great britain is a refuge for asylum seekers

im not racist ..if asylum seekers come here and work for a living fair enough but what gets me they come here and get free housing money from the state in a way they are laughing in our faces and why should we in the uk have to pay for this ...this country is a soft touch and they know it

You know Fishy I am not a racist either, but I could head that way with the way things are going here in Uk.
Its seem as a Brit you have to work to get ahead, but come in from abroad and a lot is handed to you on a plate. Doctors, dentists, benefits, housing.There are a lot of regulations preventing some immigrants from working in uk, but then again, why should they, they can live for free.
I know for sure that there are local people living rough in mesnes park at night, invisible people that no one cares about.I know a couple are young teens. I work hard, and I don't mind paying tax, but I'd like my taxes to be used to benefit locally.Charity should start on your own doorstep, I think it should be spread further afield too. But start by sorting our own out first.
I had to fight to get my brother housed, he was assessed as non priority, they said "he looks clean" .They expect the homeless to crawl in with flies buzzing round them.Yet while I was fighting his corner translators and a cosy office were found for a family of immigrants.
The system sucks.
I have never agreed with the BNP, but I can see their point when it comes to the flood of immigrants from abroad.Who come here just for an easy ride.Some are needy and I don't begrudge them one penny.But the rest.........well don't start me off!

Well get ready for the next influx

If this goverment(not just labour)had any bottle,they should tell all immigrants that they must join the armed forces for 3 years,if they want to live in this country,then they must defend it as well,we will see how many change their minds about coming!we pamper them too much,they have had muslim only days at alton towers and now they want muslim only bank holidays,we have a muslim council of great britain(whats all that about)and if we start moaning we get called racist,if we went to their country(god forbid)and requested all these things we would either get deported or beheaded,i HATE it when the media call them british muslims,they want nothing to do with british culture,they are only interested in benefits and houses...it stinks.

Spot on Tommy

Pals of mine emigrated to Canada a few years ago. They had to learn everything canadian to be accepted, and have waited years to be accepted as canadian officially.
When they attended one of the various inductions a 'British ethnic' asked the fella in charge what he would get if he lost his job. The guy replied "a free ticket back to uk" WELL DONE CANADA!
My pals needed employment, sponsors and had to fit certain criteria to get to Canada, they also needed a lump sum of money to ensure they could support themselves. They had already bought property out there , but that didn't guarantee them a way in.
I think we could learn some lessons from Canada, and start handing out some free plane tickets.

that aint going to happen whilst blair is there. its the muslim vote now that he depends on. makes one wonder, just how long it will be before he gives them SHARIA LAW???next up will be a city just for the islamists. a country divided or what under blair and his havent a clue scot brethren.muslims dont go away, they come back and back. as for being british, how come none will go into the services for this country!!!!you can count them on one hand, those that do.frightening thing for me is this, wheres the oposition????not a bleep out of them on the overiding issues of the day.global warming...more women MPs...we are in deep s**t mates.

blair is just a puppet..what makes me sick about asylum seekers they complain about this country...if its so bad.why dont they leave...nobodys stopping them

It is scary for our future generations.Maybe has predicted one day the muslim flag will fly over Downing Street.

In The News Today.....
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's population has grown to more than 60 million for the first time, official figures showed on Thursday, as it expands at its quickest rate since the mid-1960s thanks to immigration from eastern Europe.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the population surged by 375,000 to reach 60.2 million by the end of June last year -- the biggest annual rise since 1962, and the fastest rate of growth since 1965.

"The main factor leading to the increase was net international migration," the ONS said in a statement.

i think tommy and empress says it all ,well said.

Well I agree with all that's been said above. I'm not racist either, Heaven forbid, but I think there should be a specific pre-requisite before anyone is allowed into this country - from anywhere - and that is that they can read, write and speak English to a high standard. On arrival they should be given a passage from, let's say a Charles Dickens book, and if they can read it perfectly then okay, but if not, back on the plane they go. It's been on the news tonight that there are now 60M people in this country, a large percentage of which are from other countries. Well I'm sorry, and I reiterate I am not racist, but my bloke's a plasterer, I work for electricians and in the building trade also our own guys are being put out of work because of all the Polish that are coming here in droves working for a much lower rate of pay. Not on in my book.

Isn't this thread about Asylum Seekers and not Migrants. There is a line that seems to be blearing between the two.

Its all the same economic drain

That's what we said about the Jews, during the war.

