UK 18:44 Friday, 23 October 2026
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Hello Share Winners. There is a lot of worry about immigrants coming to Britain. It's helping UKIP to do well in by-elections and in the polls.
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Comments
Jason
Sorry Malcolm your article is the usual narrow, one-sided argument employed by the main parties and rejected by a majority of the electorate.
No-one disputes that some levels of skilled migration is desirable and have benefited the UK for centuries but uncontrolled, unskilled labour does nothing for the ordinary man on the street whose wages are compressed, housing costs increase, NHS and education services diminished. The governments own statistics show that long term migrants have been a drain on the economy (as indeed have many Brits) and that current EU wave has only been positive as they are young and less likely to have used services ~ if they become permanent into old age they too will become a burden. The UK and society generally cannot integrate 1/4 million migrants per annum. If the politicians do not wake up to that fact UKIP will continue to gain support which at least is preferable to a ‘Golden Dawn’ type movement springing up and turning issue into a violent protest.
Kevin Taylor
But life is not not just about money Malcolm/Tom. Or if it is then how do you price those extra ten minutes commuting in the morning and evening because the roads and trains are busting at the seams? What price do you put on the lost view over the park as we’ve built two more flats to house the ever expanding population? How can you begin to price the changes that are being forced on the NHS to accommodate the huge influx of extra people that the country is trying to cope with?
No one can argue that over the longer term immigration has been of great benefit to this country and has lead to benefits in our pockets – the statistics prove that. But recent rampant uncontrolled immigration has put an excessive burden on our services and the country as a whole. When that is factored into the equation it is not unreasonable to call for a pause – close the gates – let’s catch up with where we are now and find some balance for everyone, let’s get back in control!
David Russell
Sorry Malc/Tom but immigration is out of control based on the fact people coming to these shores are turning to crime. An old lady who lived in the same area for over 70 years got mugged by someone who as been in the country 2 minutes. The local markets have gangs who pick pocketed and go for elderly. My mate his a Asian shop keeper and he as stopped a load of polish men coming into his shop because they steal the drink. My brother worked up in London 2 weeks ago and a shop keeper told him that some of the staff at a certain large hotel all live in a very small room together and the unlucky ones live in a bush on the local park. My brother said he only went in the shop for a bottle of pop but it seems a lot of people in the capital am pissed off. My brother is a skilled Trades man. You said in the article above;The economy will grow even faster when we have more skills and talent here. Immigration means floods of currently scarce doctors, dentists, nurses. It means more plumbers, electricians, builders, joiners, painters and decorators How many are properly qualified. Ask Tom to investigate say any 2 random doctor who was qualified before 1970 and check were they got the qualifications to practise you might find that qualifications am ok or you could find they was from an office above a small shop like what they say on the internet. My brother worked with a fully qualified welder and the only welding he did was a couple of days in the army but he thought he could learn on the job or so he was told by someone. Sorry the country is a joke.
David Atherton
Entirely different situation in London. In the North, tradesmen are struggling for work, and being undercut by Eastern Europeans doesn’t help.
Malcolm Stacey
Thanks for your comments, gang. A lot of strong points there, I have to admit. Let a few more comments go up and then I’ll have a bash at replying.
Mose Harper
Immigration certainly will boost share prices as the immigrants are increasingly used as slave labour. However as the immigrants send their riches home, locals won’t have the car to spend on the most economically produced of goods. So after possibly an initial increase shares will drop. There will be no cash to pay company taxes with and no improvements to schools, hospitals, child care and so on. Let me guess this is how you spun it to Osbourne and he believed you…
Mose Harper
Sounds like a lesson from the Rob Terry school of economics.
RPC
Fact is, uncontrolled immigration is good for the middle and professional classes who can take advantage of cheap labour in their homes and businesses, but it’s a death knell to skilled tradesmen and the unskilled, indigenous population.
Immigrant labour, willing to sleep in a shed or twelve to a room and hot-bed, will always undercut indigenous labour – the young trying to establish independence in a bedsit, and ordinary working people trying to raise a family. No wonder the Brits have stopped breeding! They can’t afford to.
Moreover, the failed experiment of multiculturalism has proved to be a disaster; far from leading to integration it has positively encouraged ghettoisation and competing cultures. Those who come to Britain should subscribe to British culture – one assumes it was that which drew them to Britian in the first place – instead of which each culture lobbies for predominance so that, these days, few can remember what British culture is.
It’s one thing to allow controlled immigration as and when labour needs dictate, but it’s another thing entirely to fling open the doors to everyone in the EU – not to mention their extended families – and half the rest of the world including bogus students on false papers, asylum seekers, old Uncle Tom Cobley and all.
Our infrastucture, our culture (if anything remains of it) and our labour market simply cannot cope with the influx of immigrants that has been visited on them for the past ten or so years.
Kupla
Sounds more like the traditional Pyramid Selling argument!
