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These are my views and are shared (I think) by a great many Islanders that live in Jersey.
I say "Islanders" because from the from the multi-cultural nationalities that are arriving here almost daily it appears we have no clear idea of the type of people we want living in the Island.
My views:
Surely it is patently obvious that we do not need any more immigration. The traffic queues at all hours of the day in the areas around town make it clear to most people that we have enough people here already.
Even if we had a better public transport service then I still could not see the justification in allowing yet more people into our lovely Island.
The problem with people is that they bring possessions with them. Cars to ferry them around, children, parents, relatives and friends who are told that this Island has rich pickings. Wages are artificially inflated, as of course are costs, and people's lifestyles are far higher here than they could imagine in places like Poland, Slovakia, Madeira let alone the UK mainland.
They also bring their lifestyles with scars embedded in them by their previous surroundings. The drug cultures of big cities, the violence they have been used to, the football match hooliganism. Do we want more of this?
People also have expectations. They expect good accommodation, good food, nice cars, good schools for their children, and most important all the things that (they expect) the government should supply. Like good healthcare, good roads, a well-maintained infrastructure, safety. All this comes at the expense of a large and unwieldy civil service which despite what some have said will never get smaller unless some are prepared to sacrifice their political careers. It ain't gonna happen folks!
Though many were critical of the introduction of the Income Tax Installment System most will agree that it is much fairer than what we had in the past. Many, many millions of pounds earned in the Jersey filtered out of the Island to support families elsewhere who had no connection with Jersey. Tax evasion (or is it avoidance, I'm never quite sure) was rife. But we all knew about that didn't we?
The demography of the population argument holds no favour with me. Old people will be replaced with young workers in the normal way - it's not rocket science. Young people who have stayed away because they did not like what they felt was happening in the Island will gradually come back to inherit family homes. We may have a somewhat smaller population but would that be so bad? Personally I've always preferred a small tight professional unit that earns its keep but I know I'm in the minority. Most like a lot of padding around them as it makes them feel safe.
The issue that really concerns me is has more to do with the nationalities of the people we are currently allowing into Jersey. For whatever reason we have always been predominately white Caucasian in Jersey presumably because our origins are in France. We always had the odd mixture of races, the Indians, Chinese, to name but two. Now for some reason we have a significant numbers of black people, eastern Europeans, etc. I wonder why this is so and why we feel we want to be perceived by our neighbors as multi-racial. The difficulty here is that the problem will amplify and come to a head when young Jersey-born school leavers and university graduates find they can no longer get work here because their jobs are taken by the immigrant population. This is not a healthy prospect.
There has always been a uniqueness in Jersey. People don't come here to listen to Scott ish, Portuguese or Polish accents. Slowly the atmosphere is changing. Whereas in the not too distant past one would recognise the odd face in a JEP photograph or in a gathering of people, now it is almost impossible to pick out a person you know.
So, no we do not need any more immigration. No other island in the world has, to my knowledge, actively sought growth of their own population in this way. Limited the number of children (China) - yes but opening the door to all and sundry? I don't think so.
Hope this may be helpful. Paul Troalic