Referendum to blame for ill feeling towards immigrants?

Immigration is now a sore point in this country because of the Referendum and Brexit? Lets consider this further - if immigration is such an issue here, with a rise in Nationalism and Racism being evident, then presumably it isn't such an issue in other European countries - right? Wrong, it is far worse in other countries - those that haven't held a referendum.

Lets take a look at how things are on Merkel's own soil - Germany - Germany where the right wing element has been lambasted for the slightest infringement ...

May of this year ...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...es-Berlin.html

This stuff you do not find on BBC News for example as all such reporting is being smothered out of existence. Heck of a lot more where that came from ...

Google Search: Rise In Right Wing Extremism Germany...
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ge...remism+Germany

Conclusion from this? The EU has to foot the blame for how we feel with regard to immigrants as the EU proposals created it - it was not caused by the Referendum! All the Referendum did was to cause a sharp spike in an already rising graph of anti-immigration sentiment. And that graph ain't going anywhere but up - all across Europe.

Re: Referendum to blame for ill feeling towards immigrants?

Oops - fixed the links now.

Re: Referendum to blame for ill feeling towards immigrants?

The feelings were already here, just no one felt free to speak, I'm not a big fan of free speech for all for just that reason.

Eu is to blame for a lot of it as are our governments they have made much of assimilating other cultures but have not given any dignity to being different or to being English, you can be Welsh, Scottish, European but not English a lot of us feel.

Re: Referendum to blame for ill feeling towards immigrants?

Spot on Julie, fully agree with you statement.

Re: Referendum to blame for ill feeling towards immigrants?

Whilst I agree with you up to a point I certainly don't agree with curbing Free Speech anymore than we are currently. You can still get done for hate speech, incitement, harassment, bullying etc.

I also disagree with some of your reasoning with regard to assimilation of cultures as in my mind it is all about numbers - too many of a difficult to swallow pill leads to choking. In this instance too many immigrants at once is the reason for the unrest - though not solely. Resentment towards immigrants has been rising steadily since the Charlie Hebdo shootings, along with sharp rises with the Paris bombings, Rotherham young girls scandal - Cologne attacks, etc. Since then there have been numerous terrible atrocities carried out by immigrants - or those that people in the UK deem as being 'foreigners'. This week 2 Turks were found guilty of smuggling £512m worth of cocaine (estimated street value) through Aberdeenshire - half a billion! Even the BBC can't hide all the crime and crazed thinking from such people.

The UK people are not stupid (well some are admittedly) and they want to blame someone. Who else is there to blame in their eyes? Same as elsewhere - those that appear different in some way from themselves. Same it is all the World over.

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Having tried to use the hate speech legislation, I would say it's not working Mark, you have to actually threaten a person or group and have a realistic chance of carrying out the threat. If I said I hate a group of people or person and hoped they died of something painful, called them rats or vermin, that is not apparently against the law. How can that not be hate speech ?

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I'm not a lawyer so wouldn't know but that could well be considered incitement so maybe it is against the law?

Once you start dishing out decrees saying this isn't allowed or that isn't allowed it opens the door for abuse - no denigrating the EU maybe? - no discussing religion? Where does it end?

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No not against the law but IMO should be. Free speech comes with responsibilities and it's used far too easily to harm people.

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Well I was actually going to post a comment but decided against. Not a fair representation of forum views as mostly voted leave. Therefore creating a biased swerve. Not democratic in my opinion

Re: Referendum to blame for ill feeling towards immigrants?

You are as entitled to an opinion as anyone else goldie, no one should be afraid to say what they want as long as it's not hateful, and I can't imagine your opinion would be.