Is immigration good for the UK economy.

Andos_2

This talk has gone on forever!

The big question is, WHEN will things get better IF they ever will?

I can't see it happening despite what seems like a lot of the population being unhappy and in agreement.

bluey890

lostinrates wrote: »

wow, well, practically yes, but in terms of winning business and rapour, I disagree. In terms of intellectual development I also disagree. Incidently, DH always felt his Ancient Greek educatin was alovely waste of time: till he got Russian clients, having never learned Russian formally the Greek has given him tools he didn't know he'd acquired.

And, in keeping options open to travel ''well'' and live elsewhere, we're both glad to have had more than one language.

ET: and anther important factor, of understanding people: a key way for me is through the food and the language. Idioms often reveal something not just of the language bu the people who mde the language, even individual word usuage. e.g. when people in UK ask me why I think Berlusconi is not dragged through the streets I explaine the use of the Italian word ''furbo''. It explains more than all the recieved knowledge in English about media control and politcal power does IMO.

cheers lir. i like that word.

An explanantion of Furbo for those interested. http://www.blogfromitaly.com/interesting-italian-word-furbo/

bluey890

Anyone not liking the policies of the two main parties should vote liberal democrat IMHO.
If/ When the country has proportional representation people can be represented by those they choose (e.g Green Party).
Otherwise it's a simple choice between tweddle dumb and tweddle dee (pictured above).

fabforty

worbikeman wrote: »

No, because apart from all those factors just mentioned, generally speaking, immigrants send money home, thus removing it from (our) economy and dont contribute much in the way of tax or purchase of goods and services whilst here.

Does this mean that migrants spend nothing on food, accomodation, utililities, transport, clothes, cars, entertainment, leisure activities, fast food, etc - or that they don't use banks, post offices, telecoms, insurance companies, public transport - in which case you would be right to say that they contribute nothing to the economy? Or are you suggesting that they earn so much money from the menial jobs that they do, that are able to afford these essentials and still send the bulk of their income overseas? Or perhaps they live in some alternative universe, where things cost less for immigrants than for UK citizens? I think not.

mbga9pgf

Well, that appears so when I chat to the romanian woman selling the big issue in our local village.

vivatifosi

julieq wrote: »

There is no reason in terms of business competitiveness to speak any language other than English, and in fact when a Spaniard talks to a German it will most likely be in English. I speak French fluently but I don't use it in my work ever. We don't learn foreign languages because there is no imperative to do so.

lostinrates wrote: »

wow, well, practically yes, but in terms of winning business and rapour, I disagree. In terms of intellectual development I also disagree.

I'm with lir on this one. Having worked for many years for a US company with its European HQ in France, I learned most of my French while working there having studied German at school. It was something that you just picked up from having it spoken around you, though I'm far from fluent. If you wanted to get on in the company, then speaking French made sense, besides which I was often in situations where if you were the Brit/American/other English speaking person who didn't speak French, you would be manoeuvered out of business conversations deliberately. In international sales, it was often expected that someone would speak 2-3 languages at least, on the grounds that customers would deal with people that they could most easily communicate with, whether their office was in Berlin, Paris, London or Amsterdam.

bluey890

I blame the broadcasters viva. If they were to show foreign language films, I think we all know the sort I'm talking about here, at night. People would be speaking a host of foreign languages fluently.