I didn't ever say immigration was a bad thing, all I said was that it should be better controlled and regulated.

I think there needs to be some controls put on immigration, but only so we don't end up with twenty thousand people who can design inlet manifolds, when we only have need for 50 of them.

I think the UK has bigger problems than immigration right now, such as getting chavs to work and decreasing teenage pregnancy. Immigrant move to the UK because they can find work here. If the jobs were scarce, they wouldn't. So you can't say there's 2.5 million unemployed and blame immigration.

Pulling out of the EU would put consumers and the general populace in a far, far worse position then we already are in. A couple of examples:

1 - Microsoft and the interminable web browser. The EU has managed to give the European consumer a choice of web browsers on the Windows platform. This was a lengthy case which rumbled on for a long, long time. IN fact, Microsoft has been the focus of a number of legal challenges by the EU, all designed to improve consumer choice and stimulate competition on the popular micro computer operating system.

2 - Phrom, the “we’d like to spy on your web browsing habits” company ran secret trials with BT. OFCOM and the police here said that there was nothing wrong. The EU took a dim view of all this, and have forced the government to review the legal framework and investigate further. Without the EU in this case, our privacy would be on shaky grounds.

The problem is that the British government is pretty weak. You may argue that these cases could be resolved outside of the EU framework, but I’d say that acting alone on tis would have weakened our position enormously. Either our legal framework and regulators are too floppy to withstand the American business practices that both these companies have imported, or we just have not got the power, resources and willpower to make the case stick alone. It’s no good saying that if we were outside of the influence of the EU we would have more robust legal practices in place - far from it. We’d continue to drift around in the ashes of the Empire with no real outside check on our inadequacies. We would end up being subsumed into the USA, more out of pity than for any real benefit.

We need the EU far more than you realise. We’d be doomed without it.

Well considering how similar their manifestos are on some points not surprising really.

The biggest issues facing my area are nothing to do with Europe, being a part of it or not - although without the funding from the EU, the town would be far worse off. Lots of things simply wouldn't have been able to go ahead, and there would have been no improvements.
No, the biggest issues in my area are teenage pregnancy, crime and unemployment. Sort out that last one and I think the other two would probably diminish.
We're a very tourist dependent region, and that means service industries. Problem is, the locals have an issue with giving good service, whereas folk from EU nations apparently don't. Certainly the best service I've had in the Bay came from a Spaniard, certainly not a local.
So if we can't supply the skills needed to keep our meagre industry running, then absolutely, let's get people in who can.

+1

Manuel?

Admittedly I live in a very un-immigrated part of the country, but I really can't understand so many people's fixation on immigration. The only issues I have are with the welfare state, education, the tax system and the way the public sector is run. As far as everything else goes, I'm quite happy with the way things are and would push to be more integrated in Europe.

Umm, I'm not.
I don't expect you to agree necessarily, my views are my own I was simply answering JJs question. I live and work in completely different places than you therefore the issues facing me and my environment will be different to yours.

I am in an area with lots of immigration. Mainly because it is a tourist town and we have lots of students including foreign language students. It is not an issue for me. Many of the local businesses would not survive without an influx of EU citizens willing to work here. I think the problem is in areas where asylum seekers seem to jump the queues because they have nowhere to stay yet locals are having to squat on friends floors for years because they have somewhere to stay.

It think the problem to that might be all the houses given to single moms more than immigration....

But the single mums do not get priority any longer. But nothing like a press fable to wind the public up. Plus many single mums are in their late twenties and thirties, and have come out of a marriage.

Immigration is a non-issue compared to what else is going on. But enough people feel passionately about it that my receptionist at work will likely make her first ever vote, one for the BNP who are standing in St. Austell. A tiny little hole of a town in a beautiful county where you'd be hard-pressed to find a Muslim, or anyone of African descent. Sure there's a few Polish, but they're everywhere (especially in the Bay and Exeter!) We've talked about why she feels that way and it appears it's a combination of conditioning by her father and media scaremongering about immigrants taking all our jobs etc.

Take our [LIFTED] jobs! If you want them more than we do and you're willing to work, pay tax and speak English - fill your boots. When I went to Provence 18mths ago, I watched Taxi 1, 2 and 3 and did 4 hours of tapes, combined with my GCSE in French. Most British people would merely take a phrase book or not bother. The respect afforded me by the wonderful people of the South of France as a result of this effort was extremely unexpected and very gratifying. If I were to seek work over there, I would expect to have to speak conversational French as a minimum and I would expect to have to look for work that matched my skill set. If I couldn't find any, I would have to return to the UK, or try somewhere else.

The problem with immigration, is not the people coming here - it's what we do about it when they get here! You won't hear me moaning about the whole of the M25 commuter belt coming to my county to live and work. Why not? Because this is one of the most beautiful places in the country. I'd wanna come here, if I lived in some stinking Surrey suburb with no beach. If people want to come to the UK, let them. Just make sure that if they can't find work, we don't end up paying for them, or losing out in any other way.

The vast majority of immigrants are European citizens and perfectly able to come and go. The numbers of immigrants from outside Europe is minuscule in comparison to overall numbers. The biggest problem we face is the economy.