Joined up Government.

[sinkov]

The UK’s settlement scheme for resident EU citizens had, by the end of May, received more than 5.6 million applications. There was a month to go and the applications were still flooding in, so maybe the final total would be around 6 million.

The latest ONS figures published last year for the number of EU citizens resident in the UK was 3.7 million.

It's laughable, how can these fruitcakes in government claim they can run the country, when they don't have a fecking clue even how many live here. And these aren't illegals we're talking about, these are people who have a right to be here.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

I had exactly this conversation with a couple of Tory supporting chaps in the pub on the weekend.

One of them suggested we could have the same number of "illegals" living here too sinkov.

Who knows what the real numbers are? It's a lot like pinning a tail on a donkey blindfold. Hancock, Patel, Williamson - surely we have better than this?

[ClaretinBudapest]

I had exactly this conversation with a couple of Tory supporting chaps in the pub on the weekend.

One of them suggested we could have the same number of "illegals" living here too sinkov.

Who knows what the real numbers are? It's a lot like pinning a tail on a donkey blindfold. Hancock, Patel, Williamson - surely we have better than this?

No BT I do not think you have any better judging by the last 30 years.The players just seem to get worse rather than better.

[Supersub6]

No BT I do not think you have any better judging by the last 30 years.The players just seem to get worse rather than better.

Totally agree CiB, it has been the blind leading the blind for 30+ years now and definitely no sign of it getting better.

[kritichris]

We didn't need Brexit to sort out illegal immigrants, it could have been done at any time. Now all we're doing is alienating bona fide immigrants who are/were contributing to our economy.

[Supersub6]

We didn't need Brexit to sort out illegal immigrants, it could have been done at any time. Now all we're doing is alienating bona fide immigrants who are/were contributing to our economy.

Also very true, in fact, the NHS would be struggling even more than it is if the immigrants were sent packing.

[kritichris]

Also very true, in fact, the NHS would be struggling even more than it is if the immigrants were sent packing.

The surgeon who operated on my cancer was Italian and a lot of the nurses were immigrants, especially those on the graveyard shift.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

We didn't need Brexit to sort out illegal immigrants, it could have been done at any time. Now all we're doing is alienating bona fide immigrants who are/were contributing to our economy.

Even the "illegal immigrants" contribute kritichris. We take the pi$$ by employing them for cash in hand remuneration, that's way below the recommended living wage. We deny them any sort of health care and treat them like criminals.

Levelling up my arse.

[sinkov]

The UK population has increased by around 5 million in the last ten years, according to the official figures, in reality it's probably increased by more than that, but let's say 5 million is accurate, and this increase has been driven mainly by immigration.

The population of Burnley is around 90,000, so in the last ten years 55 towns the size of Burnley would have been needed to accommodate the increase in population. That's five or six towns the size of Burnley, appearing from out of nowhere, every year for the last ten years, with the hospitals, health centres, schools, housing, roads and infrastructure towns the size of Burnley require.

Seems to me that this rate of increase is simply unsustainable, we have an ongoing NHS crisis, we have a housing crisis, but the NHS now has 5 million more people using it's services than 10 years ago, there are 5 million more people to be housed than 10 years ago. You can argue back and forth about the benefits or otherwise of immigration, but it's surely self-evident that it's sheer insanity for the UK government not to attempt to have some sort of control over the number of people coming to live in this country.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

The UK population has increased by around 5 million in the last ten years, according to the official figures, in reality it's probably increased by more than that, but let's say 5 million is accurate, and this increase has been driven mainly by immigration.

The population of Burnley is around 90,000, so in the last ten years 55 towns the size of Burnley would have been needed to accommodate the increase in population. That's five or six towns the size of Burnley, appearing from out of nowhere, every year for the last ten years, with the hospitals, health centres, schools, housing, roads and infrastructure towns the size of Burnley require.

Seems to me that this rate of increase is simply unsustainable, we have an ongoing NHS crisis, we have a housing crisis, but the NHS now has 5 million more people using it's services than 10 years ago, there are 5 million more people to be housed than 10 years ago. You can argue back and forth about the benefits or otherwise of immigration, but it's surely self-evident that it's sheer insanity for the UK government not to attempt to have some sort of control over the number of people coming to live in this country.

I get your argument sinkov, but what I don't get is how on earth can an island nation with "Border Force" and the Royal Navy patrolling our shoes have an influx of illegal immigrants?

In specific reference to your "Joined Up Government", we all know it is not don't we, otherwise a direct ratio of legally documented immigrants would have the matched up numerical supply of social services like housing, schools and access to the NHS at their disposal.

It's a $hitfest and the more I see the less I like.