Should we be worried about right-wing populism?

@Granny 2016
You speak as though every EU immigrant was a crook. As I have said previously , the vast majority of EU immigrant are good honest people that come here to work. WE need those immigrants to work in a variety of occupations, from scientists and technicians in the Cambridge Science parks to pickers in the fens.
Without an increased work force there will be too few to pay taxes to fund the NHS, fund our pensions etc.

@Granny2016

But the UK DOESN'T allow Albanian crooks into the country. Most of them are here illegally, so this is nothing to do with being 'soft' on foreign criminals but the inability to stop illegal people smuggling as a result of insufficient resources and/or ineffective intelligence and communication with other police forces.

Your dig at 'some posters' is, therefore, inappropriate.

Before anyone dares to tell me that I mean immigrant,I refer to a person who choses to migrate !

There are several posts relating to the fact that we have home grown criminals in the UK ,as well as some criminal migrants.
To compare the two groups is rather missing the point.
It is irksome enough that we have home grown crooks,we sure as hell do not need to import more.
It is perfectly true that we have had an increasing number of problems from certain countries,Albania being one,and I,m afraid that some posters need to open their eyes.
I have to be checked before I go to work in the States,but not Sweden...it is ridiculous.
Anyone coming to live or work here,should be subject to background checks,whether from within the EU or beyond.

At a meeting with the police in our village, they were specifically asked about immigrants and crime. There are a lot of immigrant agricultural workers in our village, their reply was they had never had an incident concerning immigrants. I don't live a million miles from SoS and worked there during the 60/70s. Knowing what I do about SoS I can imagine that the overall crime rates are higher than many other places.

PS. Yes, I have talked to police officers about crime - that's how I know where I could buy drugs or find a prostitute (not that I want either).

Article about Eastern European crime...

www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jun/25/eastern-european-immigration-crime-britain

@rosesarered

I live in Essex and have lived and worked in the county for over 30 years. Of course I know the major towns.

There are also a great number of British criminals in Spain.

PS. Oh yes! Very twee!

And ice cream and funfairs Petra

A 'twee market town' ? ?

Actually, there is a great deal of Eastern European crime in the UK dd you ask any one like a policeman or insurance person, as they deal with it.As Petra actually lives in Southend, she should know better than most, what happens there.

Blimey dd you know what goes on in a lot of places!

So if you come to Southend for a visit you can be sure that all your needs are catered for. It's all here folks, come on down.

Actually, the hated group doesn't have to be ethnically difference, just foreign. So I suppose the historical dislike of some English people for French people (and vice versa) is xenophobia too. Ethnically and historically, I don't think there's a significant difference between most English people and most French people.

Oops! I knew that didn't look right. Should be xenophobia.

Hatred of one ethnic group by another is zenophobia, I think. It's a negative trait but it's not the same as racism.

Now you are just being quarrelsome, dd. Petra told a story. That is all.

Naming a group of troublemakers is just that: naming a group. If their foreign nationality is what distinguishes them in the country they're in, then mentioning their nationality is just a way of giving the group a name. It's no different from saying that a group of Scottish football fans (or English or Welsh or French or German or Australian... whatever) caused some trouble somewhere at a match.

If the troublemakers' nationality is mixed then obviously it wouldn't be a useful group identifier and wouldn't be used. Then you'd just use something like "a group of young men in Southend..."

@rosesared

I know what goes on in Southend, Claton and Jaywick too. I also know what goes on in Basildon, Thurrock, Chelmsford, Colchester, Braintree, Harlow, etc. and most of the crime isn't carried out by Albanians or any other 'foreign' group.

I live in leafy rural Essex in a twee market town and even I was physically and verbally assaulted three weeks ago by my next door neighbour, who also racially abused a delivery driver. I guess he's English, as he flies a St Georges flag in his garden. We've also had stabbings on the street and a pub was closed down after a police raid looking for drugs. There's hardly a foreigner in the place.

So what would you call hatred by one ethnic group for another?

Are you suggesting that it's acceptable, because people are of the same 'race', which is a pretty meaningless concept anyway, because we're all homo sapiens with mingled DNA?

How about tribalist?

I'm aware that there are Albanian criminal gangs operating in the UK and that Southend is a hotspot for drugs, prostitution and now people smuggling. I guess many coastal towns have the same kind of problems, because property tends to be cheaper and run down bed and breakfasts are used as dumping grounds by the DWP. However, I would also guess that Albanians commit a very small percentage of the crime in Southend (or anywhere else). For as long as I can remember, Southend has been a place known for being able to pick up prostitutes and buying drugs (well, certain parts of it and some of the neighbouring towns). I would imagine shopkeepers aren't very keen on any sort of criminal.

I DO know about what goes on in Southend, and Petra is absolutely right.In any case she simply answered another poster who asked 'who don't Asian shopkeepers like'?
Thatbags points something out that is used too much... Racist, when it's not race at all, simply another country.

I see. I just thought too much blame was flying petra's way, and wished to point that out. Fair's fair. I know nothing about Southend, well, not the English one. We have one in Argyll too.

I don't care who first mentioned Albanians. The fact is that there have been 'protection' gangs, crime, prostitution and drugs in Southend in that part of Essex ever since I can remember - certainly before Albanians or East Europeans were allowed out of their countries. They've possibly been giving the home grown crims some competition in recent years.

I spent two weeks on the jury of a murder trial at Chelmsford Crown Court and I found I found out more about the Southend underworld than I really wanted to know.

And if a group of Albanians did cause a lot of trouble in a particular place, then no-one is singling them out by mentioning that fact. That is besides the fact that Albanians are not a 'race', just as Brits aren't.

If you read petra's post of 11:12:03 you will see that it was not she who singled out Albanians.