that dreadful hoax scenario suggested in Sparkle's post.

If you know of any handy UK-owned islands in the middle of an ocean somewhere, please let the Home Office know

I know full well we haven’t got anything like that, which is why the Rwanda deal was being worked on, and subsequently thrown out.

Until any government of the day does work something out and take drastic action, this situation will just carry on and continue to fester and cause huge problems.

Australia and similar places must be gobsmacked at how weak we are.

I’d be relieved to learn that the post by Sparklefizz is a hoax (even though she’ll have ‘passed it on’ in good faith).