Why some Brits feel so feared of immigrants stealing their national identity?

kathy_is_a_nurse

The problem is not ALL immigrants, just the ones who come to another country but instead of assimilating into the country, they expect the country to adapt to their previous culture. What makes a country successful is a unified populace, not disparate groups that live by their own set of rules and standards. It is possible to assimilate without losing the richness of your heritage, but if you want life to be just as it was in your former country...stay there.

Susan D

It shocks me how many small minded bigots there are on this site. Like Rick said, if it's OK for Brits to work overseas, we have no grounds for complaint. when I was 19 I worked in Majorca for the summer, I was given a room and earned just over Â£8 per day, I was happy doing this summer job, many many many Brits have done and are still doing the same today.

sparkle

Because we have our own culture. It can be different in each country. We don't want to lose that.

trish

It feels more like an invasion because there are so many of them and in the majority they do not like us. We have built up a way of life that they envy and they will not be content to share that way of life. Instead they come here trying to change things. In a few years time if things continue we will be in the minority in our own country, and it is our country despite what you say we have built on this land for generations and stood proud. We do more than any other country in the world to help other nations, but all this vitriol becomes very wearing after a while

Simply by being here you are 'trying our way of life' but if you dont like it you know what to do.

egovin

What Identity you, just rightly said that they are all originally immigrants so i dont think they have any national identity to fear about loosing. they are all just naturally snobs because i've never seen any race as uptight and always with their noses in the air than the brittish

gholam n

OMG, listen to some of you lot. I'm a British citizen however I was not born in this country. You talk about the English language, the person writing this question has a better knowledge of the English language than some of you who are moaning about 'Britishness' etc.

juicy_frontier

Some people feel that the immigrants coming to the UK today are only coming here for financial gain...

Some feel that the immigrants are not interested in adopting British culture, most British people feel that if you want to move to another country, you should love everything about that country.

If an immigrant wants to change a country by trying to make it more like there own, then logically they should go back to their own country and work on the problems there to make it a better place. Britain has had many problems in the past, but the people, when they get sick of a certain aspect, work together and have forced change. (Democracy, women's equal rights, a hard working economy, abolition of slave trade are some examples) Only the residing citizens of a country can make a country great as they are the only ones that really care what happens there... maybe if the immigrants were strong enough they too would stop running away from the problems they face in there own countries, and stand up and make a difference.

Democracy begins to fail when there are too many interests, and we as Brits love our democracy... If you want to be happy here, stop complaining, learn to live, speak and think more like us, otherwise move on!

Rick

I totally agree with this question. There are more than 2,000,000 Brits working overseas, if this is OK, then it's OK for eastern Europeans and alike to come here, what's good for the goose.
spannerbox, research the facts of immigration and the differences between economic migration and asylum, for your information, Easters Europeans or any European migrants are NOT entitled to free housing etc, they are entitled to free health care as we are if we travel to a European country. Have you been abroad to a European country recently? If you have, did you get one of the new E111 health insurance cards? How much did it cost you? well I went to cephalonia last year, had an accident in a car and paid absolutely nothing for my health care there, all I claimed for on my insurance was for damages. RESEARCH THE FACTS, MORON.

I would like to correct 'beaubreeces' on what she has said. For your information, economic migrants are entitled to NO state benefits until they have completed 12 months continuous employment and are then made redundant.

Dina W

Speaking as a women, I like to pick out my own clothes...

beausbreeches

I think the issue is more, that the new immigrants arriving in Britain seem to show a reluctance to intergrate with their British peers, and also seem to be here just for the state benefits.
My personal gripe - being from a Polish immigrant family is that the new Poles have over-run my local Polish community. Which has meant that people just use the community to find work and lodgings and translation purposes. And making a mockery of the community that my grandparents built when they first arrived here as refugees after WW2.

simple one

You are totally right my friend,i am supporting you!
Why they fuc....g so speak out about EU.
We have got to tell them all into their faces! is not it?

tattoodle

because it feels life one rule for them and another for us,we couldnt go to any of their countries and demand anything like they do...eg.... mosques,benefeits etc we dont mind them being here but they should live the way we do,and a lot of people are afraid to say anything as theyre scared to be labelled racist.

reply.....

im not saying your one of the bad ones so dont take offence but i live in devon n weve had a load of east europeans come here this last year n weve also had a lot of trouble because of them..your culture is very different from ours and at the moment theyre clashing quite badly,in my town some polish opened a polish shop for polish people selling polish goods which is fair enough but they also put a sign on the door saying 'english not welcome' i have met nice ones but the majority dont seem to even want to intergrate

Philip L

One reason is the destruction of the English language for example:

"Why some Brits feel so feared of immigrants stealing their national identity?"

