Almost 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel yesterday.

The number of immigrants was BBC fact checked during Question time.

The statement made was correct, and Fiona Bruce apologised.

Freya5

silverlining48

That is simply not true. According to the UK governments own figures the UK take lower numbers of refugees than average and are 17 th on the list of countries .
Not top. Nowhere near.

So headlines this morning are wrong are they. ??.

Can you post a link to the study that this information was taken from please Freya5, as the Telegraph is behind a paywall?

I would be willing to bet there is great care taken to ensure the illegal immigrants get carefully told every penny they are due for....

That's an interesting idea. How does that work please? Are there extra staff who just deal with immigrants?

CariadAgain

....and yet I wonder how many of "our own" have problems getting due benefits?

I had several spells of unemployment back in the 1980's (ie until I got a job that I clung onto VERY determinedly until retirement). This was back before all the benefit cuts started being made in a lot of respects. So in I went and put in my claim for "Dole" money the first time this happened, filled in the form in person in front of a DWP person and she then proceeded to tell me the amount I was due - and it equated to what a married woman would get (ie no rent money)! (Bear in mind - my left hand was clearly on view - ie no wedding ring on it and I had clearly stated my single person cirumstances, including paying rent on a flatlet). Thankfully I was very well aware of what I was due for and I told her - to the penny - what they were due to pay me. She altered it - she did not apologise for the mistake/"mistake". I did miss out on a little bit later on getting back into work (as I thought Dole would be paying me only up to the day before I started work - but, at that time, they did make a transitional payment - which no-one told me about.......and so I lost that money).

I would be willing to bet there is great care taken to ensure the illegal immigrants get carefully told every penny they are due for....

illegal migrants (horrid term) do not get paid benefits. But don't let the truth get in the way

I used to get roundly castigated on these threads for calling them ‘illegals’. No such thing (apparently).

Charities such as Care4Calais advise potential migrants what they can claim, what phrases are useful etc. There have been many articles written on their (in my opinion) meddling.

I now call them ‘irregular migrants’ so as not to offend some folk. Woke nonsense really but there you go.

eggplant

I would be willing to bet there is great care taken to ensure the illegal immigrants get carefully told every penny they are due for....

That's an interesting idea. How does that work please? Are there extra staff who just deal with immigrants?

Probably; there are 2 queues at the job centre you know. One for the deserving indigenous population and one for bogus asylum seekers.

Irony alert for some on here

maddyfour

Nothing I say will make any difference so just best to get on with my own life and accept that our government, both now and the last one, are happy with the situation.

Sad but true maddyfour.
Until one day they realise the situation is untenable. Or that voters really don’t like it.

Calendargirl

eggplant

Sarnia

Let's hope for a very stormy winter to deter sailing!

Dear me, what have we become.

I think the poster thinks that if the weather is very stormy, it may put off people attempting such a dangerous crossing.

I agree with her actually.

Thank you. That is what I meant but reading it again I can see why it could be misinterpreted. I wrote that post after the deaths in the Channel this weekend. A needless loss of 4 lives all because the politicians have plenty to say but do nothing.

We have to prove who we are every time we visit the doctor and you can’t enrol your child in school unless you can prove where you live,if you are in that ‘zone’ and exactly who you are. We don’t have to show anything to buy food or clothes but you do if you stay in a hotel or motel. Just accepted, no one cares. No big deal.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lisaangel10

Albanian Convicted criminal has been given leave to stay here now (although he came here illegally) because he got his Lithuanian girlfriend pregnant, who lives here! That is thanks to ECHR rules.

Yes, I’ve just heard that. Unbelievable.

Sorry HousePlantQueen, I missed the irony bit.

winterwhite

If capable immigrants were allowed to work, their contribution would be positive.
Much of this thread is close to hate talk.

Exactly!

There’s a notice up in our doctor’s surgery nanna8 it states “no ID necessary to be seen by a doctor”.

Come one come all it seems.
We offer too much. It’s definitely a pull factor in the UK.
France offers very little by comparison and they think we are too generous.

Until the powers that be get a grip we just have to put up with it.

I wonder if anybody has any experience of talking to people who have enjoyed the fruits of being " offered too much"?

Or perhaps they have visited where they live and seen how they live?

nanna8

We have to prove who we are every time we visit the doctor and you can’t enrol your child in school unless you can prove where you live,if you are in that ‘zone’ and exactly who you are. We don’t have to show anything to buy food or clothes but you do if you stay in a hotel or motel. Just accepted, no one cares. No big deal.

