Sarah, Just because the likes of the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express use

Comment on General Election 2010 Poll Results by Helen.

Sarah,

Just because the likes of the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express use the word ‘exodus’ doesn’t mean it’s an appropriate descriptive term. Let’s take your (5 year old) Daily Express headline: “BRITAIN is facing a mass exodus of people looking to escape the crime and grime of modern living.”

1. (noun) exodus, hegira, hejira
a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment

2. (noun) Exodus, Book of Exodus
the second book of the Old Testament: tells of the departure of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt led by Moses; God gave them the Ten Commandments and the rest of Mosaic law on Mount Sinai during the Exodus

To take your (three year old) Daily Telegraph figures at face value they claim 207,000 British people left the UK in 2006. There are 61.3 million people resident in the UK of which 62% are at working age. So of the 38.1 million people of working age in the UK, 207,000 people left amounting to approximately 0.54%, not taking into account anybody coming in. Hardly a mass exodus.

The number of people leaving the UK in 2007 and 2008 by nationality (more recent than your Telegraph article):

2007

British 159k
Polish 19k
Australia 16k
India 12k
South Africa 9k

2008

British 158k (0.42% of working age population)
Polish 52k
Australia 20k
India 15k
South Africa 11k

The number of non British people leaving Britain has also increased; for example Polish workers returning to Poland. So of the total number of people leaving Britain yearly, British people are actually making up less of a share.

Also factor in that 15% of all of immigrants entering Britain are in fact British! The proportion of people emigrating from Britain for work related reasons has also in fact decreased over the last few years. Immigrants entering Britain under the highly skilled migrant programme are probably making up for the loss of highly skilled people in the opposite direction. Global capitalism just how you like it.

Somebody posted an interesting comment in the Daily Telegraph article:

“Having just returned home from 7 years in Sydney, I can confirm that Britons migrate because of 2 factors. The first is the constant and corrosive cynicism of the UK press, which informs them on a daily basis that nowhere on earth can be as bad as here. The other is their UK generated, no personal skill involved, property based wealth.” Not sure about the second point, but wholeheartedly agree with the first.

Can you clarify this question please, I’m not sure what you mean? : “If income tax was abolished tomorrow and the Government announced that the benefits of the non-working family next door was allocated to you instead on a charitable basis, would you turn up with a cheque each month for the full amount of your tax and national insurance? I seriously doubt it.”

As for your post on asylum seekers, you, like many of the population, fail to recognise the difference between immigrants and asylum seekers. There has obviously been a delay in deporting people who have been refused asylum; in 2008, approx 73% of applicants were refused. Asylum applications are massively reduced compared to 10 years ago. It’s not a big worry of mine in the big scheme of things. The press can’t complain about the number of applications any more so they are finding something else to get people angry about.

As for the article on the man who has fathered 8 children by 8 women; interesting you say this is why you resent paying taxes. You find it hard to distinguish between people with good intentions in receipt of help, and people like him. For one, it isn’t the children’s fault that their parents have been irresponsible – what are we supposed to do; just ignore the existence of these babies? Secondly, I’m sure if we look back at your previous posts, the crux of your resentment in paying taxes is that you just don’t like paying them regardless. And finally, there isn’t a country in the world without people like this; regardless of benefit system. Do you really think people such as this think about the financial benefits they will receive before they have unprotected sex? Do they think at all? I doubt it. David Cameron’s solution is to promote marriage through a tax allowance. So this sperm donor individual going to suddenly think, “hang on, instead of me knocking you up and leaving you on your own, let get married cos we’ll get a tax break, even though I haven’t got a job or brain, and we’ll live happily ever after!”. What a joke.

Society’s problems are unfortunately there for everyone to see. Deeper thinking will reveal that we should look at the ways to promote social responsibility through education and health advice. Even with that, there will always be stupid, selfish, irresponsible people in the world. The British media love a good story like this, and you lap it up.