matelot

Don't get me wrong. Many migrants are decent hardworking people. However I think we'd all agree that many recent EU migrants have nothing to offer the UK and are a drain to the taxpayer. Call me old fashioned, however I'd prefer the British Government to put the needs of British people ahead of migrants. If it was up to me I wouldn't give social housing to migrants when there are Brits needing social housing. We really need an Australian style points migration system.

Surely you can see freedom of movement is a double edged sword? Yeah, obviously having a legal right to live and work in the EU is good for Brits. However freedom of movement also means EU migrants can come to the UK to live and work. The building site I work on has a couple of hundred Portugese working on it. They're nice enough people, however they work for rates less than minimum wage. In that context freedom of movement is reducing wages for Brits and making it harder for Brits to get jobs. I cant speak Portugese so it's not like I can go to Portugal and get a job... Do you speak Portugese? People aren't stupid, they can see freedom of movement isn't this wonderful thing that politicans say it is.

That's exactly what I've been saying... I bet 99.9% of Brits have no ability in a foreign language apart from being able to ask for the time in French. Many europeans have a good ability to speak English... Freedom of movement is a one way street of Europeans coming to the UK to work and few Brits going to Europe to work.

Even if a course is in English it doesn't mean that the social side is conducted in English. How many 18 year old Brits could go down the pub with his new coursemates and have a chat in German or French etc? Honestly, I can't see how freedom of movement is that great a thing for British people...

I bet relatively few university courses in Sweden are taught in English? How many Brits speak fluent Swedish? Realistically freedom of movement is a one way street of Europeans wanting to live and work in the UK and few going from the UK to Europe. In my first degree we had a couple of German students come over for a year from our sister university in Leipzeig. We couldn't send any of our students over to Leipzeig because none of my coursemates spoke German. Yet freedom of movement is something Remain voters go on about.

How many people here have family members that can speak a foreign language to a level where they could study a technical subject in it? I bet very few...

The two Greeks, Spaniard, Zimbawean and Dutch guy got full time jobs in the UK after graduation.... Ohhh, OK, what foreign languages do you think I should learn then on the remote possibility I get a job in the EU? Spanish? German? Flemish? Greek? Romanian? Bulgarian? French? Croat? English is the world's language, it means EU nationals can generally speak English and get jobs in the UK... Speaking as civil engineer I can honestly say that free movement realistically means EU nationals can come to the UK to compete for my job and I can't go to the EU to compete for professional jobs there. Anyway, do you think I want to work in East Europe and get a 90% salary drop? IMHO, free movement really isn't that good for Brits...

I voted out and nothing I've seen has made me question my decision. Before the referendum both sides were economical with the truth, however it honestly seemed that Bremainers were telling the far bigger fibs... some of the scare stories from Bremain were truly insulting... If the EU is such a benelovent club why do they want to punish us for leaving? I honestly hope we get a hard Brexit. Imho, the only really good thing that the EU gave us was free trade, since many countries have free trade agreements with the EU without giving them money I don't see why we should be giving the EU £12 billion a year. Much is made of free movement. In 2001 I did my MSc, there were 12 people on the course, 2 Brits, 3 Greeks, 2 Italians, 1 German, 1 Zimbawean, 1 Spaniard, 1 Dutch and 1 guy from Singapore. Since they studied in the UK they could all have got jobs in the UK. Being selfish about it, do you think having so many foreigners compete for jobs with the 2 Brits is really fair? I'd have absolutedly no chance of getting jobs in their countries as I never spoke their languages. Free movement is really a one way street....

Maybe any ex military reading this that are suffering ptsd should consider contacting a charity called combat stress. There's no shame asking for help if you need it.

Se7enthdevil, have you thought of advertising your bowls on your website?

How much do your fish cost? Lol, for me £5 is a *lot* for a fish.

I've got a dehumidifier in my flat and it produces a fair amount of distilled (pure) water. You could maybe get one as an easy way to get pure water?