It depends how you define prove who we are.
At the doctor's, we either have to sign in on a screen, giving our name, date of birth and address, or give the same information to the receptionist.
At school-
Parents have to provide their home address when they apply for a school place and their child’s birth certificate when they enrol them in reception at school.
All the details are held on SIMS, for instant verification questions.

I’m not sure about hotels, because we always book online. Nevertheless, we are always asked to supply details when we check in to make sure they match the reservation.

You now have to have proof of identity to vote.
You have to have a passport to travel to other countries, apart from those forming the UK, and even then you may need photographic evidence of who you are.

We might just as well have ID cards.

My only objection is that there are people out there who will know how to fiddle the system and that would undoubtedly include those who make money out of the boat people, enabling them to charge more for a document which might prove to be fraudulent if checked.
(Australia is good a checking passports for fraud)

I think some do work winterwhite. For friends/relatives - just under the radar. Cash in hand. Which is why we need ID cards (as in Europe).

How on earth do you think ID cards will stop vulnerable migrants and others being exploited by under the radar employers? Massive employers such as McDonalds seem unable/unwilling to check that all of their employees are legal in terms of age, residency, DBS etc, let alone make salary payments to the correct bank accounts.

There is an issue in Australia too, which they are attempting to address by clamping down significantly on people who overstay their visas. I’d like to see the research I requested, because I think the majority of people remaining in the UK illegally are in that category rather than boat migrants. This is interesting, and one measure the government could take is to ramp up the cost charged if people are caught overstaying visas.
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-15/over-70-000-people-live-in-australia-illegally/103269812

I don't believe it's just gangs, nor do I believe we are being flooded with genuine refugees. Ireland is in an even worse position, 1,000s of single MEN of military age, these are economic migrants. Something else is going on and until we stop all the wokery and really listen to people (branded right wing) who are disturbed by this, we are in real danger of losing our way of life. I am all for helping the frightened and needy of all nationalities, but there is an argument for first helping our own people - those who are homeless, cannot afford good food, needing medical care etc. We are not a bottomless pit. As for this 'Labour' government - they are nothing like the proper Labour party of Michael Foot et al. Like I keep saying, we need to wake up.

Eggplant, not our fault though, and no one should be made to feel guilty.

Undines, I so agree with you, we are in danger of losing our way of life, I dread to think what the situation is going to be like for our grandchildren.

too late,, we have already lost our previous way of life.

HousePlantQueen

How on earth do you think ID cards will stop vulnerable migrants and others being exploited by under the radar employers? Massive employers such as McDonalds seem unable/unwilling to check that all of their employees are legal in terms of age, residency, DBS etc, let alone make salary payments to the correct bank accounts.

It's not just employers that need proof someone is entitled to be given a job by them - there are a variety of other places that also need this.

Years (decades!) back I had to take in lodgers for the first few years of being a home-owner. I was a lot more naive than these days - so I had quite a variety of nationalities as lodgers over that period and I took it as read they were entitled to be here (ie they had come to Britain to study here legitimately). Until I took in a Turkish man at one point - who had told me he was studying at the university. Quite apart from the fact he turned out to be filthy/no sign of him ever doing any of his own housework I did notice he spent a lot of time (equating to a full-time job I would think) working for "spending money" at the local Turkish kebab place and I noticed that frequently. I never ever noticed any sign of him studying - going to the university/having textbooks on him etc. The combination of me seeing no evidence of studying whatsoever and something was clearly wrong there, his room got so dirty that I could literally smell it from the hallway and I realised he'd been up in my attic looking for something hard to put under his mattress and bringing it down with him!!!! meant I gave him instant notice to leave after a couple of months....as it was very clear all round by then there was something wrong and it was affecting me.

In hindsight - I'd have asked for proof he was studying and proof he was entitled to be here and never have taken him in in the first place. So yep....we do have "illegals" here trying to get things from us they are not entitled to have.

Then there was the Argentinian woman that had a minor accident one time - so I went off to A & E with her and explained what she needed (ie stitches) and that she was from Argentina (ie not a country in the European Union) and I expected her to be dealt with (which she was) and also expected her to be given a bill for her treatment (and she wasnt billed - so we landed up paying for it).

So - yep....we do need something for non-British people to use to prove they are entitled to whatever it is they are asking for and, if they are entitled they get it. If they're not entitled they don't get it.