Is it any wonder why.....

[Jacob]

You are of course quite right that others do occasionally make remarks that might better have been kept to themselves. However for the sheer volume and regularity of condescending remarks I doubt he would have any serious competition. There is really no need to treat others in a debate as though they are mentally deficient five year olds, as he does with monotonous regularity. A real shame, as he can and does post some interesting and informative stuff, which I have certainly enjoyed and benefitted from. So Jacob, if you are reading this, more of the latter please, and less of the former

Not sure which is which. Would you rather hear more about taxation or torsion boxes?
Helpful hint - in an argument or discussion it carries more weight to attend to the subject itself rather than to make sarcastic remarks about the speaker (a.k.a. "ad hominem"). I haven't made any condescending remarks about anyone as far as I am aware. If I'm wrong can you give me an example?

 

[Jacob]

The UK is has the density of people to land area in Europe. Net migration has increased post Brexit. The majority of people arriving in boats are white fleeing a safe but poor socialist country and don’t speak a word of English, Albania.

Good luck to them. They are only doing what Norman Tebbitt recommended for the indigent - to get on their bikes! Or dinghies whatever, same idea. Some very talented people out there showing initiative and courage - obviously motivated and highly employable They should be given Duke of Edinburgh awards immediately on landing. We need more like them!

 

[mwinfrance]

Irregular Immigration to the UK latest official figures.
https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...ar-migration-to-the-uk-year-ending-march-2022Albanians are one of the smallest groups , fewer than Vietnamese, the largest group is Afghans.

re remarks..after reading many past and current threads here, I have noticed the following observation to be true.

Some ( fortunately not many ) of those who categorise themselves as "on the right" here make / post what can be best described as passive aggressive subtly political remarks, designed to spark a response, when they get a more overt response ( frequently from jacob ) they invariably then post about threads becoming political.
Like the kids at school who aim a sly kick at another as they go past, and then claim loudly when they get a reaction, that the other kid started it.

It is also known as "owning the libs" , a particularly distasteful, dishonest and hypocritical way to engage with others.

Unfortunately some ( not all, thankfully ) moderators either fall for the ruse, or acquiesce , due one can merely presume to their own political view points aligning with the "sly kickers".

 

[selectortone]

some of the French appear to be far worse, in my experience anyway.

I find shouting at them in Franglais usually works. They love that.

 

[deema]

Well, the latest arrivals are predominantly Albanian.

‘However, since May 2022, there has been a significant increase in the number of Albanians crossing the channel on small boats. From May to September 2022 Albanian nationals alone comprised 42% of small boat crossings, with 11,102 Albanians arriving by small boat in those five months.’

https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...actsheet-small-boat-crossings-since-july-2022

 

[Jacob]

Irregular Immigration to the UK latest official figures.
https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...ar-migration-to-the-uk-year-ending-march-2022Albanians are one of the smallest groups , fewer than Vietnamese, the largest group is Afghans.

re remarks..after reading many past and current threads here, I have noticed the following observation to be true.

Some ( fortunately not many ) of those who categorise themselves as "on the right" here make / post what can be best described as passive aggressive subtly political remarks, designed to spark a response, when they get a more overt response ( frequently from jacob ) they invariably then post about threads becoming political.
Like the kids at school who aim a sly kick at another as they go past, and then claim loudly when they get a reaction, that the other kid started it.

It is also known as "owning the libs" , a particularly distasteful, dishonest and hypocritical way to engage with others.

Unfortunately some ( not all, thankfully ) moderators either fall for the ruse, or acquiesce , due one can merely presume to their own political view points aligning with the "sly kickers".

It's OK they need the exercise. Good for them to join in and try to think about things a bit. Also endlessly entertaining and informative, googling for references and showing how wrong they are at every turn!

 

[mwinfrance]

I find shouting at them in Franglais usually works. They love that.

I noticed many Brits ( some who had been here for decades but who had never bothered to learn french ) trying that in the Prefecture when it came to trying to exchange their UK driving licences for French ones.They were unlucky, the very charming and helpful french lady ( if you were polite with her ) , who spoke , read and wrote extremely fluent french, german and english ) just used french with them.As she said to me " if the english shout at me as if Brexit is my fault" I'll only use french with them, if they don't understand it, they should have learned it after the 20 years or more that some of them are shouting at me they have lived here".

As I say to the Brits who have not bothered to even try to learn more than how to order a beer."Why live here if you don't want to try to integrate with your french neighbours," Also " Imagine that a tanker of toxic chemicals has overturned and there is a spill in your village, the gendarmerie will tour the village warning people in french"..you cant understand it, you have a higher chance of being poisoned by the fumes or gas than if you had learned french.

Self preservation.

 

[deema]

The biggest difference I see, is that the left are very noisy, well organised and insist that their perspective takes precedence and endeavour to ban anyone with any other point of view. Their arguments are poorly constructed and not based on facts rather ‘feelings’
The complete and overwhelming evidence is that socialist societies don’t work. They oppress their populations with brutal totalitarianism inflicting misery and killing a huge percentage of the population. Carl Marx highlighted that populations needed to be brutally oppressed for their own good, who’s teachings are the back bone of modern day wokeism

The far right are no better, killing millions with impunity. Southern France being a willing participant and the IRA being a huge supporter of Hitler who promised a United Ireland.

