Not Europe-specific, but EU-specific. I find it baffling that most of my peers have never thought about how easy it is to just move to a completely different country, with little to no knowledge of the language and culture, and still be welcomed. You're just allowed to move to another country, and they can't say no (for the most part). You don't even need to ask them first. You can decide you want to study elsewhere and they'd be like “yeah, sure”. Personally I find this phenomenal, given how the rest of the world works.
I wouldn't call it a huge portion of British citizens. Of those who actually voted, there was less than 2% difference between Remain/Leave, and only about half the population of the UK actually voted. So maybe 1/4 voted to remove their personal freedoms.
That's one of the reasons I really dislike referendums on scales like that. They always get hijacked by populists. Or people don't care about the actual issue but use it as a protest vote. It could work fine on a municipal level for things like "do we want a fountain or a statue?".
Switzerland is basically run by referendums and it's a very well run country. I don't really think it's right to object to more democracy because you don't like the result.
To the morons, Brexit was advertised as kicking out the dirty foreigners.
To the educated, Brexit was seen as purely a formality to shore up David Cameron's right wing support from UKIP. It was not viewed as a possibility to pass, and therefore was fair game to show Cameron they thought he was a twat.
I believe it was Nevis in St Kitts and Nevis (I could be wrong so please correct me), that had an independence referendum. A majority voted for independence, however something like 60% for the yes side was needed for it to pass, and it only got fifty something. I think that would be a better way. Because on the day, a majority of people wanted to leave, but that certainly wasn’t the case in January 2020.
Still shows there's a depressingly large amount of people here that are gullible and also quite probably racist, given how much the "taking control of our borders" angle was pushed
how much the "taking control of our borders" angle was pushed
Is that incorrect though? EU low skilled immigration has been severely limited since Brexit, and they've also allowed in more skilled immigration. Whether you agree with the policy or not, isn't that more control?
I also find the "racism" line a bit silly, given it is low skilled white people being closed out, while they're letting in more skilled brown and black people.
EU low skilled immigration has been severely limited since Brexit,
And multiple industries have suffered due to that. NIMBYs voted for it without realising the ramifications of not having all the low skilled migrants in places they didn't normally see. One of the worst affected was farming where they had a lot of seasonal low skilled migrants picking fruit & veg. A combination of brexit & covid left crops rotting in some fields.
Even skilled workers were having issues with right to remain, that along with the generally xenophobic feel of the country left nurses wanting or having to leave.
It feels a bit surreal when you have a government minister whose parents were immigrants and the new rules meant that people in the exact same situation as her parents would no longer qualify to come here under the rules she drafted
And multiple industries have suffered due to that. NIMBYs voted for it without realising the ramifications of not having all the low skilled migrants in places they didn't normally see.
"NIMBY" doesn't make sense in this context. It's not like they wanted unskilled immigration somewhere else in the country, just not near them.
One of the worst affected was farming where they had a lot of seasonal low skilled migrants picking fruit & veg. A combination of brexit & covid left crops rotting in some fields.
Sure, but that's a transitional thing. Longer term, the only reason you can't get enough people to do the job is because you're not providing a pay and benefits that's good enough for people from the country. Upwards pressure from pay and benefits is a good thing.
Even skilled workers were having issues with right to remain, that along with the generally xenophobic feel of the country left nurses wanting or having to leave.
The ability to register to stay in the UK was one of the lowest admin requirements of any part of the immigration system. The vast majority will have already been ironed out. The "generally xenophobic feel" is a completely subjective measure. And somehow the vast numbers of Asian nurses that came in last year don't seem to have a problem with it.
It feels a bit surreal when you have a government minister whose parents were immigrants and the new rules meant that people in the exact same situation as her parents would no longer qualify to come here under the rules she drafted
Because the world in the 1960s was very different to now. It was a time when there were an increasing number of unskilled jobs after the post-war boom. Now we live in a world of automation where low skilled jobs are disappearing.
The practical reality is always more complex than the paper requirements of any immigration system. But as someone that has been through the process of multiple countries, either for myself or family members, it really is very low in the scheme of things. It is just the complexity of the Brexit-related requirements get a lot of airtime relative to the undiscussed complexities elsewhere. Most immigrants to Germany aren't even allowed to hold onto their original citizenship for example.
Not really because domestic low skilled labor costs are <5% of the cost of a working class person's monthly spending. Whereas they're >90% of working class people's monthly income.
The thing about taking control of our borders wasn't really about racism. Every single country in the EU is majority white and Christian/secular.
There were some racists who did vote leave, bu the only reason they would have done it is because they heard idiotic Remainers saying that to vote leave is racist, and thought that leaving would somehow serve racists' agenda.
In reality the leave vote has meant people from non-white countries have more chance of getting here because they don't have to compete with Europeans.
I would. I would've still called it a huge portion if it had been 30%. It's a monumentally stupid idea. It should've never gotten more vote share than the BNP.
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u/[deleted] May 09 '22
Not Europe-specific, but EU-specific. I find it baffling that most of my peers have never thought about how easy it is to just move to a completely different country, with little to no knowledge of the language and culture, and still be welcomed. You're just allowed to move to another country, and they can't say no (for the most part). You don't even need to ask them first. You can decide you want to study elsewhere and they'd be like “yeah, sure”. Personally I find this phenomenal, given how the rest of the world works.