United Kingdom
Related: About this forumSo many British people live abroad that now the ‘immigration debate’ is about us
According to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UK actually has a much greater proportion of citizens living overseas than any other European country.
That means we are the ones going over there, tekkin thurr jahbs.
Around 3.97 million UK citizens were living abroad in 2010-11, and since then the numbers have grown.
Globally, Britain was second only to Mexico which had 12million citizens living in other countries.
http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/06/so-many-british-people-live-abroad-that-now-the-immigration-debate-is-about-us-5485131/
This article was published last November, but only grows more relevant.
LeftishBrit
(41,190 posts)Despite the 'right little, tight little island' myth, plenty of Brits migrate, and I think this has been the case for a very long time.
Bad Dog
(2,025 posts)Unlike UKIP's core vote.
mwooldri
(10,291 posts)I really didn't know there were that many British ex-pats.
The referendum is all about robbing future generations of job opportunities just to satisfy a bunch of geriatric bigots.
T_i_B
(14,734 posts)...is how retirement towns like Clacton are not competing with Spanish destinations for retirees. And that might be behind some of the desire among some people to get us out of the EU, so the "grey market" can't go elsewhere.
Or it could be that the most xenophobic tend to be those who've never met people from other cultures. When my daughter was at primary school in Frinton there was one black kid there, and he had a terrible time. She was his only friend. The only time they taught something other than Christianity in an RE lesson was straight after I raised the matter during an Ofsted meeting with the parents. A lot of the fundamentalist weirdo parents tried to shout me down. The next day, in front of the Ofsted inspectors she had a lesson on Buddhism.
I'm really glad she only spent a year in that bloody place. It may have beautiful beaches, but the right wing racist fundamentalist Christian element is beyond a joke.
LeftishBrit
(41,190 posts)Many studies show that the most prejudiced against immigrants, etc. tend to be people who live in places with few or no immigrants. While some of it may be choice (prejudiced people may not choose to live in areas with many immigrants; immigrants may prefer to live in areas where prejudice is low), most people don't have THAT much choice about where they should live, and a lot of it does seem to be that a lack of contact helps the prejudices to thrive.
T_i_B
(14,734 posts)As to the other point, I think that when people can choose where to live, they do. And I'm thinking especially of coastal areas dependent on attracting retirees. Is that a more attractive option for many than moving to Spain? Clacton or Costa Del Sol?
LeftishBrit
(41,190 posts)Younger people tend to be more constrained by where their/their partners' work is.
As regards those who do choose, I'd say many would choose Costa Del Sol!
I think if we get out of the EU the increased difficulty of foreign travel will come as a rude shock to many.
Denzil_DC
(7,188 posts)Could be as simple as that.
Bad Dog
(2,025 posts)But I definitely would not want to go back to Tendring, ever.
Denzil_DC
(7,188 posts)(a lot longer and more detailed than the online version linked below).
Although I take any poll with a pinch of salt, its findings chime with my own gutfeel about a couple of issues - demographic concerns about immigration that will inevitably be the major cheap focus of an increasingly xenophobic "Leave" campaign despite all the high-faluting talk on other issues, and turnout on the day:
...
The survey, which places the Remain and Leave campaigns neck and neck, was conducted before David Cameron completed his renegotiation of the terms of the UKs membership of the EU. But it seems unlikely that a complicated emergency brake on in-work benefits for EU migrants will reassure many, such is the depth of antipathy towards a perceived Europe of open borders.
For well over half those questioned, immigration is among the three most important issues facing the UK. A clear majority believe that migration between the UK and the rest of the EU has been a bad thing for Britain. Broken down into specific areas, the picture becomes relentlessly and overwhelmingly negative.
A substantial majority believe that free movement within the EU has been bad for jobs, bad for the NHS, bad for the poor, bad for crime and bad for housing. There is a small hurrah for the greater cultural diversity that migrants bring. But even that note of optimism is overshadowed by the judgment that immigration has been bad for the nations social values. The borderless Schengen zone within the EU, now strained to breaking point by desperate refugees fleeing Syria, is viewed as a folly (though interestingly, there is huge support for a concerted EU-wide effort to solve the crisis). For the generation of British politicians who backed the expansion of the EU eastwards and embraced the free movement of labour throughout the union, there has been a catastrophic failure to convince the public that any of this was a good idea.
...
It will also pit the young against the old and, to a striking degree, London against the regions. An instinctive Europhile is likely to be aged between 25 and 34 years old and living in London. He or she is likely to have at least one friend from another EU country, believe that immigration is a positive benefit and is apparently keener on holidaying in posh parts of France than the costas of Spain.
The actual issue of EU membership will never have been a big concern. In fact, the achilles heel of the Remain campaign could be an inability to get this type of voter to the polling booth. Only 45% of Londoners are certain they will cast a vote on 23 June, compared to 72% in the rest of the south east, where Leave supporters hold the whip hand. Overall, Outers are more likely to vote than Inners. Older, more committed and more passionate about their cause, they could yet profit from the relative apathy of their opponents to win a famous victory.