Perhaps there needs to be a more balanced discussion about immigration.The UK’s population is also ageing. In 2022, there were around 12.7 million people aged 65 or over in the UK, making up 19% of the population. According to the ONS’s population projections, by 2072 this could rise to 22.1 million people, or 27% of the population. By contrast, 50 years ago in 1972 there were around 7.5 million people aged 65 or over, or 13% of the population.Presumably to generate the wealth and provide services to that ageing population there's a need to bolster the younger age groups. Ok, there's automation and eelf service - but isn't it often the elderly that are more resistant to self service checkouts and online services and chatbots, etc - and i know someone's son who has a great job with a tech startup developing fruit picking machines, and I see the Japanese are developing robot care assistants. But won't we need immigration to bolster the working wealth generators as well? For example, robots probably won't build care homes?The other point about the EU's freedom of movement is that it was a two way thing with opportunities for UK people to go easily to work in Europe - whether working in bars on the Costa Brava, teaching English in Greece, working for a pan European mult-national, or being a scientist and technologist at CERN or ESA. Just think how many young musicians may have had careers thwarted by the additional expense and difficulties touring post Brexit. Ok, those things aren't impossible now but are a lot more difficult, particularly if one has a spouse and family. (I can think of one friend working in the travel industry who, if they didn't have an Irish passport as well as their UK one, probably wouldn't have a job now.)My understanding was that companies were having trouble recruiting staff - that's why (or one reason) trains get cancelled, restaurants (and some pubs) close early (wasn't Mr Brexit, Tim Martin complaining about a shortage of staff), some hotels ask if you need your room cleaned every day, etc? Yet there seem to be loads of people on long term sick leave - is that an NHS problem?Anyway, the idea that all immigration and immigrants are bad seems a pointless place to start when we've a pending age time bomb, doesn’t it?
Michael Ixer ● 306d