I'm having a middle class breakdown

[BIGRON]

Just not true Stan.

I second that. Brown sauce is one of humankind's most revolting inventions. Makes me gag just thinking about it

I'm the opposite , I can't stand Tomato sauce but love HP sauce

[George M]

That well will run dry eventually. It also ignores the negative impact on those countries that are losing their human capital.

The economic benefit of immigration was not just that they did the jobs nobody else wanted, but that they would have enough kids to push the fertility rate above 2.1 (and their kids would be educated in the UK so eventually become employees in a higher-value roles).

The former is happening, but the latter isn't. Which means immigration will increasingly compound the effects of an ageing society. We'll need increasing levels of immigration to try and mitigate the impact of... immigration.

Immigration is just about all that is driving the marginal GDP growth. But with declining productivity rates and GDP per capita, this has the potential to end badly.

The latter will happen. You only have to attend an event in a private school. 60% immigrants of some origin. Which is why the graph you posted from Denmark ? was misleading. Over a 50 year period immigrants will pay their way as many immigrants from the 60/80s are doing now. But you can’t escape the fact that the more immigrants that arrive , the more immigrants we will require.

[Long slender neck]

That applies to all people though.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

If I were running a country where the education system is stretched , failing ,and underfunded , where the NHS is overrun, where the transport infrastructure sinks under the volume wishing to use it , my first thought would not be to increase the population further . And yet that is exactly what Labour propose and we all sit here accepting that as a policy that will put us back on the track to greatness. It is a policy that makes no sense to anyone other than those making the decision.

All parties are on board with population expansion, mainly to cover the fact that we have an ageing population and need the younger ones to pay for it. That in itself suggests that as a country/population we have under-funded (or been ineffective) under our own model of governance (we are definitely underfunded to some degree). Having less earning adults can only affect our output and so gdp. Population growth = economic growth?

You’re forgetting about the elephant in the room. Immigrants also grow old so who will look after them . It’s a classic case of kicking the can down the road.

Pick up the can and recycle it

[StillSpike]

If I were running a country where the education system is stretched , failing ,and underfunded , where the NHS is overrun, where the transport infrastructure sinks under the volume wishing to use it , my first thought would not be to increase the population further . And yet that is exactly what Labour propose and we all sit here accepting that as a policy that will put us back on the track to greatness. It is a policy that makes no sense to anyone other than those making the decision.

All parties are on board with population expansion, mainly to cover the fact that we have an ageing population and need the younger ones to pay for it. That in itself suggests that as a country/population we have under-funded (or been ineffective) under our own model of governance (we are definitely underfunded to some degree). Having less earning adults can only affect our output and so gdp. Population growth = economic growth?

You’re forgetting about the elephant in the room. Immigrants also grow old so who will look after them . It’s a classic case of kicking the can down the road.

There was a time when the majority of our immigrants were (WASP) young working-age adults from Europe, who tended to work here and then head back to the mother country before they grew old. Not so great for their mother countries, but good for us. We had the important work done, they helped create "growth", paying taxes, being consumers etc etc, with less of the unproductive portion of their lives spent here.

Then we went and f*cked it.