Fortunately most in the UK can be characterised as being central in their politics and either slightly left or right. We are lucky not to have a recent history of brutal oppression or extermination.

 

[deema]

I noticed many Brits ( some who had been here for decades but who had never bothered to learn french ) trying that in the Prefecture when it came to trying to exchange their UK driving licences for French ones.They were unlucky, the very charming and helpful french lady ( if you were polite with her ) , who spoke , read and wrote extremely fluent french, german and english ) just used french with them.As she said to me " if the english shout at me as if Brexit is my fault" I'll only use french with them, if they don't understand it, they should have learned it after the 20 years or more that some of them are shouting at me they have lived here".

As I say to the Brits who have not bothered to even try to learn more than how to order a beer."Why live here if you don't want to try to integrate with your french neighbours," Also " Imagine that a tanker of toxic chemicals has overturned and there is a spill in your village, the gendarmerie will tour the village warning people in french"..you cant understand it, you have a higher chance of being poisoned by the fumes or gas than if you had learned french.

Self preservation.

A very good example of racism in France.
In the UK we accommodate different cultures and languages and provide fee interpreters. We don’t insist on everyone speaking the same language when dealing with government bodies.

 

[Jacob]

The biggest difference I see, is that the left are very noisy, well organised and insist that their perspective takes precedence and endeavour to ban anyone with any other point of view. Their arguments are poorly constructed and not based on facts rather ‘feelings’
The complete and overwhelming evidence is that socialist societies don’t work. They oppress their populations with brutal totalitarianism inflicting misery and killing a huge percentage of the population. Carl Marx highlighted that populations needed to be brutally oppressed for their own good, who’s teachings are the back bone of modern day wokeism

The far right are no better, killing millions with impunity. Southern France being a willing participant and the IRA being a huge supporter of Hitler who promised a unites Ireland.

Fortunately most in the UK can be characterised as being central in their politics and either slightly left or right. We are lucky not to have a recent history of brutal oppression or extermination.

All modern states are about 50% socialist. "Free markets" only provide 50% of what we need. It's very simple.

 

[deema]

All modern states are about 50% socialist. "Free markets" only provide 50% of what we need. It's very simple.

I’m interested in the evidence supporting that. Whether we like it it not, capitalism has created the society and health benefits we all enjoy. With very few exceptions (eg North Korea) all socialist states have or are in the process of moving towards capitalism. Those that remain on the socialist track are not ones the vast majority wishes to emigrate to. There are of course the exceptions who like the choice of five hair cuts, two dress codes and starvation.

 

[Daniel2]

.

 

[Fergie 307]

I noticed many Brits ( some who had been here for decades but who had never bothered to learn french ) trying that in the Prefecture when it came to trying to exchange their UK driving licences for French ones.They were unlucky, the very charming and helpful french lady ( if you were polite with her ) , who spoke , read and wrote extremely fluent french, german and english ) just used french with them.As she said to me " if the english shout at me as if Brexit is my fault" I'll only use french with them, if they don't understand it, they should have learned it after the 20 years or more that some of them are shouting at me they have lived here".

As I say to the Brits who have not bothered to even try to learn more than how to order a beer."Why live here if you don't want to try to integrate with your french neighbours," Also " Imagine that a tanker of toxic chemicals has overturned and there is a spill in your village, the gendarmerie will tour the village warning people in french"..you cant understand it, you have a higher chance of being poisoned by the fumes or gas than if you had learned french.

Self preservation.

Would love to meet the lady, she sounds like a real character. She is quite right of course, if you go to live in another country then not to make the effort to learn the local language and customs is just plain rude. Sadly many Brits don't, and I'm sure that tendency to expect everyone to speak English is one reason why we can be regarded as rather arrogant. One of our friends moved to Mallorca some 30 years ago. His wife and especially the kids rattle away in Spanish like machine guns, he has never progressed beyond, as you say, "dos San Miguel por favor". I have just found that the French seem to be more touchy than most on this subject. Most welcome my, admittedly fairly poor, attempts to converse with them. But I have found a greater tendency in France than elsewhere to just ignore you If you can't speak the language at least passably well. Inexcusable in a resident I agree, but for an occasional visitor it seems a little harsh.

 

[Fergie 307]

A very good example of racism in France.
In the UK we accommodate different cultures and languages and provide fee interpreters. We don’t insist on everyone speaking the same language when dealing with government bodies.

A little harsh to call it racism. After all do we not criticise people who have lived in this country for many years, and yet can't speak English? Quite rightly so in my opinion, when in Rome etc.

 

[Fergie 307]

Irregular Immigration to the UK latest official figures.
https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...ar-migration-to-the-uk-year-ending-march-2022Albanians are one of the smallest groups , fewer than Vietnamese, the largest group is Afghans.

re remarks..after reading many past and current threads here, I have noticed the following observation to be true.