Just a note:

asylum seekers and immigrants are not the same thing - I'm astonished that so many seem to confuse the two. Asylum seekers are people who face persecution, imprisonment or even execution in their own countries through no fault of their own. Member states of the European Union have common policies with regard to their treatment. Immigrants are people who choose to come to Britain because they want to live here, whereas asylum seekers have little choice but to leave their own countries. The title of this thread implies that it is about asylum seekers not immigrants.

Getwom

we can,t really blame immigrants or asylum seekers getting what they can the people to blame are the goverment for allowing so many people in our country.i don,t class myself as racist but the way things are it makes you feel that way.as for putting them in the army for three years i think they should do that with some of our own people. my son lives in a two bedroomed house with his partner and four young children because the eldest child is only four they are not classed as overcrowded and therefore cannot get another bigger house. yet other people maybe asylum seekers or immigrants who knows get prioraty.

Until now, the member states of the E.U. have been, primarily, Christian countries. The further east we go with the E.U. the more Islamic influence is found and that is the danger.

(quote)Asylum seekers are people who face persecution, imprisonment or even execution in their own countries through no fault of their own (un-quote)
The name Emmanuel Nteziryayo springs to mind here, maybe we could try to explain to the family`s of nearly 90.000 people he is alledged helped to kill why he was able to come to live in Manchester in a rent free house & claim benefits.

tonker has hit the nail on the head. quote, the further east you go, and the more muslims will be entering GB.muslims owe allegiance to no one but islam (what about the country that provides all their needs)so GADHAFI could be right, that in twenty years, the western world will be islamatised. the only releif i get from this is simply...i wont be here to see it.

For centuries it has always been about religion and i cant see it ever changing.

Where do all the Pakistani cricket supporters come from????? I don't think they live in Pakistan? We are constantly told that "We were born here and we are British" Yet as soon as Pakistan or India come over. They all appear with Pakistan/India shirts and flags.
The person who REALLY GETS up my nose is that Bloody woman civil liberties lawyer who always appears on TV when anything happens. After the security alert last week at the airports. When the authorities said that they were going to start to 'profile' young muslims,( who lets face it they are the people most likey to be suicide bombers, Not families going to Majorca), She came on TV pontificating, that it was against their Human Rights as they were the only ones being picked on!!!!
I'm not one of the "I'm not racist but......." I bloody well am racist. It is this government who has made me one. There is only one group of people who are discrimminated against in this country, and that's the white British population.

Oooh - eck Wiganyankeeron you feel really passionatly about this dont you? I know it gets me annoyed too.Im DEFINATLY not racist just really angry at the way our beautiful country is going. There are men lying unknown in the battlefields of Europe whom lost their lives keeping the 'bad ones' out and now they come in and we pay them for it.
I have got to admit that Human Rights woman, i dont know her name, she also drives me up the wall. Im sure that she is in Cherie Blair's office and paid for it. Now don't get me on about Cherie Blair has she is the one running the country, did you know that?

I also think hosting the Olympics here is a dreadful mistake has no-one will 'go home'.What a stupid decision.Plus, it will not really benefit the North-West.
At the Commonwealth games in Manchester, i may have this info wrong, but im sure i read that one countries sport team(cant remember which one) went AWOL.

asylum seekers!! if i was getting tortured and threatened i would run...but i wouldnt leave my close family behind...why do most men come on their own?? so they can get benifits and send them back home, it was on news millions of pounds are paid out for child benifit for children who dont even live in this country!! and if they are running why run so far?? if i was in a 'gang' and my fellow 'gang' members run to france i would run to new zealand! both my husband and i work full time and cant afford to go drinking in wigan every weekend...my bro-in-law works in a bar in wigan and he in same sitution as me, and he says these asylum seekers are out every night....all wrong

just agree with every thing you all said

Seems Britain has gone soft.
When the first world war started, my mums step dads dad( thats a gobful) was packed off back to Germany where he was from, he was seen as a security risk.He left behind his British wife and 5 children who never saw him again.
Nowadays we keep security risks at tax payers expense, they are clothed, fed, protected and housed, wish I was a security risk .I could pack in work, and put my feet up.

Empress,thats shocking that your mums step dads dad never saw his british wife and 5 children again. Especially at a time when men were the main breadwinners of the family. Times must have been hard for her. My grandma's husband(my grandad) died in a pit accident in the thirties and all her 5 children were very young, my dad was the baby and boy, yes, times were hard. How did they manage?

the answer is a X at voting time,maggie thatcher has a lot to answer for,re poll tax,yet i am paying more now [6 times]than i did under her.i have worked[and my wife]all our working life,so can not claim anything.The saying goes ''PUT A MONKEY UP IN WIGAN''and they will get in so who is to blame?The same goes for local election time,at the next one we should remeber the little ones who are not as lucky as us.THE CHILDREN THAT ATTENDED ''MERE OAKS''.God bless each and every one of them.The labour members that got rid of it must remember chickens always come home to roost and if there is a god some of theirs may need help

Its terrible what happened with the closure of Mere Oaks.Let me look into my crystal ball... I can see more houses being built on land where once stood a school called'Mere Oaks'.

