Russ Jones Profile picture
Mar 11 26 tweets 8 min read
We all think we're rational human beings. So let's put that to a test in a little thread, with sources.

This is for those who are in a terrible tizz right now, and think Gary Lineker is actual Satan.
🧵
"We are taking too many immigrants"

There are 281 million migrants globally.
worldmigrationreport.iom.int/wmr-2020-inter…

We took 90,000
ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati…

That's 0.032%.

We have 0.9% of the global population, so to just do "our part" we should take 3x as many.
"Immigration would ruin our economy".

German will take 1.2 million this year.
schengenvisainfo.com/news/germany-e…

We will take about 90,000.

GDP per capita
Germany: $51,203
UK: $46,510

data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.G…
"Immigrants are a drain!"

Immigrants from outside EU contribute 3% more than they cost, or £5.2 bn a year
ucl.ac.uk/economics/abou…

Immigrants from inside the EU (prior to Brexit) contributed £26.9 bn a year
oxfordeconomics.com/resource/the-f…

Total contribution: £31.1 bn a year
"Immigrants swamp the NHS"

14% of UK population were born overseas
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/brie…

28% of NHS doctors and nurses were born overseas.
fullfact.org/health/foreign…

You are twice as likely to be treated by an immigrant than lose your place in the queue to one.
"Immigrants steal our houses."

Firstly, 14% of construction workers are immigrants
citb.co.uk/media/cxxlqsps…

So are 14% of the general population.

So AT WORST they're maintaining the level of housing-to-people we'd have anyway.

And secondly...
In the 1960s the UK built a new home for every 14 head of population.

By 2020 we were building 1 new home for every 43.

If you or your kids can't get a home, it's because you or your kids elected a govt that doesn't build houses.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
"Immigrants get more benefits"

Ummm nope. Legal immigrants are entitled to the same benefits as anyone else. Cos they're here legally, pay tax, so why shouldn't they?

Illegal immigrants are entitled to absolutely nothing.

fullfact.org/online/pension…
"We can't afford immigration, we have all this debt to pay."

The govt's official OBR says higher migration reduces pressure on govt debt.
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/brie…
"More immigrants means more crime".

There is no evidence more immigration causes more crime.

In fact, the continuous reduction in overall property crimes since 2002 corresponded *exactly* with a rising foreign-born population.

migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/brie…
"Stricter laws will deter illegal immigration".

Since 2010 UK immigration law has been "tightened" 168 times (average 1 a month)
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

43 laws on small boats alone
theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/m…

If this stuff deterred, it would have deterred by now, and...
If you, a British citizen frightened by immigration, can't keep track of the 168 bits of legislation IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE, how do you expect a Somali refugee to?

And if they don't know the law, how on earth can they be deterred by it? It makes NO SENSE.
"Asylum seekers should stay in the first safe country they reach"

The UN Convention - WHICH WE HELPED TO WRITE - says they can claim asylum in any nation they want to. They don't have to stay in the first country.

fullfact.org/immigration/re…
"We need to stop illegal asylum claims"

There is no such thing as an illegal asylum claim. So we've already stopped it. Hurray!

Under the Refugee Convention - WHICH WE HELPED TO WRITE - absolutely anybody can claim asylum, no matter how they get here.

hrw.org/news/2023/03/0…
"We voted for Brexit so should leave these foreign conventions"

Show me where those conventions are mentioned on the referendum paper. Go on. Show me.

Brexit was meant to stop immigration. So were 168 subsequent laws. They didn't. They won't. Here's why...
Living creatures moving from one place to another to get a better life or escape harm pre-dates the invention of passports and lines on maps by 3.7 billion years.

You will never - not ever EVER 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 - stop people wanting to do this.
So instead of looking at the small boats and shouting at the wind, why not start looking at the REAL reasons you can't get housing, healthcare, your standard of living is falling, and everything seems shit.

I'll give you a clue. It isn't Albania.
I absolutely guarantee you, the people who are responsible for the shambolic state of Britain - the UK government - are DELIGHTED when you ignore their record and focus on a few harmless, powerless brown people.
"Never mind all that, immigrants are changing our culture"

The building you’re sitting in right now is held up with Spanish or Iranian gypsum.

Most of your car is probably made in Germany, Mexico or Japan.

The oil that powers it most likely from Saudi Arabia.
You drink beer from Belgium, vodka from Russian and wine from France.

You gobble Italian pizza and scoff Chinese rice, flavoured with spices from Indonesia.

You wear American jeans and eat chips made from potatoes native to Venezuela.
Your coffee is Brazilian,​ your tea is Tamil, the sugar is Jamaican and the milk is only safe to drink because a Frenchman made it so.

If you fancy a little flavouring, you’ll use syrup from Canada, chocolate from Colombia, or lemons from Portugal.
Your democracy is Greek. Your humour is Jewish. Your numbers are Arabic and your letters are Latin. Your pyjamas are Indian and your slippers are Turkish.