Some ( fortunately not many ) of those who categorise themselves as "on the right" here make / post what can be best described as passive aggressive subtly political remarks, designed to spark a response, when they get a more overt response ( frequently from jacob ) they invariably then post about threads becoming political.
Like the kids at school who aim a sly kick at another as they go past, and then claim loudly when they get a reaction, that the other kid started it.

It is also known as "owning the libs" , a particularly distasteful, dishonest and hypocritical way to engage with others.

Unfortunately some ( not all, thankfully ) moderators either fall for the ruse, or acquiesce , due one can merely presume to their own political view points aligning with the "sly kickers".

Since the figure Deema quoted was from May 22 onwards, can I ask what significance there is in your quoting statistics for the year ending in March 22? The point he was making is that from May the percentage of Albanians increased dramatically, like it or not that is perfectly true. The statistics you quote have no relevance to the point he was making whatsoever.

 

[Fergie 307]

MWinFrance. Please accept my apologies. It was of course Jacob that quoted you completely out of context in response to Deema's post.

 

[TRITON]

Are you aware there are close to 300,000 British economic migrants living in Spain, and one third of those in Andalusia alone. All there to make a better life for themselves.

Thats just Spain. How many British economic migrants are living in other countries around the world.

So people want to move to other countries to create a better life for themselves. Personally, I can't see the harm in that.

 

[mwinfrance]

My figures were the most recent I could find at the time I posted them,I was replying to Deema's initial post about Albanians, in which he did not state the time period to which he was referring.I remembered someone here posting in a recent thread about Albanians being the highest percentage of immigrants to the UK in 2022, and someone else posting what were at the time they posted the latest official figures for 2022 which said otherwise.As search here is not that great, I used the search string "illegal immigration to UK 2022 official figures.That gave me the official UK gov figures on the page which I linked to.You'll note that page mentions nowhere any links to more recent figures, leading anyone to presume that the figures there were indeed the most recent.

I posted that link to them before Deema posted his more recent figures saying that he was referring to May to Sept 2022..Of the many things which I can do, one of them is not being able to divine that Deema was ( despite him not mentioning a particular period of 2022 ) in his initial post referring to May to Sept 2022. Nor would one reasonably expect that if UK gov has more recent figures than beginning of 2022 to May 2022 that they would not mention it, it must also be said that the periods that UK gov has figures for seem to be arbitrary..if they release them every 3 months , one would expect them to use the convention of Jan to Mar ( inclusive), followed by Apr to Jun ( inclusive ), followed by Jul to Sep ( inclusive ) and Oct to Dec ( inclusive) ..Is May to Sep inclusive or is it end of May is it a 4 month period, or 5, or 6. who knows ? Usually governments release such figures on a 3 monthly basis beginning 1st Jan. trends are considered across 3 months and overall figures across 12 months ( again starting 1st Jan ) otherwise they could be daily, or hourly.A single large boat of Ethiopians could make them the largest number on a given day. If that was the day which made headlines, you would appear to have a large influx of them compared to others. Extrapolating that to an overall trend would be incorrect though.

From what I hear via various media in various languages, it appears that the Albanians are being trafficked by Albanian gangs to work as slaves in the drug business and prostitution in specific areas of the UK.In France they are trafficked in by Albanian gangs for prostitution and to be used as street thieves and pickpockets.In Italy it is the same.Their english language skills are non existent as apart from approaching their designated "marks" in the street with an outstretched newspaper, they never converse with anyone other than the other Albanian traffickers who are their slave masters.

edit..you posted whilst I was typing Fergie no offence taken I type more slowly in english on a french layout keyboard, the letter layouts are more conducive to speed in the language the layout is intended for.

 

[mwinfrance]

France has about ( I think, as many are not registered with the UK embassy ) about 300 k Brits also, again here for what they perceive as being a better life than they can have in the UK.I don't know if Daniel2 is Brit or Irish or French or whatever, the spelling Daniel works for many origins. Mike( me ) is Michaël ( note what in France is called the trema, over the ë ) thus Irish. Or could be Breton, I don't know if the Spanish use a "in the same place.

 

[mwinfrance]

IIRC there are between 2 and 2.5 million Brits dispersed across the EU countries, as Triton rightly points out(, almost all of them are economic migrants, who moved to the EU in search of a better life.They tend to concentrate in specific areas, in Brittany it is in the centre , around the Callac area, where property is very very cheap compared with the UK.Or Dordogne, or Perigord, or Haut Alpes.In the Var there are large numbers around the Cogolin area especially renting caravans on campsites to other Brits or working as seasonal workers in businesses owned by other Brits ( many whilst drawing dole back in UK at the same time ).. apparently "signing on" moved to every 3 or 6 months in the UK many years ago. I don't mix with the Brits here.We are right on the coast of Côtes d'armor, fewer Brits here,.Property here ( whilst still much cheaper than the equivalent in the UK, about 25% of the UK price for the same size , similar situation ) is dearer than inland.The local "glamping" site is Brit owned.