Latest reports confirm that British economy relies on immigrants as many know, and that economy simply could not withstand the sudden withdrawal of foreign labour.

danor

we are only a small Island, there isn't the room for all these people coming in, it speaks for itself that the UK is deteriorating since immigration took off in the late fifties and the sixties. Look at the waiting lists in the NHS and the shortage of beds, students having to take loans out for their education, unemployment out of control, the social system decimated and on and on it goes. All I can say is the UK wasn't like that Pryor to immigration reaching saturation point

wonderfulworld

Private - 'Our country' was made great on the blood sweat and tears of black slaves, and never forget it. Many of them were even forced to fight for the UK. We are only now granting Gurkha's, who died for the UK, the same rights to pension and to settle here. That is disgusting. We owe a debt to Africa and other countries that we can never repay.

To answer the question, I suppose people have a perception of immigration as a bad thing, but without it our country would grind to a halt. It has always taken place, and always will..it invigorates and enriches our society. In real terms there has been no mass influx of immigrants...check the figures! Immigration and asylum are often confused. They are very different. Wasn't so very long ago it was Catholic Irish who were slammed as flooding the country, and what about french folk fleeing the many years of bloody revolution, or my own Scottish ancestors who fled the highland clearances. In the more recent past we had the Bosnian war and the refugees from that, or Darfur, Iraq, Zimbabwe...the list goes on. War and the persecution of perceived minority groups is to blame for causing masses of people to just up and leave. We, as a supposed first world country have a responsibility, not only to assist those in need, but also as we contributed either directly or indirectly to these conflicts in the first place!

Think carefully....just how much would it take for your to stand up right now, with only the clothes on your back, and (if you are lucky) your nearest and dearest, and flee for your life. Quite a lot I suspect. So lets treat those who come to us in need with the respect and dignity that all human beings deserve.

The indication of a truly civilised nation is how it treats its most vulnerable.

Jim G - check your figures...you'll find that 'white' people make up approx 97% of this country...get some perspective.

Private: Don't know why I bothered to answer that neonazi drivel. Sad

Once again, I am drawn to respond, despite my better instincts. Is that the best you can do? It's clearly a well rehearsed answer anyway. The insults clearly work both ways for you too. You need to check your history and educate yourself, cos your clearly lacking in both. Of course I am forgetting, the likes of you have a version of history all to yourself don't you?! Go back under the rock you came from with all your little BNP bully buddies. As for your arguments...they are not worth the bother. You sure as hell don't represent me or mine!

Eastern: Private clearly has no ability to respond to your question, no evidence, no rationality...No Surprise!

buggerlugs

i dont fear that they will steal my national identity- my gripe is the government and the powers that be seem to put these people first every time -im all for equality but there obviously isnt any

Jimmy F

Ok i would like to inform u that every culture in history has been influenced by someone else. If you dont like how the British people feel u are freel to leave the country.

wolfpack 543

"Die Juden sind unser UnglÃ¼ck!"

avi

jim g

Most of those previous groups of immigrants you mention were white christian Europeans who came here over a span of several centuries, the current wave of immigrants are dominated by those from Muslim countries and it's on a massive scale not seen for about 1,500 yrs, yet, we are told we have to accept a mass influx of peoples who not only bring a different culture but, also a different religion, that's why the majority of Brits feel we are losing our National Identity. EDIT ; Eastern, I said most of the previous immigrants, not all of them. Your question asked about fear of losing National Identity, we would not fear this if it really was a Muslim minority however, it is a very large minority and, growing faster than the native population, this is evident for all to see except the blind extremists on the left.

spannerbox

I take it you a recent arrival into our country ? because you sure sound like one, and of course you wouldn't agree with those who have lived here for generations would you ? I mean lets face it, you've fallen on your feet coming here, free treatment, free schooling free housing and given money as well, But are you satisfied with that ? "no" you then want us to change our ways to suit you, as you feel you are being victimised being in a minority, well let me put it this way if you don't like our ways, you are free to leave, either fit in with us,or get out, it simple really, it our country, not yours.

cyclops

Could be , because they don't care for Hypocrites.

gortamor

No, I do not think, frankly, many Brits see themselves as immigrants or their descendants.

Instead, I am thinking it may be because they once had a mighty, if brutal and illegal empire, and saw themselves, wrongly, as superior to other races and cultures. Now, they are being overrun by other races and cultures and have little of said empire left. Is justice, in my view.

crystal

well because they mixing with other races like blacks and muslims

Piltdown Man

It is identity theft which hides behind the defence of calling anyone racist who dares question it.The best example I have noticed is Indian people who like to call themselves British.
One female Indian questioner in Yahoo answers actually called herself "British and proud of it"

Try going to live in China for a while and saying you are "Chinese and proud of it" Then hear 1,5 billion Chinese all laughing at the same time

The difference between British people going abroad and the current immigrant tsunami into the UK is UK people go from success to failed countries usually, the immigrants to the UK come from failed countries to take advantage of UK success

eastern_eu. I predicted you would say "racist" because you have no real answer. Indian people are Indian and this includes those who have arrived into the UK.Even the Soho Chinese are honest enough to call themselves Chinese. The typical Indian claim to be "British and proud of it" is nationality theft

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