In the U.K., Like the U.S., the Issue Is Immigration

[Valin]

Power Line:

John Hinderaker

November 29, 2014

 

The United Kingdom is going through a battle over immigration that sheds light on what is happening here in the U.S. Under the European Union’s guarantee of freedom of movement, the U.K. has been unable to restrict the flow of immigrant from other EU member states, many of whom are drawn by Britain’s relatively lavish welfare programs. Currently, around 400,000 EU immigrants are receiving welfare benefits in the U.K. In addition, of course, many Britons resent both the wage competition and the cultural challenges that large-scale immigration brings.

 

This has led to the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), the one political party that, in the view of many Englishmen, actually looks out for their interests rather than those of Europe’s elites. UKIP wants to curb immigration and take the United Kingdom out of the European Union. Its popularity is growing rapidly, and Tories fear that UKIP will draw off enough votes to cost them the upcoming election.

 

So Prime Minister David Cameron has moved to the right on immigration. Yesterday he offered proposals to cut back on immigration, and seemed to threaten to take Great Britain out of the EU:

 

 

Mr. Cameron said migrants coming from the EU should have to wait at least four years before receiving benefits such as tax credits or access to state-subsidized housing. EU migrants also would no longer be eligible to receive state child welfare payments unless their children have moved with them to Britain, to stop the practice of using the handouts to support family in their home country.

 

In a veiled threat to the rest of Europe, the prime minister also said the proposals will be “an absolute requirement” in a renegotiation he has pledged to hold with the EU if he wins a second term. If he succeeds, he said he would campaign to keep Britain in the bloc in a national referendum on EU membership to be held by the end of 2017—but if he fails to secure those changes, “I rule absolutely nothing out,” he said.

 

 

Cameron’s speech drew a rebuke from Angela Merkel:

 

 

 

Following Cameron’s speech on Friday, Merkel said: “The German government has in the past again and again underlined the significance of the principle of the free movement as it is anchored in the EU treaties. It is important that Cameron commits himself to this central pillar of the EU and the single market.”

 

 

How this will play out remains to be seen, but for the moment, the salient point is that the immigration issue is so potent in Great Britain that the Prime Minister felt compelled to address it, lest the Conservatives’ support slip away to UKIP.

 

 

(Snip)

[nickydog]

We have a good friend who is German living in Stuttgart. She just celebrated her 70th birthday and lived all her life with the generous West German government-provided education and medical beneifts. Now that she is a senior citizen and needs her expected benefits even more, things have changed dramatically. She is barely scraping by with her tiny government-provided pension and just learned that her end of the year utility bill tacked on $775 due to an uprise in costs. I can't discern if there are arrangements she can make to pay this, charities to provide essentials to get her to the end of each month, used clothing stores where she could buy a sweater on the cheap, or if she is just too proud to look into these kinds of things. She never married and I don't think she ever thought a lot about her advancing years, expecting the government to provide her with her basic needs. I even think there might have been a sense of entitlement and even smugness about how the German people were cared for by their governement after WW II. I imagine all this began to change after Germany was united and then free movement within the EU began. Our friend actually sent out an email last month to all her friends to send money for her birthday! She could do that somehow, but she doesn't seem to seek out help within the community through charities or other places. If there is such help. Is it possible the generous benefits we hear about are only for immigrants but not life-long citizens? She evades my questions and just says I don't realize how Germany has changed since we lived there in the early '90s.

[Valin]

@nickydog

 

She can thank the enviro-nazis for the rise in her energy bill.

[nickydog]

You know, I wondered about that, @Valin.

[Valin]

You know, I wondered about that, @Valin.

 

 

The American Interest: Energy

[nickydog]

 

You know, I wondered about that, @Valin.

 

 

The American Interest: Energy

 

 

Interesting series of headlines. The sooner we can be energy independent the better. Hello fracking!