Lets put things into perspective shall we?

The Tory lead over Labour in May was some 2.5 Million votes.

Corbyn has attracted a few thousand politically motivated people to stump up £3 to join his party.

Come May 2020 the election won't be decided by which party has the greatest paid up membership, it will be decided by votes from people that are not formally affiliated to any party.

Since Corbyn seems less credible on the economy than Miliband/Balls was it seems clear to me and many others that Labour will not be elected.

Isn't this a contradiction ?

You have just done to the British what you claim we do to others. Judging the many by a few.

Having a go at people because they are different is a universal theme among humans. Not just for their race but for a whole lot of other things. Like I said previously, it's all relative.

Britain is way down the list for prejudice and is appealing to migrants in a number of ways. This is born out by how many people want to come here as opposed to other nearer countries.

Thanks for the response. My issue with what you said is you initially stated that racist abuse was something of a UK tradition, before going on to concede it was the work of minority groups. Your stories are no doubt genuine and testify to the narrow-mindedness of certain individuals. Of course, my sympathy extends to anyone who has been subject to such attacks.

However, in response to your statement that 'we as a country are not as accommodating as we like to think', I would say that we as a species are not as accommodating as we like to think. And for this reason, mindless dreams of some multicultural utopia are about as dystopian as it gets. The fear and suspicion of the unfamiliar is a base instinct which is present among all races, cultures, and societies. It cannot be attributed exclusively to one country or community. My philosophy on this matter is outlined in the first post on this page: [Link] I would be interested to know your views on the matter.

It is difficult to have a balanced and unemotional discussion on this subject. All too often the debate descends into polarised positions where you either have to be totally against immigration ( and implicity a closet racist) or take a liberal stance where you are completely for unfettered immigration.

Firstly, I am not anti-immigration. Secondly, I am not a racist (some of my best friends etc). Thirdly I have nearly always voted Labour throughout my voting life. I just mention this to give some perspective to where I am coming from.

The thing is I strangely found myself agreeing with the basic sentiment of where Teresa May was coming from in her speech yesterday. It doesn't make any sense to have uncontrolled immigration.

Last year there was net immigration of around 320,000 I believe. If a similar figure follows in each of the next 3 years we will have added another million plus people to the headcount of the UK in that time. The simple question is how do we cater for this growth in terms of services and resources? It seems that the size of the cake is remaining much the same but the number of people needing a slice is growing dramatically.

To me the simple logic is that a quick and rapid growth in population will have ( and is having)a substantial effect on the ease of access to housing, school pupil numbers per class, availability of access to GPs, hospital beds , specialist care,social services, traffic on the roads, water supplies etc. How can it not?

Okay I am not stupid enough to think that all problems are down to immigration, but it is equally stupid to pretend that a large influx of people is not impacting on the provision of services. Of course I appreciate that these factors will not be experienced consistently in the same way in all parts of the country.

Surely it is possible on the one hand to recognise the value and benefits that immigration has brought to the UK,and provide a welcoming environment for immigrants, but, at the same time, acknowledge that allowing too many people access to the country too quickly is counter-productive.

Edited by Pete53 (07 Oct 2015 5.34pm)

I can't help but see this as an opportunistic response to the new rhetoric of the opposition. By once more pushing immigration to the front of political debate, Cameron is able to disregard the fact that we are seeing the largest fall in living standards in a century, a further cut in income for the poorest in society via cuts to tax credits, house prices at an all-time high while house building is at a 50 year low.

For Teresa May to have the cheek to come out and blame migration on issues from transport to low pay is an astonishing piece of calculated deceit. What's playing a bigger role in the highest train fares in Europe, some Syrian asylum seekers or the fact that private railway firms' shareholders are walking away with the hundreds of billions of profits they make instead of reinvesting it? Is it the extra 30 000 extra migrants' fault that we are the most unequal and least socially mobile country in Europe, or is it perhaps due to governments like ours who have overseen an economy where the majority of people in poverty are actually in work?

I look forward to the Tory split on the EU referendum that hopefully spells the beginning of the end for Osbourne and co.