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complaining loudly about EU immigrants taking jobs (which is an issue which is real in some areas and should not have been shoved under the carpet)
Well, it is and it isn't. Firstly, I'll agree that the issue should definitely not have been shoved under the carpet. There should have been a lot more open discussion rather than writing people off as racists.
However, while the narrative being put out by the likes of EDL, Biffa's, UKIP, the Tories and the tabloid press that we're under siege by a tidal wave of EU immigrants taking jobs that should rightfully be British, the reality, as ever, was a lot more complex.
Firstly, there was frequently an issue, particularly around temporary, seasonal and sessional work of British people simply not applying for jobs. Employers still needed a workforce and so necessarily tapped into a willing migrant workforce.
At the same time, things were being compounded by a British move towards getting people into further and higher education programmes. At the same time other European countries, particularly in the east were continuing to generate skilled and semi-skilled labourers.
So in that frame, EU immigrants weren't coming and taking our jobs, they were coming to do the jobs that we weren't doing. We were to slow to react and in that respect, Britain became an open market for people looking for work that wasn't available at home.
But if we then pull out to a bigger picture, Europeans on the continent have lived literally cheek to jowl with their neighbours in other countries for centuries. Over the past 200 years, our main border is pretty much the only one that hasn't shifted at some point in some way. So as well as their own nationality, people living in the EU have also identified as European. It's not an identity that we have really adopted as Brits. So for them, they aren't "coming over here" and taking jobs. With the UK being part of the EU, those jobs were every bit as much theirs to apply for fair and square. From their viewpoint, we had the same choice to go to their country and do the same if we wanted to. We just chose not to.So if your facebook friends are complaining loudly about immigrants coming and taking jobs, one response would be why not go to those countries and take some back. It is, afterall, a system of fair access that extends through all 28 member states. For the most part, the response is that British people don't want to go over "there" and live in "that country". An othering response which is why this loud complaining is demonstrative of an underlying racism.
The_Seldom_Killer-
I agree with all that. But if somebody sees a factory taking on cheaper EU workers there's nothing they can do. Ironically they don't blame the usually LOCAL owner of the place...no it's the immigrants fault. Of course.
And they may have a skillset that isn't worth anything in the EU (or think so) as they see "themmuns" coming here.
There will be losers. Mostly caused by all what you say. (for example Harland and Wolff could not fill all contracts locally as the skills were lost on loss on work) but anybody that dares to say to people "hey perhaps you should take a course, it's not just other people's fault, empower yourself" won't get any good response.
The Greens at least said "let's put the money we get from immigration into areas that are under pressure".
JWestland
Hasn't Labour lost votes to UKIP in some impoverished areas?
A friend of a friend is mouthing off on Facebook just that with "chattering classes" (anybody with more than 2 pence or braincells to rub together or any empathy I conclude from his mouth foaming rants) and complaining loudly about EU immigrants taking jobs (which is an issue which is real in some areas and should not have been shoved under the carpet)
(labour voters were more likely to be Remain, UKIP obv. super likely to be brexit)