DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived post-Murdoch era

It's an easy way of appearing to be 'tough on immigration' as a way to win votes.

AAAAAAAAAAARGH. Dogwhistle bullshit. This is another fake problem.

I came here at 22 and didn't need to see a doctor about anything serious/expensive for 15 years - and I didn't even register until I'd stopped playing flatshare roulette at about 27 because my health was barely-a-cold good. Most of my healthcare between then and now has been ob-gyn exams and/or prescriptions for birth control. Non-EU migrants do not have recourse to any other public funds, unless they've been here for five years, and it's indicated on any visa we have (which we have to show when we first register with a GP). But I paid tax and NI from the moment I entered a workplace and was right to expect the NHS to be there if I needed it.

Like me, anyone from outside the EU with a work visa will be paying tax and NI from day one at their new job, as will any other working migrant. Most people who come to the UK for six months to work (eg. BUNAC student exchanges) will also be paying tax and NI from day one, and students who are working up to 20 hours a week will, too. These students pay fees two or three times those of UK/EU students already. The vast majority of the people under discussion will be without dependants, under 30 and in excellent health; after registering with a GP, these people will probably not need to actually use the NHS that much, unless there is an accident or emergency (where anyone through the door is treated... eventually). People on corporate transfers will also have private insurance through their employer as part of their 'package' and the richest of these think nothing of paying £250 for a private GP callout because they aren't with a local, NHS GP. This is obviously base, selfish bullshit designed to rile up the poorly informed useful idiots who moan about immigrants as a drain when we are anything but, and it's also congenitally stupid about public health management.

It might be more than a dog whistle. The government has a policy of cutting net immigration to the tens of thousands, rather than the hundreds of thousands. Because of the way the figures are counted, that's impossible to do without effectively putting university students off coming. This is exactly the kind of thing that led Australia to accidentally decimate its education industry - i wonder if it's being done on purpose this time. A few universities would probably go out of business, but not the ones that they send their children to. A few regional economies will be trashed (how much does the University of Hull contribute to the local area, for example?) but probably not Conservative areas.

The message being sent out to students, migrants filling skills gaps and people who want to get married to a British partner (who are pretty much the only people who can get visas these days) is "don't come here because we're horrible, horrible people".

My point is that the non-EU migrants who do come here contribute from the second we arrive, so it's incredibly deceitful to paint us as a drain on services. I don't have kids, but don't mind paying to educate and vaccinate other people's.

Bearing in mind the Australian problems mentioned, I wonder if this is another bit of Lynton Crosby wank? He's the non-EU migrant causing the most damage to Britain right now, as far as I can tell.

This is also a way of getting charging/billing mechanisms in place across the NHS, the fuckers.

^That, too. Keep an eye on who the IT contracts go to, and check their recent political donations.

The message being sent out to students, migrants filling skills gaps and people who want to get married to a British partner (who are pretty much the only people who can get visas these days) is "don't come here because we're horrible, horrible people".

^^^^^ this

^^^^ if a guest comes to your house and cuts their finger while helping you prepare dinner, only an asshole would refuse them a plaster.

ffs healthcare should be a right, not a privilege

The message being sent out to students, migrants filling skills gaps and people who want to get married to a British partner (who are pretty much the only people who can get visas these days) is "don't come here because we're horrible, horrible people".

Fair enough, we are horrible, horrible people

I don't think we are. I think some of us are. I think it's up to the rest of us to balance that out. I'll grant you, it's hard.

I don't think most people have any objection to "genuine students", would necessarily want to keep "genuine couples" apart or want to deny services to the small number people who come to the UK to work in industries in need of highly-skilled workers. The problem is that the papers and the government have convinced them that these categories are a tiny fraction of the people coming, rather than the vast, vast majority.

Good luck with that balancing act (xp)

wonder what percentage of british born students are genuine

Introducing 'genuine' to describe anyone in the groups under discussion should be resisted at all costs because framing.

Breaking news: Home secretary Theresa May announces herbal stimulant qat is to become class C drug against advice of experts.

fuck the experts, what do they know anyway amirite?

The herbal stimulant drug khat is to be banned, the BBC understands.

The decision goes against the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the government's official advisory body.

In January the ACMD said khat should remain a legal substance, saying there was "insufficient evidence" it caused health problems.

But Home Secretary Theresa May has decided to ban it, BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said.

An official statement is expected shortly.

Mrs May's decision is thought to be based on wider security and international considerations, in particular the use of the UK as a transit route for khat to other European countries, our correspondent said.

Khat is traditionally used by members of the Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.

Perfectly reasonable I'm sure you'd agree

Khat is traditionally used by members of the Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.

Good enough reason innit.

They come over here, using our NHS, injecting cats

cool, are we banning everything that the UK is a transit route for?

They've been saying that they'll ban it since 2008. Surprised they've actually got around to doing it.

afaict a lot of Somali women has asked for it to banned but idk, it's a complicated cultural issue.

*have*

Graet, this is definitely the crew to work out the right answer on a complicated cultural issue

They come over here, using our NHS, injecting cats

Why they can't just ruin their bodies with fags and booze like the rest of us is just beyond me.

Breaking news: Home secretary Theresa May announces herbal stimulant qat is to become class C drug against advice of experts.

Theresa May lost a game of Scrabble after opponent played a spurious looking but ligitimate word, did something about it

but those were 63 points she's never getting back

uk farmers are lucky they don't need to use any qanats

The ACMD found "no evidence" khat [...] was directly linked with serious or organised crime.

no possibility of this changing, I'm sure.

bitter lol

Good thing the Home Office is upholding the Civil Service's tradition of impartiality!
https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/352411115629723648
https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/352408433506533377

Who wrote that second one, Goebbels?

Probably some Special Adviser to the Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda

Or maybe...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/76/Darth_Vader.jpg/240px-Darth_Vader.jpg

getting more of a moff tarkin vibe

That's Grand Moff Tarkin to you.

we're best pals fyi

"moffie"

second reply is our old mate Jonnie Marbles

Jonnie Marbles OTM, obv. Am increasingly sure he was OTM first time around too

ukhomeoffice The Home Office 4m
The #ImmigrationBill at a glance pic.twitter.com/zF8RJeZlXl

k, that didn't seem to work.

http://i.imgur.com/mA77C5Z.jpg?1

that's the tories in at the next election in then!!!

p_P

i'm glad we're going to stop illegal immigrants accessing services they are not entitled to. that sounds like a good thing. making illegal stuff more illegal is great!

this is the real effect of UKIP on political discourse playing out IMO- an even more competitive Dutch Auction to see who can be the biggest rightwing hardman. Very depressing.

let's be real, britain: it's us (white ppl) and them (brownskins). some of them are ILLEGALS. which team are you on? #sendthemback

Immigration Bill would:
- stop illegal immigrants accessing services they are not entitled to
- deport foreign national offenders except in extraordinary circumstances
- help reduce complexity of immigration law
- obtain individual building meter data

Slightly illegal, illegal, very illegal

sensible policies for a better Britain