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Some people haven’t adapted to current employment conditions. Insecure employment/hours/income, relocation and new skills/training. Housing makes things worse (social housing completely locks you down geographically and private rent is half your paycheque).
I can see how they find themselves resentful of economic migrants and intolerant of refugees.
If I ask how they feel about immigration they say “too much”.
^ It’s glib, but this is my basic understanding of what I see. I work sometimes with a charity and we try and get people like this into volunteering etc.
miro_o-
I can see that too, but you blame the wrong cause/person and then you will never get anywhere. It suits some in the political class atm to play along with this of course.
It is too bad in a way, cos nobody is happy with the bad housing, including immigrants but the problems are pitted as "one vs other" not "people that want a decent standard vs politicians/processes that mess it up".
JWestland
I am always a bit baffled by this "cultural cohesion".
Want want to all know our neighbours and the whole street? Yes, you can... one Belfast street near where I used to live in a rundown part of the city was kept together by 3 grannies who were super happy with having 8 nationalities and everybody watched each other.
With 8 nationalities. In a mostly white area, which is now getting a lot of people from the Carribean. And one that has serious racism problems 10 years ago and turned it around. And it's pretty poor with housing issues. But, the local community group who fights their heart out for GPs/housing decided it had enough and that is now what the area is.
Those feelings also live in the Netherlands, but there are places where people have reached out and it turns out "the others" are just...people.
You are right it is about feelings, but I don't find the whole anti immigration discussion in the UK very productive. It is more about stoking more unhelpful feelings.
And one man a few years ago voted Brexit, but he reached out to the EU citizens in the town. He just didn't want "any more" as "it is now all Polish people". So, to me, it seemed the "local born" go and never come back.
I don't see how locking the door is going to fix that. Though I can understand it must be strange to see a city change that much, so having conversations is fine. But what is the anti freedom of movement bringing to the table? To use an extreme example, maybe the town will just be empty and nobody will come once "the door is shut". Do they take that into account? The discussion seems just stuck on a political level.