It was really strange how all those councillors, who fought tooth and nail for Mere Oaks, all turned tail at the eleventh hour and voted for it's closure in favour of development. I have personal experience of how corrupt the council planners are. I'd like to know how much it cost the developer too.

200 years ago some of my ancestors survived a terrible massacre in France - they were Hugenots. They came to England where they overcame prejudice and became citizens of this country. They have fought in wars - died for this country, my father was wounded for this country,they have given good service to this country. Yes, I think you are all racist bigots because you want to keep what you regard as your little empires. people are people whatever their origins.

maggie it is obvious thatyou also live in your own little world.if you go to any other country you are expected to honour THEIR culture ,laws etc.this country if you are a person from a foreign land you are allowed to follow your OWN culture,laws,what rights do we as british citizens have.i heard of a case were one of these people was stopped,had no tax,mot,or insurance,he was allowed to carry on claiming he did not understand the rules//would you be allowed to do the same??????????????

Maggie let me start by saying that in my opinion you are wrong by calling the people who have responded to this group racist, from what i`ve read these people are NATIONALIST`S, a word that seems to be lost in peoples vocabulary these days, You say your dad fought for this country, then he was a nationalist standing up for the rights of the people to be free and to have freedom of speech, yes freedom of speech, the first thing that the powers that be & the media like to supress, and how do they do it? they call people RACIST in the hope they will shut up & go away.
So to sum up you are of the opinion that if the people posting on this thread are concerned about the epidemic that this country has reached due to imigration, they have no right to voice their opinion (FREEDOM OF SPEECH) or if they do they are racist. Sorry but you are wrong girl, my grandfather was wounded fighting for freedom of speech as were many others and many also killed, so in their honor (yes the nationalists) i will continue to voice my freedom of speech & hope the rest of the NATIONALISTS of this country continue to do so.....

I will stand corrected here if i am wrong but did your father fight in ww2 ? if he did then he was fighting against the nazi invasion of Poland. dur hello.. were being invaded from within and we invited them here. but in your opinion if we say anything then were racist. wake up...

Maggie, an Englishman can't be 'racist' against a Frenchman, simply because they are the same race. Different country, maybe, but the same race.

Maggie, i can try to understand how you feel, but we are not racist bigots.We just feel passionatly about this issue like you do.You have just maybe misunderstood some replies.
Has for keeping our 'little empires', yes, we want to keep our empire safe from scum coming into the UK and trying to kill us.We should not have to live in fear.The lads of WW1 and WW2 stopped that from happening all those years ago and now the threat is back with us again and the goverment just let anyone in and give them benefits knowing that they are a threat to national security.

Tonker, what is your experience of corrupt council planners?You dont have to name anyone.Nothing surprises me.
Has for what happened with Mere Oaks, yes! what happened to all the support from the men in suits? At the last minute everything went quiet.

Another point of view on immigration (not asylum seeking): The Timesyesterday.

An immigration-fuelled surge in Britain's population may help Gordon Brown to escape another embarrassing breach of his public borrowing forecasts and could help to head off interest rate increases.
After official figures showed the UK population climbing at its fastest rate since the Sixties, economists said that this may bolster the economy's sustainable "trend" growth rate, with beneficial effects for both state finances and interest rates.

The point being made was that without immigration, the proportion of the population of working age would fall and the proportion in retirement would rise with a consequent damaging effect on the economy. Changes of this sort are a matter of concern in Germany and Japan.
Quote: In Britain, the impending retirement of women born in the Sixties "baby boom" will soon reduce the pace of increase in the size of the workforce, in turn putting a brake on the economy's trend growth rate.

On another matter - asylum seekers who may also be terrorists. A court has decided that a 35-year-old Islamist may be deported to Algeria because of possible links with terrorists. This is seen as a victory for the Home Office. The point is that these decisions are not made by the government but by courts. He hasn't actually been found guilty of terrorist activities although he was charged and aquitted last year. Three of the jurors who helped to aquit him have issued a statement about his impending deportation:
This is contrary to anything we thought was possible in a democratic, free society. So who is supporting freedom? Those who wish to deport him despite the fact that he hasn't been found guilty of any crime, or the jurors who believe that he should be allowed to stay here.

