Gransnet forums

News & politics

Foreigners

(619 Posts)
Granny23 Wed 05-Oct-16 12:09:59

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/firms-must-list-foreign-workers-gw20ndp5x

Saw this report this am and my blood ran cold. Is this - lists of all foreigners - not the beginning of a very slippery slope which leads to yellow stars sewn on to clothing?

I'm wondering what constitutes a 'FOREIGNER'? Surely not my very good French born Scottish friend who has lived, worked, been married in the UK for nearly 50 years? Or the 3rd generation Asian Scots who run our local convenience store? Or the music teacher who coaches the Wee Community steel band - she's from the USA (and one of the drummers is (shock horror) German. Or the Syrian and Polish families now at school with my DGC. What about DH's Consultants? The last one was from New Zealand, the Current one is, I think, Indian. Will the Houses of Parliament have to list all the MPs and Lords who were born elsewhere.

Am I the only one to hear alarm bells ringing in my ears more loudly than usual? Have we reached a tipping point, where rampant British Nationalism is the only mantra?

daphnedill Thu 06-Oct-16 23:15:25

I also hope you're OK, smileless.

Just because there is illegal discrimination anywhere else in the world in the job market does not justify what's happening in the UK's schools and workplaces. It might have something to do with the new PM or it might not. I'm not sure. In the case of schoolchildren, it appears to have been handled insensitively, especially at a time when people are experiencing increased anxiety and, in some cases, actual abuse. It would appear from some reports that young children have been singled out in from of their classmates.

durhamjen Thu 06-Oct-16 22:32:44

i2.wp.com/voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/161006-immigrant.jpg

obieone Thu 06-Oct-16 20:45:24

Good luck Smileless2012smile
Hope it passes quickly

Smileless2012 Thu 06-Oct-16 20:40:14

I am not using the Australian situation to justify anything daphnedilconfusedI was merely using my son's experience to illustrate that priority in the job market being to those 'born and bred' is nothing new.

It may be unpalatable and illegal but it's nothing new and has nothing to do with BREXIT.

Thank you durhamjen and Jalimasmile. We've stacked all our poolside furniture as advised. Heavy thunder storms at the moment and the water level in our pool is higher than we'd likehmm. Still not sure if it's going to be a category 3, 4 or 5 as they can't seem to make up their minds.

durhamjen Thu 06-Oct-16 20:34:32

id.38degrees.org.uk/clicks/link/13658/5j9rr4ws24ce12tg6btogz82o4dnibit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.38degrees.org.uk%2Ffw-petition%3Futm_source%3D%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dblast2016-10-06&member_guid=6sdddsyaLlBVCPz8Kh3ylAA

A 38 degrees petition about Amber Rudd's statement.

Gaggi3 Thu 06-Oct-16 20:28:02

I'm appalled by any steps taken towards discrimination against so-called foreigners who live and work in this country. Immigration enriches a country culturally and financially. My local,excellent, hospital would fall apart without the many staff who hail from lots of different countries, and that's just one example. Nationalism is divisive and potentially dangerous. What on earth is so special about this country that it can afford to be so cavalier and unfeeling about a large proportion of its population? We behave in this way at our peril.

obieone Thu 06-Oct-16 19:35:41

Thanks Jalima and Eloethan.

The UK has a jobs skills shortage list, I dont know if other countries are the same. I tend to keep a bit of an eye on it.

One of the kids, the job shortage in his line of work is pretty much worldwide. He works with a huge number of nationalities.

dd
There are also jobs in the UK which can't be filled - doctors, nurses, scientists, language teachers, engineers, technicians, etc etc. People doing seasonal work sometimes go back to their country of origin for part of the year. Careworkers and cleaners live in cramped conditions, knowing their work is temporary. These people are no different from your children

Yes? But that doesnt take into account factory workers, and workers who work in the M supermarket for example. I suspect it is those that interest AR and TM?

daphnedill Thu 06-Oct-16 19:27:28

You can usually opt out of completing those forms asking for ethnicity and they're usually anonymous. They're used to monitor whether employers are appointing a diverse range of people. I don't have a problem with them.

daphnedill Thu 06-Oct-16 19:23:57

I only have to look to a town just a few miles from me to find the murder of a Polish man. The case hasn't come to trial yet, but it is known that it was carried out by a group of teenagers, allegedly because the man was speaking Polish. There were two further attacks the next day. People are genuinely scared and this is the backdrop to these new questions.

maddyone Thu 06-Oct-16 19:16:01

I have been required on a number of forms to provide information to what I consider my ethnicity to be, frankly I find that annoying as I don't consider my ethnicity to be anyone's business except my own.