Mose Harper
But then there’s another scenario. What if the general public decided that enough was enough of large British companies crapping on the little people. The unions get wind of it and decide to get their entire combined memberships to boycott these companies. The members then get their friends and families involved and all of a sudden millions of customers stop shopping at any number of these companies. What will happen to the shares in these companies? People scream that the unions are causing people to get laid off. But no, the unions create new companies to replace the old, creating companies with no share holders and a ready made clientele. Imagine this being repeated time and time again until all the crap companies have been devastated.
People are tired of being crapped on and one day they will bite back.
Jonathan
If I could find a local builder that actually wanted the work I would have a lot more sympathy with a lot of the whine about immigration.
I spent £150,000 renovating my house 2 years ago. I had 4 builders come to look at it to quote.
Only 3 showed up. Only 2 bothered sending a quote. Only one of those had actually taken notes and so did a proper thorough quote. Guess which one got the job?
We needed a wall rebuilding. 2 people quoted, neither showed up to do the work when we said yes please.
The list goes on, and every one of them so called white, british, indigenous people being undercut by polish/whatever.
It is all bollocks. If people want the work, there is tonnes out there, just have to decide whether you cba to do it.
wildrides
Sorry to say Malcolm and Tom ………….. but your views are deeply flawed .
The type of immigration forming the bulk of what Britain is experiencing is :-
1) Low paid work not contributing much to tax receipts because of personal allowances.
2) Much of what is earned is sent home to keep relatives and not spent in our economy.
3) Such low paid employment is fueling zero hours contract exploitation
4) Over reaching the capacity of schools , hospitals etc
5) Causing an increase in serious violent crime , in particular knife crime due to the differing cultural habits relating to weapon carrying in some member states of the EU
6) Over reaching of our benefit system
7) causing overcrowding in housing and frequent violation of local planning laws to build mini slums for migrant workers .
8) Causing huge problems in schools due to the number of languages and cultures that need to be accommodated
9 ) Ditto in regard to policing and social care and the huge cost now inccured daily for translators when interacting with none English speaking dependents .
10 ) Much of the trade work not completed to UK building and electrical regulations standards .
What you can say about migrant workers is that they are very hard working grafters by and large , but as for being net contributors to the UK economy ……… that is just pure propaganda . They tend to work like hell , save it up and then go back home and spend it all . Rinse , repeat .
David Russell
wildrides, 100% correct This country is just a cash cow for the rest of the world. Some one said once in a children’s book that the streets was paved with Gold so they all come here for the wrong reasons.
alcira16247
Malcolm
The division I work in, with over 800 employee’s, the majority (75%) of unskilled, semi skilled jobs are filled with immigrant’s from Portugal, Poland, Slovakia and Brazil. These peoples are hard working, decent and honest, trying to do the best for their families, just like the rest of us!
However……
The company has now access to a virtually unlimited supply of labour, through its relationship’s with foreign employment agencies, hence it has been able to implement the following, which would have been impossible five years ago :-
Overtime payments cut from time and a half to time and a quarter.
Downgrading grades and hence hourly rates, for doing the same job in the past.
Cutting shift allowances.
Stopping enhanced payments for working Bank holiday’s, such as Boxing Day.
Well below inflation wage increases. ( for 3 years no increases).
Using agency workers at cheaper rates than employing full time staff.
(And our company is by no means unique in exploiting the above mentioned practices)
The new working order, might also explain why our directors pay has risen by over 250% in the past seven years, compared to less than 20% for the workforce.
These reasons added to the observations of other’s (Wildrides, RPC etc) is why I consider unfettered immigration as undesirable.
Andrew
Economics is about incentives. People come to the UK/ wherever because they envisage a better life and the incentive is often financial. The economic woes in Europe are pushing people to the UK. They may enrich us financially or culturally but they are not coming here with that intention and they may leave when a better cash cow emerges. The indigenous population want to build a connected society that is sustainable (well i hope they do). Kids leaving university now face little more than a MacJob and no hope of a step on the property ladder as we ravage our society with globalised companies that underprice our businesses by sheer scale and tax aviodance. I’m all for market forces but the playing field is not even. Uncontrolled immigration may be great for the Punter’s return Malcolm, but combined with the squeezed middle it damages society. I dont have a magic wand but we desperately need to incentivise our own population, not open the doors to low paid economic migrants. We need a sustainable model. By example from my own profession, opening the doors to European doctors with widely different levels of clinical experience has not led to a universal level of excellent care, I can assure you of that. Not a knee jerk racist comment, simply a reflection that accreditation varies widely amongst European countries (you cannot compare the length of training required to be a specialist in the UK with that in Greece for example)
We have created an economic model of society with widening levels of economic inequality and according to the powers that be this has stalled growth Malcolm. Tom will scoff on his Ouzo, but how about taxing the rich and incentivising the poor. Perhaps that will lead to a more homogenised society, boost spending power and increase the value of your portfolio. It might even make for a better society.
Jason
Using cheap immigrant tradesmen can be a false economy as wildrides (point 10) says.