^^ you have bested my Nathan with your marine tank. How much did your set up cost? Is it easy to grow the corals (?)?

Yeah, I wouldn't mind giving marine a try, however I'd really need to get a job closer to home.. Have you house trained your rabbits? We had a rabbit and it would literally walk into the house if you let it out onto the patio.

Just fairly standard ones. Neon and Cardinal tetras, catfish, fighting fish, red tipped shark I'd like a bigger tank (500l) however I wouldn't want such a heavy tank in my flat... do do you keep fish?

I love my aquarium and looking after my fish is one of my biggish hobbies. I used to struggle keeping my plants alive until I got the CO2 system. I've recently got some red cherry shrimp and I think they are breeding anyone else got pets they love? PS no pics of yourself tied up in a gimp mask wearing a lead. The pic below is of my aquarium and a Google pic of red cherry shrimp.

I'll start the ball rolling. I can't stand Gary Lineker or Jonathan Ross. Lineker just gives me the creeps for whatever reason and Ross seems to be the missing end of a bell. Whenever they are on the telly I have to turn over.

Some good points! I think after WW2 we did need more workers. However I don't think we need much unskilled labour now. tbh, I think immigration is being driven by big business wanting workers that will work for low wages.... I do think the benefits system should be changed to encourage people to take low skilled jobs. Africa has been blessed with fertile soils and natural resources like metal ores. I think the reason Africa is so poor is cultural. African culture just seems unable to build modern succesful countries... Has Zimbabwe got better after the White Man left? Has the end of apertheid made South Africa a better place? I think borders will have to be tightened or the right wing get into power.

Back in 1985 Ethiopia's population was 41 million. It's now 105 million. I cant help thinking there is absolutedly no point sending aid to Africa until the underlying problem of overpopulation is addressed. It is depressing that forests/ grassland are being destroyed for new towns and farmland etc. An interesting fact is that Ethiopia was never colonised. So no one can blame the big nasty West for Ethiopia being a basket case.

tbh, the real joy of being self employed is the tax you can save....

There's another auction in the Glasgow area that contains about 50 stoves. Unfortunately the stoves aren't branded so I assume they are cheap Chinese versions, they could still be ok for the spare room etc. This auction company sells a fair amount of stuff that could be useful to arbtalkers. They sell a fair amount of commercial vehicles/ trailers etc. Could be worth a look if you're in the Glasgow area. Just to be clear, I've no connection to this company! https://www.sweeney-kincaid.com/Sales/CatalogLots.aspx?SaleId=3203#lot166

Maybe the art of spelling.

Are you a racist or something? You think Africans and Afghans are so pathetic that they cant build modern successful countries because 150 years ago they were part of the Empire? How long can Africa play the "It's all whiteys fault that we cant feed our people and millions of African starve to death" argument? I'll give you an interesting fact, the word "slave" derives from the Slavic people. So many slaves were taken from the Slavic people in Europe that the word "slave" came into being. The people taking these slaves were North Africans... They also took slaves from all over Europe... Us Europeans should really be demanding compensation and apologies from places like Egypt and Morocco. In WW2 Japan was nuked by the Americans. How come the Japanese built a modern successful country in 70 years but Africans cant build successful countries because their countries were once run by Europeans?

You do that. Boring people to death really wins Internet arguments. I've got the day off so I'll probably do something fun

No, it's went pretty much the I thought it would. I knew some people would do their usual "troll" calling posts and present no arguments. I also knew someone (you in is case) would do their bit to defeat my arguments. When I speak to people in real life it's clear that many people feel threatened by mass immigration. They see stuff like Rotherham and all the terrorist attacks and feel our way of life is under threat. They see how there are so many migrants that will do their jobs for less money. They see how they can't get their kids into the local school due to all the EU migrants. For you to argue that these things are a price worth paying for some vague idea of "genetic diversity" shows how out of touch you are. I apologise for doing something non Arbtalk related for most of yesterday.... I confess I've not read most of your numerous posts you addressed at me yesterday.