Madhouse

Immigration caused the Madhouse by the Thames (please see 28 November 2018). But it is wrong to call Europeans who came to the UK "immigrants". Because many (most?) came to suss it out and would have gone home if they didn't like it. It is similar to the 1962 Commonwealth Immigration Act when many Afro-Caribbeans and Asians intended to go home, but didn't because they knew that if they did they wouldn't be able to live in the UK again. Another aspect of the Act was that it caused a rush of young men to get here before it came into force. There has always been freedom of movement in Western Europe. In 2004 Poland and other East European countries (not yet Romania & Bulgaria) joined the EU. For them freedom of movement was a main reason for joining. But existing EU countries (France, Germany, etc.) closed their borders to them. Tony Blair did the decent thing and didn't close UK borders, so naturally they all came here. The irony of that being a major reason for the UK now poised to leave the EU shouldn't be lost on anyone. There's more immigration to the UK from outside the EU than from within. Apart from asylum and illegals the main reason is chain migration (i.e. relatives). In 1979 the Conservatives promised to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK. But Mrs Thatcher's Government didn't keep its promise. 10,000 men a year were using marriage. This, I was told, isn't many. But that now comes to around 400,000. And they have children. Who marry.