My neighbour had a 6’ brick boundary wall built at the end of his garden. A polish contractor was most competitive but as it was going up I asked neighbour why it was single brick width, no buttresses etc even though it’s in a fairly exposed location ~ he said he had been advised it would be fine/met building regs etc. It lasted about 6 months until first fierce storm when high winds brought the whole lot down.
There are plenty of British tradesmen offering a good service but they’ll tell you that there are fewer younger people taking up trades as it’s harder to make decent money when they’re being undercut.
J P Spaghetti
What concerns me more is domestic companies outsourcing jobs to far-flung places. Yes, I’m talking largely about the foreign call centre scenario (not just that). In defence of this stance, I’m also considering the detrimental effect this must have on their own societies – as well as ours – assuming that many are relatively very highly skilled (one hears stories of doctors taking such roles because western pay for these sorts of roles is even higher). They would otherwise be making a far more valuable TANGIBLE contribution locally. That said, I honestly almost purchased the wrong train ticket after a foreign-based customer service agent confused Liverpool Street with Liverpool Lime Street a few years back before everyone used the internet for this.
I suppose this could be extended to uncontrolled (for want of a better expression) immigration of unskilled and / or semi-skilled labourers (still not sure what the difference is actually, or perhaps it’s the difference between semi-skilled and skilled labour that confuses me!) to this country too (irrespective of ‘skill’ level, as human beings, of course, they should be considered every bit as valuable) if too many are spending so much time away from their countries of origin because of the ‘atrophying’ effect their absence could have back home. Sure – they may send back money to family, but what about those who don’t belong to their family if there are few or no societal safety nets and the general population there is old?
Just seems there could be a valid concern based on the effect such phenomena have on overseas societies too. On a lighter note, I’ve just had a cracking chicken rezala so I’m broadly a fan!
Mose Harper
I suppose ultimately the question is, if companies certain companies are treating the British economy so badly, by exploiting foreign nationals, do we really need these companies to continue trading in the UK? Shouldn’t we get back to making building business for the benefit of the nation, and immigrants to the UK for that matter.
In fact, its just occurred to me, the whole immigration issue is nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with how business can exploit terms and conditions.
80 million and counting
One big supermarket chain reckons there are 80 million people living in the UK.
This compares with the 2001 census which was about 59 million.
This means that GDP per capita has plummeted and the mass immigrants have made the indigenous population a lot poorer.
I’m comfortable with the 80 million estimate because I would have estimated 75 million.
All Britons are suffering because of this catastrophe. They are losing their land, their customs and their heritage.
I’d rather believe the impartial supermarkets than the ONS.
I congratulate you, Malcolm, on finding a bubble to live in where this disaster passes you by.
Striebs
Malcolm , Mose Harper ,
Malcolm , your article is not going to be much comfort to a relative of mine who used to work in hotels but can’t any more because Eastern Europeans have got a strangle hold and operate a closed shop policy .
He didn’t do very well at school . It’s people like these who have suffered due to mass immigration taking the only jobs they can do .
Only due to a lot of help from the rest of the family have they been able to stay in their house and their children feel insecure and their school work suffers .
Most migrants I’ve met are the finest people but we are full up and our first obligation should be towards our fellow countryman .
Mose Harper . None of the Union leaders will voice “British jobs for British workers” because they consider that racist .
Recently the TUC celebrated the rise of Solidarity in Poland in a fit of crass hipocrisy as when it was happening they condemned Solidarity for standing up against the Soviet backed Govt – because they considered it a fraternal (i.e. authoritarian anti-freedom like themselves) Govt . As for the Labour Party it’s been 50 years since they had the interests of ordinary folk at heart .
Malcolm Stacey
Hello Gang. I’m overwhelmed by all the posts on here. And given the enthusiasm in your more or less 100 per cent disagreement to what I said, my admiration goes out to everyone for your very temperate ways of putting your arguments. (I hope that doesn’t sound condescending.)
I have to admit that I live in a quiet part of the world where immigrants rarely come. But my own son, who is in the Midlands, and is a graduate, has had trouble getting even minimum paid work. He probably agrees with you, rather than I.
I hear what everyone says. But we do need doctors, dentists, engineers and skilled workers in this country. Britain will benefit from them. A lot of Britons also work abroad, in oil for example, and send money back here,
But I cannot go into all your eloquent arguments against immigration on this website. Many of your points cannot be disputed anyway.
I suppose I most worry about racism raising its ugly head. But none of your arguments against foreigners coming here could remotely be classed as racist. So I offer no detailed defence and if you’d like to continue taking a different view to mine, well please continue. And we’ll let the don’t-knows make up their own minds.
Robert
It seems to me that well off middle class professionals whose livlihoods are not threatened are in favour of mass immigration as it boosts gdp and company profits and helps fund their lifestyles whereas the less skilled hate it as it is destroying their bargaining power. Two sides of the same coin.
This country belongs to everyone not just the well off and whats going on now is out of control thanks to the eu and its political agenda. I am an accountant and I never thought I would find myself saying that.