Bluecat Thu 06-Oct-16 19:12:14

Assuming that everyone here is a granny or old enough to be one, then most of us are old enough to remember the ugliness of earlier responses to supposed immigration crises - the arrival of the Kenyan Asians, for instance, or the Ugandan Asians. I expect some of us can recall the racism provoked by the arrival of the West Indian immigrants in the '40s and '50s. Of course, if we were even older (!), we would have witnessed the same hysteria over the Jews or the Irish. Now it's the turn of the Eastern Europeans and, if they ever manage to get here, refugees from the Middle East.

Where anti-foreign sentiment is concerned, there's nothing new under the sun. We seem to be experiencing another nasty flare-up, probably due to Brexit. Attacks and abuse aimed at minority groups by members of the public are, obviously, horrible for the people involved but it is even worse when the government decides that cracking down on the foreigners is the way to court popularity. You don't have to look far, historically or geographically, to see where that can lead.

Eloethan Thu 06-Oct-16 19:03:55

Jalima I've alreadey said that's fine.

Jalima Thu 06-Oct-16 18:45:18

obieone you don't have to provide private information just because someone asks, or detail your DC's skills

rosesarered Thu 06-Oct-16 18:43:23

So can common sense now prevail on this matter?

Jalima Thu 06-Oct-16 18:42:30

X post dd ( although it would not seem like it by the timing!)

Jalima Thu 06-Oct-16 18:40:01

The trouble is that the press sensationalise this kind of thing, Granny23, playing on people's fears and causing tensions where there may not have been any and stirring up on the basis of what is a tick-box exercise or for future planning.

The school forms were started in Wales before this, under a Welsh Labour administration and I have not heard or seen any objections to them, on here or anywhere.

Jane10 Thu 06-Oct-16 18:34:26

Widgeon3 sorry I don't know anything about where you live. If you moved up here.....Oh no, then you'd be the foreign one! grin
Seriously, we seem to have a very large and hard working Polish population locally. Absolutely no complaints from me!

daphnedill Thu 06-Oct-16 18:33:54

@obieone

There are also jobs in the UK which can't be filled - doctors, nurses, scientists, language teachers, engineers, technicians, etc etc. People doing seasonal work sometimes go back to their country of origin for part of the year. Careworkers and cleaners live in cramped conditions, knowing their work is temporary. These people are no different from your children.

@Jalima

Schools have, for as long as I can remember, been asked about children with English as Additional Language, so that support can be provided, BUT they weren't asked about country of birth and I don't really see why it's relevant. Unfortunately, funding for EAL has been slashed over the years, so I'm not too hopeful the questioning will result in extra support.

Eloethan Thu 06-Oct-16 18:28:37

I was just interested to see what occupations are difficult to fill in which countries, but don't worry about it.

suzied Thu 06-Oct-16 18:20:01

In my street we have families from India, Pakistan, France, Hong Kong, Turkey, Poland, and thats just the ones I know about. I wouldn't want to live in bland, monocultural community where we resent anyone who is different from ourselves.

Granny23 Thu 06-Oct-16 18:08:27

My French Friend is retired from her profession but still occasionally works as a translator and tutor. My American friend is employed by the LA as a music teacher, she tutors and plays
in the wee steel band as a volunteer. She has 5 children some born in the USA and some here. So both are employed and will presumably have to be listed by their employer. Likewise our German Friends, both working. As to the 3 generation Asian Family - the younger ones were born here but Granny and Granda fled India at the time of partition. They are, I suppose a family business so I have no idea if they would require to be listed as foreign born workers. Imagine, however, their feelings when they saw the newspaper headlines.

widgeon3 Thu 06-Oct-16 17:54:06

Jane
Please tell me in leafy Hampshire where I can find these gardeners, cleaners, painters etc. The only one of the latter I had a quote from was a Pole who charged 50% more than my usual man who was not available

obieone Thu 06-Oct-16 17:44:10

I could pm you, but after today I am concerned that pms are not private.

obieone Thu 06-Oct-16 17:43:12

I dont want to put the exact ones on here.

Why do you ask?

durhamjen Thu 06-Oct-16 17:31:44

Smileless, hope you're okay.