MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
“Working class tantrum towards immigration” spurred the Leave vote and Brexit
One of the reasons for the Brexit vote was working class voters throwing “a bit of a tantrum” over immigration, UK government minister Sir Alan Duncan claimed before an audience in Chicago. He said the campaign had “stirred up a lot of sentiment” about migration among people who do not usually vote. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules“a bit of a tantrum”
Oct 04th, 2017 - 09:20 am - Link - Report abuse 0And they wonder why people call them elitist!
Maybe if they took people's concerns seriously instead of dismissing them as tantrums, no referendum would have even been needed. Before Poland et al had free movement, the seasonal work like fruit picking was done by workers on a visa, who went home again afterwards. And the rest of the agricultural work was done by the locals because it had to be. Boston was pretty clearly in decline before the immigration from Eastern Europe, but it's also not the sort of place where people who want to be in a dynamic, multicultural society choose to live. If people would rather be poor but stay within their own familiar community, shouldn't they have that choice?
Actually was it not a LABOUR Govt that allowed open borders and no visas?
Oct 04th, 2017 - 01:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes it was; they could have limited free movement temporarily but chose not to. But no one objected at the time because they didn't know so many would come. Once people started having concerns, then the government, whichever it was, should have taken them seriously.
Oct 04th, 2017 - 02:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0How do people in the Falklands feel about immigration? It's supposed to be necessary for economic growth, but it must change the community too?
The important thing to note is that Duncan is a Remainer. It's right there in the article!.And he was addressing an American audience. Anyone who reads UK news websites, and their forums, knows that the few remaining Remainers, and the EU, haven't given up. Even though polls now show that over 70% of Britons want the British government to “get on with it”. And how would Americans know any different? Duncan was unlikely to tell his audience that the majority of Leave voters objected to being ruled by another “country”, was he?
Oct 06th, 2017 - 10:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The question is why is this piece appearing in Mercopenguin, a British government propaganda organ supposedly devoted to America, South America and the “South Atlantic”?
Oct 07th, 2017 - 03:33 am - Link - Report abuse -1“Duncan was unlikely to tell his audience that the majority of Leave voters objected to being ruled by another “country”, was he?”
Oct 07th, 2017 - 11:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0Why was he unlikely to say that? Because most of the Leave campaigning focused on immigration?
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