Getwom

maggie you can call me racist all you hun, i dont care. i dont care if a person is black,white,pink or purple....they should not be allowed in this country claiming all sorts of benifits while i work full time and have to borrow money off my mum to buy the rest of the school uniforms i need!!!!
When i first got a house i had one chair and a black & white t.v and thats all (and this was in 1999) i was earning £2 less a week working than i would have earned on dole, but i didnt get any help from anywhere, but asylum seekers get a free pass to go to Elizabeth Furnishings and get what they like.....thats what i dont like!

has maggie been deported?no answers

I think Maggie has took the huff, Racehorsedog.

Neverstill, i did not know that asylum seekers get a free pass and get what they want from Elizabeth furnishings. Im so annoyed.I too had nothing when i first started out, friends and family helped out, even with knives and forks. So i had to go and get a loan which took me ages to pay back.But i did it and i did it myself without any help.

How sad you all are. it is of no use answering your sillinesses, you are all bigots. Actually find out the facts before you sound off - especially about benefits. if there is not the money in your family for uniform, then try finding out if there are benefits you can have. For all of you who denigrate me for what I say - know this - I travel - across Europe - by train, I love the welcome we get from other countries, I love the history and how Europe has drawn back from the racist brink of nazism. get a life you people!

MAGGIE,I see you are from bath I have visited the city many times over the past few years,and like many it has its share of BEggERS on the streets,which by your standing is a good thing?you state you have visited many european cities and found them welcoming.try scrounging in them and see where it gets you

Maggie my reply to this was very long so I deleted it, I want my tax spent on local people, I am not racist.If you feel the need to spend money on the influx of people coming from abroad then that should be your personal choice, it isn't mine, yet our councils and politicians have taken that choice away from us that do object.You said your ancestors came here from France, i can guarantee they worked hard, accepted our customs and embraced the British ways. I bet they didn't get free housing, medical care,furniture, etc etc etc.

I'm not racist,i was only following orders,send them home. What a great country this is we have robbed and murderd our way through nearly every country in the world to make the glorius british empire we don't have,perhaps these asylum seekers are just after some pay back.As for the BNP there are to many good people in this country to let these people get anywhere.Do these asylum seekers still get free cars and mobile phones to call home,that was the tale told to us last year, scare mongering i call it and it's dangerous,just what these right wingers want you to believe.This is a fine multi racial country we live in with a great monarch on the throne.There is always room for people who need our help from injustice in our land thats what makes us what we are british and proud.So this is probably our way of making things right for what we did in the making of the british empire to so many countries.Long live the cause of freedom,god save the queen.(but not the hangers on).

This is my first post, so first of all I would like to say hello. I am for a multi-cultural society and don't really have a problem with immigration or even asylum seekers (if they are genuine) but I do believe that they should be able to speak English, even just basic English, have an educational qualification or skill that can benefit Britain, that they be able to support themselves without government assistance, should abide by the laws of Britain, should accept that it is a Christian country and although they would be welcome to maintain their own religion this should not impinge on the rights and beliefs of other citizens and should they commit a crime, they would automatically be deported. In the case of asylum seekers, their reasons for seeking asylum should be thoroughly investigated before they receive the type of hand-outs I am reading about on this board. I actually live in Australia (but are a citizen of both Australia and Britain - hence my username) and hold the same view for people who wish to live here.

maggie have u got actually got a clue of what your talking about?....i cant get ANY benifits when im working, i pay into the system so that means i cant get any pay out from it! I do check my facts before i sound off....i know what asylum seekers get, because my friend used to work with them to get them settled in their new homes.....needless to say he only did it for few weeks. it annoyed him so much.

Yes, I do have a clue what I am talking about. There is such a benefit as Income Support - trying asking for it - try to find the Benefits Agency Web site. A few weeks ago when on my travels, the tour that I was on took us to Auschwetz/Birkenau. I managed the first part, but had to give up on the Birkenau bit - partly because I couldn't take any more and partly because of my disability. I was sitting down when an old man spoke to me in a Polish accent and asked me if I was English, when i replied yes, he said, I live in England now, I live in Wigan. When I told him that I was born in Wigan, we had a most wonderful chat. he is a war hero and was a partisan. he managed to escape to Italy and his mother wrote to him and told him not to return as the Russians were killing the partisans. So he found asylum in Wigan. he told me how wonderful the people are there and how he had had a good life - he had had his own business and was now retired. He was not obviously one of the characters some of you think these people are. it was a wonderful experience to have in that dreadful place.

