The illegal immigrants desperate to escape squalor of Britain

[afleitch]

Why has Britain gotten so xenophobic? Is it because of Eastern Europeans immigrating once the EU expanded in 04, because you never really heard much about groups like UKIP or the BNP gaining any traction in the 90's and much of the 00's.

Exactly. Part of the reason why I quoted it is that there is a tendency just to 'blame the Tories' en masse for immigration issues or tension in the UK, when Labour politicians (and Lib Dems too) use it to their advantage. It's just laziness. It also doesn't help us tackle the issue.

The Tories were doing well the job of capting racist voters.

Ever heard about Enoch Powell or the Tories saying "If you want a nigger for your neighbour, vote Labour." (or something like that)?

It wasn't Enoch, but that slogan was used.

And the Tories certainly haven't helped - their campaigns in 2001 and 2005 were pretty much openly anti-immigration.

"British Jobs for British Workers" - Gordon Brown.

You know, it is hard to find an European which didn't expressed anti-immigration views. That's a vote-gainer, it hard to resist the temptation of going for easy votes.

Disgusting but I understand the logic behind that. It's like the American GOP. They attract people who don't care about their economic polities by using wedge issues. Same thing here. You attract voters with a wedge issue.

[dialectical fetishist]

Why has Britain gotten so xenophobic? Is it because of Eastern Europeans immigrating once the EU expanded in 04, because you never really heard much about groups like UKIP or the BNP gaining any traction in the 90's and much of the 00's.

The Tories were doing well the job of capting racist voters.

Ever heard about Enoch Powell or the Tories saying "If you want a nigger for your neighbour, vote Labour." (or something like that)?

It wasn't Enoch, but that slogan was used.

And the Tories certainly haven't helped - their campaigns in 2001 and 2005 were pretty much openly anti-immigration.

"British Jobs for British Workers" - Gordon Brown.

Touche.

[Leftbehind]

Why has Britain gotten so xenophobic? Is it because of Eastern Europeans immigrating once the EU expanded in 04, because you never really heard much about groups like UKIP or the BNP gaining any traction in the 90's and much of the 00's.

Well UKIP and BNP have only really seen success in European elections, which only became elected through PR following the 1999 European act, and used for the first time at the '04 elections. Before that, UKIP won 7% and three seats in the '99 Euro's, under FPTP, but then so did the Greens near enough, and the Euro's pathetic turnout now helps minor parties, whereas in the past it didn't make any difference.

Before that, UKIP's precursor the Referendum Party won 2.6%, at the '97 election - not a great deal less than their best of 3.1% they achieved in the last general election. Other than that, you've got several reasons, some of which have already been mentioned:

-Eastern European immigration has been a growing concern for the public, and regularly 'highlighted' by a very right-wing, xenophobic press.
-main two are distinctly less broad-church entities now, meaning their capture of total vote was rapidly on the decline, opening the way for right-of-Tory votes
-the Tories are less inclined to court racists than in the past, even in recent history, as opposition, the Tory leaders who preceded Cameron (especially IDS/Hague) put far more effort into appealing to them than Cameron, and his 'centrist' electioneering did.

[ingemann]

Don't blame them for wanting to escape. Britain is such a racist country now that if I wasn't white British, I'd probably want to get the hell out as soon as possible.

From everything I have read and heard, Britain is just as bad as the rest of Europe when it comes to racism, xenophobia, and general bigotry.  It's these rare discussions when I can proudly state "I am an American."

Yes it's one more point where USA can say you're nr. one, like the graceful way you dealt with the Islamic Community Centre in New York, or the enlighten way people keep focusing on the president's middle name or where he was born.
 

We don't have parties like the BNP or French National Party (they actually get votes). What, the American Third Position Party gets a 1,000 votes tops? Come on. The Islamic Center was controversial, and we were not ready for it. Times have to change, and the change needed for that center to be built is a good 4-5 years down the line. I usually am not offended by this type of post, but Europeans really can’t lecture us on these things. America and Europe are equally guilty of these troubles.

I'm not lecturing I'm just showing him how ridiculous and unfounded his smug condescending attitude is.

Beside a comparison between USA and Europe is ridiculous, Europe is 30+ states going from Belarussia to Sweden and USA is one polity, as such you can always single things USA do better than some European countries and vice versa. If a comparison should be made it should be with specific state rather than some kind of faceless European meta-identity.

[ChairmanSanchez]

Then again Chairman"Sanchez" has said some interesting things in the past so in his case.....

By the way, I should put this out there----I apologized for that sh*t in another thread. While I did not realize it, I was pretty much a white nationalist. I also was not a Christian. A lot about me has changed since then, but I am still, and always be one thing--an idiot.

Don't blame them for wanting to escape. Britain is such a racist country now that if I wasn't white British, I'd probably want to get the hell out as soon as possible.

From everything I have read and heard, Britain is just as bad as the rest of Europe when it comes to racism, xenophobia, and general bigotry.  It's these rare discussions when I can proudly state "I am an American."

Yes it's one more point where USA can say you're nr. one, like the graceful way you dealt with the Islamic Community Centre in New York, or the enlighten way people keep focusing on the president's middle name or where he was born.
 

We don't have parties like the BNP or French National Party (they actually get votes). What, the American Third Position Party gets a 1,000 votes tops? Come on. The Islamic Center was controversial, and we were not ready for it. Times have to change, and the change needed for that center to be built is a good 4-5 years down the line. I usually am not offended by this type of post, but Europeans really can’t lecture us on these things. America and Europe are equally guilty of these troubles.

I'm not lecturing I'm just showing him how ridiculous and unfounded his smug condescending attitude is.

Beside a comparison between USA and Europe is ridiculous, Europe is 30+ states going from Belarussia to Sweden and USA is one polity, as such you can always single things USA do better than some European countries and vice versa. If a comparison should be made it should be with specific state rather than some kind of faceless European meta-identity.

I would like to apologize to you, because I took that post massively out of context. I was rude, and aggressive, and I apologize.

[GMantis]

Perhaps I've missed it, but the article didn't mention that these people are leaving due to racism. How is it the fault of the British that illegal immigrants who arrive in the middle of a recession can't find work
I would say that the idea that the UK is a racist country is very dubious, considering all the effort the government spends fighting against racism and the large immigration rate, despite the economic crisis. Unless of course everyone who opposes immigration is a racist by definition.

[dead0man]

Unless of course everyone who opposes immigration is a racist by definition.

A lot of people do think that way.  They are wrong of course, but the people that think that tend to be wrong on a lot of things.