There are many lies told by politicians when it comes to immigration in the UK, but none is bigger than the claim that it’s all too easy. Too easy to enter Britain; too easy to be given handouts; too easy to acquire citizenship. The UK is presented as an inert country, passively receiving future Britons that it does not charge, test or, indeed, invite. The government’s latest raft of policies to deal with the “failed experiment” of “open borders” is heavily influenced by this lie, as it is intended to make things harder for immigrants.
I doubt it, but if it turns out to be true, then it’s long overdue!
That policy is extending the period you’re required to be settled in Britain before you can get permanent residency, and then citizenship, from five years to 10 years. As someone who became naturalised under the five-year route, my stomach sank when I saw the news.
why? It’s not going to affect you, is it? You’ve already got your feet under the table, haven’t you?
If the government’s new policies come to pass, the route to settlement will now take a minimum of 11 years, not including any time spent in Britain as a student or on other visas that don’t count towards the settlement component. I know from experience that five years is already one long trial of keeping jobs against all odds and fighting sudden changes in the law.
Yet you managed it. And how have you demonstrated your gratitude?
Above all, the rule changes show how little our politicians really care about integration. They constantly cite it as the epitome of what earns the right to be in the country and accuse immigrants of not holding up their end of the bargain. But being stuck on work visas for year after year amounts to the opposite of integration. It means you can’t vote, cannot have recourse to public funds if needed, cannot fully lean in to British society and participate with a sense of safety and belonging, as you’re constantly trying to minimise costs in case a change in circumstances means relocating.
All you've done sinse you were granted leave to stay is whinge ans moan and run Britain down, as a quick glimpse of your columns will show.So ehat exactly is the benefit to Britain of having you here? And if you're a shining example of integration, it's no wonder no one else (apart from the chattering classes) wants more of you here.
3 comments:
Shirley, one of her street wise and down with plebs Groaniad colleagues could have warned her that this little article is not helping her case. Quite the opposite. At least not among the population outside the Beeb / Groaner echo chamber.
Or maybe she gets up their noses as well, so they just let her insert her Row-Hugh-leather-toe-ring-slide-sandals (me neither) into her dainty mouth.
Yes, if she doesn't like it here she knows where the airport is.
If you are so concerned about "integration", then maybe you can have a chat with your brethren in Birmingham, Bradford or Rochdale, whose sole attempts at integration are with young girls of a certain colour.
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