And you’re reading this in a language that’s a bastard hybrid of French, Latin, Scandiwegian and Irish.
And you've got the nerve to tell me immigrants are ruining British culture? They ARE British culture.

I'd tell racists to fuck off, but "fuck" is derived from German, French and Dutch words. So they'll have to find their own pure English profanity, if they can.
Typo, this should read "30x as many"

#EditButton
Typo earlier. It should read...

just do "our part" we should take 30x as many.

Thirty times as many. Not 3x.
This kinda blew up, so I have to mention:

The Decade In Tory is out now
unbound.com/books/the-deca…

Four Chancellors and a Funeral is available to pre-order.
unbound.com/books/four-cha…

I hate self-promotion, but my vast marketing team is busy working on my perfume line.

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More from @RussInCheshire

Mar 10
I wonder - speculating - if they'll regret this. A bit like Brexit: getting everything they want isn't what they want.

Suspending #GaryLineker just politicises the audience of one of the UKs most popular people. And making people aware of politics doesn't help the Tories.
Sure, there will be people who want Linaker gone, and people who don't. But in the middle, a huge group not really paying attention to politics, who suddenly have to choose between a much-loved, highly likeable footballing hero, and Suella Braverman, aka Joseph Gerbils.
And the BBC may be making a mistake too. Linaker is very rich, and could waltz into the same job on any channel for 2x the pay. To coin a phrase, they need him more than he needs them.

Doing this to curry favour with the govt won't work. They will NEVER suddenly love the BBC.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 8
Watching this made my soul cringe itself inside out.
Paraphrasing

- So you'll keep refugees 28 days?
- Yep
- Then remove them?
- Yep
- What happens to those you can't remove in 28 days?
- We remove them too
- Where?
- [Linguistic soup]
- What?
- I mean, something something Rwanda
- But Rwanda policy is paused pending appeal
- Or we'll send them back to their own country
- Which is it, Rwanda or back home?
- Home
- But you can legally do that now
- But now we WILL do it. Grrrr!
- You already have a backlog of 166000 unprocessed people
- This time it'll be better. 43rd time's the charm
Read 5 tweets
Mar 7
Gonna start a festival. #Twatsonbury

I'll advertise how great it is. World-beating, in fact.

But there will be a 100 ft high wall around the 100 mile perimeter, and no gate.

No illegal entry. Or legal entry.

Then I'm gonna spend YEARS whining about the cost of security.🧵
The only way in will be to scale the wall, which is dangerous and illegal, and loads of people die, while giving all their money to the network of previously unheard-of "ladder gangs" that mysteriously sprung up when I built a massive wall.

But I can stop all this. Trust me.
I'm gonna have - and this is no exaggeration - a new "no entry" policy every month for a decade, and 43 different "definitely no entry if you're wet" policies.

I'm going to tell everybody inside that we're being invaded, and they need to leave me in charge so I can prevent it.
Read 17 tweets
Mar 2
Thread on Sue Gray's terrible lack of independence.

1. Johnson appointed her.

2. For a long time, Tories used her independence as a reason why Johnson shouldn't quit - we "had to wait for Gray".

3. The Police matched Sue Gray's findings - are they part of the Labour plot too?
4. Johnson accepted Gray's findings

5. So did the Tory party

6. So did the police

7. There were 126 fines handed down, and 57 ministers quit to force Johnson out

8. There is no law or precedent to stop somebody taking a new job 12 months after writing an independent report
9. There is no law or precedent to stop civil servants going to work for a political party - David Frost was a civil servant too, and Johnson made him a govt minister

10. How many people working in Westminster do you suppose have NO view on politics? Why shouldn't they?
Read 5 tweets
Mar 2
In 2016 Johnson wanted to lose the referendum so he could be "king over the water" for frustrated xenophobes in the Tory membership, and succeed Cameron without ever having to do anything as stupid as Brexit.

He's playing the same game now.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
All Johnson has to do is keep saying "no" to everything, and the Brexit ultras in his party will love him. And that's his route back to the centre of attention, which is all be wants

I don't wanna help Tories. But Sunak should make backing Windsor Agreement into a 3 line whip.
If Johnson votes against it, withdraw the whip and get him out of the party. Same with the other ultras. If Sunak lets them stay, they'll torture his leadership forever.

He's gonna lose the next GE anyway. He's got a 70+ majority, so can risk losing 30 troublesome MPs
Read 4 tweets
Feb 28
Look at this idiot, delighted the thing he voted for is being undone. For a decade we've been held hostage by this self-styled "hard man", with his smug look of somebody desperate to be asked if they've finished their Rubik's Cube. He's done irreparable harm and cannot admit it.
Reckons he's the sharpest tool in the box of absolute tools from the ERG, and calls himself a "numbers man". Launched his move to oust May based on hitting the required votes. Was 10 votes short. Can't even count to 52, yet so much brighter than the others that they followed him
They can follow him into a fucking combine harvester for all I care. I can't wait for him and his wretched, self-absorbed, clattering band of xenophobic baboons to be hurled from public life, and never have any influence again.
Read 4 tweets

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