I deplore Jim Ratcliffe's words. (owner of Man U)

Unfortunately the High Street is unrecognisable now compared to even 10 years ago

Is that the fault of immigrants?

Wyllow3 Diwali is a Hindu festival not Muslim? The only objections to it in my area were concerning the fireworks, which many want banned completely for all occasions.

I stayed with my daughter for a couple of nights this week. Her local area is busy and thriving with a multi-racial community and it is a pleasure to visit. She's able to buy all her grocery locally including fish and meat together with a vast variety of foods from across the world. I love going out to eat there, this time we had good tapas pre-theatre and an amazing Moroccan brunch. I've eaten Indian street food, Thai, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese etc etc on visits in cafes and restaurants almost always with locals from that community. My DD works with a big range of Nationalities and has friends who would be classed as "immigrants". She and I celebrate the diversity we have in the UK, perhaps because we were both born in a big city with a diverse population so we saw people with different ethnicities as neighbours rather than a threat.

LizzieDrip

^Unfortunately the High Street is unrecognisable now compared to even 10 years ago^

Is that the fault of immigrants?

Please do not put words into my post that were not there.

I have no idea if the numerous Vape Shops, Mobile Phone Shops (and I do not mean Apple, O2 or EE) and similar are owned and/or operated by immigrants as I had no need to visit them.

What we did observe were the amount of PCSO’s and Street Wardens which were visible.

Just a thought. If we are ever faced with having to defend ourselves and I sincerely hope it will never happen, we will be thankful for the many immigrants who have chosen to make their lives here. If we had to rely on white British families to provide young people for the military we would struggle, just as we would struggle without the people from immigrant communities who currently work in our hospitals, care facilites, schools and kitchens etc etc. We need to focus on processing asylum seekers so we can either send them home or allow them to work then perhaps they will be seen as the asset that they could be. fwiw, the Hinduja family came here as immigrants, are British citizens and unlike Ratcliffe have chosen to live in the UK and pay taxes here tbh I'm more interested in their opinion than his.

LizzieDrip

^Unfortunately the High Street is unrecognisable now compared to even 10 years ago^

Is that the fault of immigrants?

I would say Tories, Covid & Labour.
Five have closed on our high street in the last 3months

MT62

LizzieDrip

Unfortunately the High Street is unrecognisable now compared to even 10 years ago

Is that the fault of immigrants?

I would say Tories, Covid & Labour.
Five have closed on our high street in the last 3months

I'd say that it's down to Amazon and out of town shopping centres with huge car parks..

MT62 and MaizieD- agree- and not the fault of immigrants.

LizzieDrip

^Unfortunately the High Street is unrecognisable now compared to even 10 years ago^

Is that the fault of immigrants?

That doesn’t suit the narrative though, does it

LemonJam

MT62 and MaizieD- agree- and not the fault of immigrants.

Agreed LemonJam.

This in one of the most articulate arguments I have read about the Ratcliffe controversy. From Damian Lowe on X.

Immigration is one of the most consequential policy debates in British politics. But when the language shifts from policy to “colonisation”, the debate stops being serious and starts becoming dangerous.

1. When figures such as Jim Ratcliffe describe modern migration in those terms, the frame changes. “Colonisation” is not a neutral descriptor. It invokes conquest, displacement and deliberate demographic subordination. That is a civilisational claim, not a policy critique.

2. Contemporary migration flows are the product of domestic political choices such as visa regimes, labour-market demands, higher-education financing and asylum processing capacity. They may be mismanaged. Many will think they are be too high. But let's be clear, they are not foreign armies planting flags.

3. Democracies need space to argue about scale, pace, integration, wage effects, housing pressure and social cohesion. Those are legitimate debates to be had. However, once the vocabulary becomes existential, trade-offs are recast as surrender and any form of compromise as capitulation.

4. Language now plays such a big role in shaping political incentives. If immigration is framed as regulatory overreach, the response is reform. If it is framed as colonisation, the implied response is resistance to occupation. That shift is not accidental. It alters the emotional temperature of the entire debate.

5. There is also a question of accountability. If migration outcomes are described as an external takeover, responsibility subtly shifts away from policymakers and towards migrants themselves. That confuses where power, and therefore responsibility actually sits.

6. None of this requires minimising public concern. Communities can feel strain without the country being conquered. The challenge in democratic politics is to address pressure without importing the logic of conflict into the everyday job of governing which is hard enough without interventions like Ratcliffe's.

7. Immigration policy deserves rigorous scrutiny. But rhetoric that casts it in the language of invasion does not clarify or help the issue, It hardens it.

A serious democracy can debate numbers and trade-offs. It cannot thrive if every disagreement is reframed as a struggle for survival.

Can anyone point to where I have posted that the High Street in question is unrecognisable due to immigrants please?

GrannyGravy13

Can anyone point to where I have posted that the High Street in question is unrecognisable due to immigrants please?

Well no, because you didn't, but don't let that stop those who would imply you did.

Rosie51

Wyllow3 Diwali is a Hindu festival not Muslim? The only objections to it in my area were concerning the fireworks, which many want banned completely for all occasions.