I read in my local paper that the largest influx of foreigners into UK is not from Asia but from Poland,up to 600,000 young and single,who work at all the menial jobs the locals don't want then toddle off back to Poland with a pocketfull of cash.While I agree with the sentiments of some,you have to ask yourselves who is responsible for this dilemma.In the '50s it was the West Indians who were imported,then Indians and Pakistanis,now,from what I can gather,it's anyone who claims refugee status,but it is happening in other parts of the world even here in Australia where,I'm ashamed to say,people are locked up in detention centres while they are processed.What is the answer to this problem? Perhaps if the wealthier countries of the world did more to address the needs of the poorer nations unconditionally it would go some way to solving the problem.One thing that I think would help in UK is to ignore or even ostracise the BNP as they only exacerbate the situation,serving to alienate newcomers rather than integrate them.Yes I know there are other problems but you have to start somewhere and while my situation may have been somewhat different I too was an immigrant.

Maggie
This guy you spoke to Auschwitz, he sounded like a hard working guy,paid taxes and worked hard to better himself.Its the young men mostly coming to this country living off benefits, getting clothes, houses, furniture, that irks everyone. I believe that anyone whom life is in serious danger deserves asylum in any country, but say for example the current situation in Iraq, if i was a young man in danger and scared, i would stop off at the first safe country i landed in, so why trek all over Europe, risking there life to get here.
Just wait till the E.U expands to Romania, an indepth valid analysis of the situation shows that the country is heading for meltdown. I tell you what Maggie this current situation can not carry on. The NHS and schools for example are stretched to the limit. For example there are teachers that cant teach British born children because they are having to deal with children that cant speak English. Also,the NHS is having to deal with a massive rise in AIDS cases. Money is going on treating these cases, why women cant get the drugs to beat breast cancer or to help the elderly dying in hospital corridors.Did you recently watch a documentary on the BBC? where the elderly are just being left to die because there is no money and no decent staff. Im worried about the future of this country. I can quite obviously see that the dire straits this country is in has not affected you yet.It is sadly however affecting most people in this country.

Maggie if neverstill works, she cant claim any benefits including income support od school uniform vouchers..Im far from racist but i do agree that its not right that they come to live here and get free stuff, especially houses, when there iis ppl here who have been on the waiting list to get a house for years. My sister and her 4 kids had to move in with me and my 2 kids and partner, so there was 9 of us in a 3 bedroom house and she was here for 5 months untell she finally got a house.Fair enough there is alot of decent ppl who comeover here and do work and pay for the stuff they want, but there is to many getting it all for free, noi wonder they all want to come here when it is all handed to them on a plate.

ACTUALLY YOU COULD REALLY HOUSE ASYLUM SEEKERS IN HAIGH HALL COS IT AINT BEEN USED FOR NOUT AT THE MOMENT AINT IT NOT

lol fishy do u think they would dare?.
Maggie let me teach you the ways of a full time worker:.......U can get child tax/ working tax...NOTHING ELSE.
I am entitled to £100 month child tax, but i have refused it, beacaue un like asylum seekers they kept messing me around giving me money then taking it back, in 2002 i lost my home because the government couldnt decide how much money i was entitled to, so my landlord got p***sed off with me making payments then not so he evicted me, husband and two kids. Then when they did admit they were wrong they did it again! so now i dont trust them enough so i dont want any money off them...i work at asda and i know asylum seekers get vouchers for shopping and even if they go over the allowed amount, it just takes one phone call and its allowed to go through. some weeks i have go shopping for 4 with £40...and i dont have one single debt or credit card or store card or anything. i dont even have a bank card with a chip in it! it just cost so much to live and you dont get anything back: for example i pay nearly £60 rent to the council each week and i have reported my gate latch 4 times and it still isnt done, the asylum family a few doors down gets jobs done within a couple of days, i invite u maggie to live with me and see things from my eyes

I think I can enter this debate as a 'watcher' cos I'e been offline for about 4 weeks! It's interesting that there are SO MANY responses, and they all go into great detail - true passion!! I suspect most comments are from people just like me who are perfectly reasonable folk but see 'British normality' being edged backwards and foreign tongues and dress talking over in Tesco and the like. My wife and I were until recently VERY REASONABLE people, but in the last 12 months we have become hardened - it's unacceptable to us that we should be changing but we keep seeing more 'unacceptable' things going on.

I suppose I should remind all us good Wiganers (I've only got 10 years under my belt!) that this is a non-racist site and we should above all love one another. We can only hope that the natural balance of affairs is maintained.