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‘Two-tier’: UK treats far-right attacks less harshly than Islamist violence, says thinktank
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2024
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UK Politics
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I'm sorry, but you are completely wrong to think that it is only right wing racists that want strong controls on immigration.
The Unions are directly concerned as it removes a bargaining chip they have with companies over unskilled labour. The power of the union breaks down when there is basically unfettered access to larger pools of people who don't know their employment rights as they aren't from the UK.
A large cohort in the labour party might be racist ex-coal miners who are the butt of a joke in Phoenix Nights, but just as many are involved in labour relations and see unskilled immigration as an effort of suppress wages.
There is a reason that Corbyn was pro-Brexit, and its not because he hates foreigners.
The idea that the unions would legitimately oppose immigration is nonsense. Economic analysis of the actual impact of immigration has consistently shown that immigration has little-to-no negative impact on the incomes of native workers - immigrants don't undercut the wages of native workers so the unions shouldn't be worried about them.
A large part of that is because of the 'lump of labour' fallacy. Unthoughtful people assume there's a fixed number of jobs to be filled, but the reality is that immigrants don't just fill jobs but also create jobs through their own demand for goods and services. But there are other factors too like entrepreneurialism and business start ups - immigrants, as evidenced by them being part of the small subset of people who are prepared to pack up their lives and move to another country, tend to be more entrepreneurial than the general population in either their home or host countries. Some of our biggest high street names like Tesco and M&S have immigrant origins.
The small caveat to this is that immigration in recent decades has been shown to have a tiny negative impact on the incomes of the lowest paid 20% of the population (of about -0.5%) but this is dwarfed by the positive impact it has on those further up the income spectrum (e.g. +1.7% for the richest 10%). Obviously +1.7% of a very rich person's income is a lot more than -0.5% of a poor person's income. So if the unions are rational and actually want to improve the lot of the poorest in society then they should be campaigning for a lot more immigration and a very small increase in taxes on the richest to fund redistribution of this income, which will more than compensate the poorest for the fraction of a percentage point of lost income from over two decades worth of immigration.
And?
Its not entirely clear, but I think you are agreeing with me.
Just because they are wrong, doesn't mean that people can't have an opinion regarding immigration that isn't based on racism which is what I read in your comment.
The grandparent post is the typical idiot who shuts down every conversation with "but racism", which prevents any education on the matter. When you have complete fucking bellends who do that then those people who held positions that could have been reasoned with will get angrier at their perceived injustice. Good luck working with them at that point.
I was disagreeing with you perpetuating the lump of labour fallacy that one can be anti-immigrant for pro-worker reasons.
When nativists use this argument, it's usually shit-stirrers deliberately trying to pit people against each other. They rely on the fact that the average person probably hasn't taken the time to conduct a literature review of the economic studies of immigration, but might be able to be seduced by a superficially easy argument that all their ills can be blamed on some minority and drawing on some cherry-picked anecdotes.
The reality of immigration bears little relation to the skewed narrative the nativists are trying to sell. Irregular migration represents only a tiny fraction of UK immigration. Immigrants are no more likely to commit crime than natives. Immigration grows the economy and has little or no effect on jobs and wages. Immigrants are net contributors to the NHS and public services. Once you knock away all the far-right's factual lies, it's hard to find the nugget of a 'legitimate' reason why people might consider immigration to be one of the major 'problems' facing this country that doesn't start and end with xenophobia.
Okay, but now you are arguing a completely different point to the one I was making. I am not against immigration, so you don't need to convince me.
I would disagree, not everyone is as well read as yourself and there will be some folks that will be already swayed by that argument in to thinking that immigration can suppress wages. If so, then there will logically be some people who have fallen for this, and legitimately believe that immigration has a negative side effect with regards to employment without it being because they have dark skin.
If you shut down the conversation as "that's what racists would say", then you prevent the entire rest of your comment from being communicated and helping them understand that they are wrong.
You spend a lot of time trying to convince me that migration is not a net bad, rather than trying to argue why its beneficial to shut down any ignorant "legitimate concerns" as "sounds like Hitler".
Nope. Or, if you want more details, it would be fascists, nazis, racists and the rest of the far right - but that is like arguing which shit is more brown.
Complete rubbish.
Even bigger rubbish. Have you ever heard about collective agreements?
You are a patronising prick. According to you people who came from the outside don't know their rights but these in the UK do? I worked with both and it is often other way around - but then I don't wear racist lenses 🙄
Corbyn wasn't pro Brexit.
Your entire argument is built with lies and more lies.
Woops!
https://www.politico.eu/article/jeremy-corbyn-brexit-lofty-neutrality/
You must be 14, and not know any history. He was vocally anti-EU/pro-Brexit in all its forms for decades until he was leader and had enough pressure from the party that he basically said nothing.
He was never pro-EU because
Are you a little bit slow? Corbyn may have voted "no" in 1975 but he was NOT pro Brexshit in 2016 so stop lying.
2011 wasn't long before it.
Stop lying.
He voted against the EU in all its forms, for a referendum on membership in 1978, 1993, 2008, 2011.
You are obviously too young to understand that being against the EU is a much older stance than UKIP, and enjoyed a significant support with a number of Labour MPs throughout the 80's and 90's as the EU pushes for privatisation of nationalised services.
Just because a Nazi says the sky is blue does not mean that all people who see a blue sky are Nazis.
When I read posts of people like you I wish public lying with the intention to mislead the public would be a criminal offence. You wouldn't have too many opportunities to post from behind the bars.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35743994
"Speaking after a meeting of the Party of European Socialists in Brussels, he said: "The Labour Party is going to be committed to campaigning to stay in the European Union."
Now stop lying.
You did fully read that article you linked?
It states that repeatedly during the leadership contest when asked he stated that he would vote to leave.
After winning:
NOT "I believe we should remain in the EU".
Because Labour wasn't in power. It needs that meme:
Are you really that dense? Corbyn supported remain and expressed it multiple times.
Stop lying.