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Migrants are not responsible for the UK’s healthcare crisis (www.aljazeera.com)

submitted 4 days ago by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/uk_politics@feddit.uk

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Last week, Reform UK’s newest MP, Suella Braverman, and the party’s chairman, Zia Yusuf, argued that high levels of migration are placing unsustainable pressure on GP services, leaving British patients struggling to get appointments. This follows new data released by the Centre for Migration Control, suggesting that 752,000 migrants joined the GP register last year.

The Centre for Migration Control, a think tank focused on reducing immigration in the United Kingdom, based its claim on Flag-4 GP registrations, a category that counts anyone whose previous address was outside the UK for three months or more – a group that can include returning British residents as well as new arrivals. The figure of 752,000 Flag-4 registrations may seem large, but it accounted for just more than one in 10 of the roughly 6.5 million new GP registrations last year, a share that falls well short of the “unquenchable demand” Reform portrays.

While the party continues to blame immigration for GP access pressures, it overlooks a central fact about the NHS workforce: More than 40 percent of doctors currently licensed to practise in the UK qualified overseas, and international graduates now make up the majority of new entrants to the medical register. The system Reform claims is being overwhelmed by migrants is, in reality, heavily sustained by them. Yet rhetoric tying GP shortages solely to migrant patients is becoming more frequent.

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[–] Duckxon@feddit.uk 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Obviously, they also omit to mention how many migrants pay the immigration health surcharge... How convenient ?!

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago

Yeah, we know. Capitalists are.

[–] HermitBee@feddit.uk 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The thing is, an awful lot of people would still think that more than 10% of new GP registrations being from immigrants is too high. And no-one disputes letting doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals come here.

What is a sensible immigration rate? Why? If it's not what we have, what are we doing about it? And given how loudly Reform are crying about immigrants, and how well it's working, why is no-one from government shouting this stuff from the fucking rooftops?!

(I know, the answer is a mixture of "we need the cheap labour or the economy is fucked" and "we couldn't fix this if we tried")

[–] zedcell@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Labour have been clamping down on immigration and spouting off Reform style rhetoric since getting to power. What more could you idiots want?

Maybe if they started doing live executions of immigrants to appease Reform voters and saps like you?

[–] HermitBee@feddit.uk 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Labour have been clamping down on immigration and spouting off Reform style rhetoric since getting to power. What more could you idiots want?

I want Labour to actually fucking discuss the issue, rather than pandering to Reform cunts, or sticking their fingers in their ears and going "lalala". I want to hear them shout about why we actually want and need immigrants in this country. I don't want them to clamp down on immigration in stupid performative ways without ever justifying why it needs to come down.

If the rate needs to come down I want to hear adults talking about why and how. If we need higher immigration to sustain our economy and get us through the demographic timebomb we're entering, I want to hear adults talking about why and how.

Maybe if they started doing live executions of immigrants to appease Reform voters and saps like you?

This is exactly the issue. You can't discuss it without someone literally accusing you of wanting live executions. It's fucking childish and I'm sick of it.

[–] zedcell@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No, what you want is for Labour to say what you want to hear. They are already saying things that you don't want to hear and you are acting like it's some accident and that they should just come to their senses and say the nice liberal things you want them to.

They are vile on immigration because they believe that it appeases a particular bloc of voters and because having scared and compliant legal and illegal migrants means that capital can exploit their labour to even greater extents, in fear they will be deported if they aren't the model migrant. They are discussing it, regularly, but not in the way you want.