Diwali is most definitely a Hindu tradition Wyllow3

foxie48

I stayed with my daughter for a couple of nights this week. Her local area is busy and thriving with a multi-racial community and it is a pleasure to visit. She's able to buy all her grocery locally including fish and meat together with a vast variety of foods from across the world. I love going out to eat there, this time we had good tapas pre-theatre and an amazing Moroccan brunch. I've eaten Indian street food, Thai, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese etc etc on visits in cafes and restaurants almost always with locals from that community. My DD works with a big range of Nationalities and has friends who would be classed as "immigrants". She and I celebrate the diversity we have in the UK, perhaps because we were both born in a big city with a diverse population so we saw people with different ethnicities as neighbours rather than a threat.

I agree with your comments. I’m a Londoner as is my husband , although we now live outside London due to cheaper housing . My family has always embraced those with different ethnicities and see them as no different from us . Having worked in healthcare for most of my adult life , I don’t have an issue with those Ratcliffe calls immigrants.
Both my AC live in London in areas with a multicultural community.
I love visiting them and enjoying the food and culture in their areas . I never feel unsafe walking around and my DD feels the same .
I find some of the comments on here sad and worrying.

Rosie51

GrannyGravy13

Can anyone point to where I have posted that the High Street in question is unrecognisable due to immigrants please?

Well no, because you didn't, but don't let that stop those who would imply you did.

Tho it doesn’t help that all empty shops seem to have been taken over by Turkish barbers/vape shops/nail bars and various other money laundering outfits.
Councils are just being given new powers to say who may or may not set up shop depending on what type it is.Not before time.

Cariad I won’t quote your post because it’s quite long but the videos you mention of people praying on the streets, in the road etc have been widely discredited. One particularly widespread one was in Istanbul - the traffic being in the ‘wrong’ side of the road was a bit of a giveaway 😂Another. few have been shown to be AI generated. If you have a link to a genuine one I’d be interested in seeing it.

GrannyGravy 13.39 "Can anyone point to where I have posted that the High Street in question is unrecognisable due to immigrants please?

Well I'll try and answer your question GG13 by sharing my observations as I don't think anyone has said that you or even implied that you said the High Street in question in your 11.21 post is unrecognisable due to immigration. No one at all.

Opal posted yesterday that in her view Radcliffe spoke the truth (ie what he said about UK being colonised by immigrants) in her 15.21 post '......if you visit any big city in the UK ther eare colonies....... in EVERY SINGLE CITY and that's proof enough for me"

Your 11.25 post was in response to Opal/Petra as you quoted Opal's post about colonies, no go areas etc.directly in your own post. After quoting Opal you then posted "......Unfortunately the High Street is unrecognisable now compared to even 10 years ago" It was not clear to me whther you thought the High Street was unrecognisable as a result of immigrants or not in context of Opal's post you quoted. Neither was it clear to Lizziedrip apparently and she messaged you:

Lizziedrip's post at 13.29 quoted your post in italics "Unfortunately the High Street is unrecognisable now compared to even 10 years ago" then she asked you Is that the fault of immigrants?' as unlike Opal it wasn't clear whether you were attributing your views about High Street changes to immigrants or not.

You posted to Lizziedrip at 12.19 "Please do not put words into my post that were not there'- if you re read Lizziedrip's post - she didn't actually put any words into your post that were not there at all neither did she imply anything- merely asked you a question.

Hopefully that reassures you and answers the question you asked.

As it was LizzieDrip that queried my post I will wait for her answer, but thank you anyway LemonJam

Thank you LemonJam.

GrannyGravy I didn’t put words in your mouth.

Within the context of a thread about the perceived ‘negative’ connotations of immigration, you commented on the demise of the high street.

I was curious as to whether you related the two things, as it wasn’t clear from your comment. So I merely asked the question.

paddyann54

They aren,t ALLOWED to work!
There are many who would love to work but in their “wisdom” the clowns in Westminster decide to keep them in hotels going quietly mad with nothing to do.
There are many asylum seekers who do volunteer work when they are able to move freely
Why can’t you just see PEOPLE instead of all this horrible divisive rubbish that spills from your mouths,we all came from somewhere and most of us were .
I am thankful that I don’t know anyone in real life with these attitudes towards fellow human beings

Well said, I agree with every word paddyann!

Lots of changes in our high streets.
Maybe caused by our online shopping choices?
Parking?
Rates too high?

Maremia- agree those and other things already mentioned....lots of High Street changes and not the fault of immigrants- immigrants often get the blame for things entirely unrelated.....

Rosie51

GrannyGravy13

Can anyone point to where I have posted that the High Street in question is unrecognisable due to immigrants please?

Well no, because you didn't, but don't let that stop those who would imply you did.

No you did't.

Our High Street is totally unrecognisable to what it was 10 years ago and even then it was totally different to what it was 30 years ago.
Few shops, those that remain have been taken over, lots of coffee shops and eateries. Even the traditional Indian restaurant has been taken over and is a wine bar (don't worry, there are three more Indian restaurants).

I am thankful that I don’t know anyone in real life
So you've said many times, paddyann.