The UK government backpedals on migrant salary threshold but there’s a catch

[@kiljaeden7663]

Had to chuckle - I was in the UK on various visas for 8 years before getting citizenship and on each one of those there was in bold letters "NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS" But yeah - we come here to claim benefits lol.

[@JQ-999]

You'd be stupid to. Go to Germany. They'll give you £2000 a month with free accommodation. I'm thinking about becoming an asylum seeker myself.

[@matthewsmith908]

Well that's because people believe in the schrodinger immigrant, simultaneously stealing everyone's jobs and also sitting around being lazy and claiming benefits. It's an odd position to take

[@Gashinshoutan2009]

Yep, plus the surcharges on top of the actual visa application fees. So actually paying into the system.

[@IshtarNike]

Yes! And something I wasn't aware of until I had a relationship with an immigrant, is that their spouse isn't allowed to claim benefits either. It's assumed the money will be shared so they can't get anything either. Totally mental.

[@colinmorrison5119]

Schrödinger's Immigrant - coming to take your job while lazing around on benefits. It's an extension of the hostile environment - populist racism dressed up as sensible economic policy. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

[@lulumoon3636]

It's refreshing to see someone not from here talk about how insane, inept & incompetent the tories are. I'm a chronically ill & disabled person, my health stuff will affect me for life & they also have this plan to get people who can't work to go and work and it's all just like being in some sort of twilight zone where they don't live in the same reality

[@west3918]

You sound like a burden

[@skoop651]

I often do think leftists don't live in the same reality as normal people who want a civilized working society

[@lucie4185]

My brother was born with a disability and my parents still have to prove he is disabled. He's 38 and never been able to work.

[@vengeance523]

From what I understand it’s mainly targeted at people who have anxiety to try and get them remote jobs. There’s no reason why they can’t do that considering many people with anxiety still work.

[@nicktankard1244]

I commented a similar thing on the previous video but here it is again. I have some health issues as well and getting medical help and treatment here in Canada is just as bad as in the UK if not worse. And it’s the liberal party in power here. And Canada is perceived as a bastion of left leaning politics. The healthcare crisis and the housing crisis and the cost of living crisis are really bad here after many years of liberals in power. So yes Tories in the UK are pretty bad at managing the country. But the alternative might not be much better. Politicians are bad in general. Most of them anyway.

[@Dark_Embracer]

Paying £300k for MP's heating bills for their second homes when MP's earn a salary of £92k. And that seems to be okay? 🤔🤨

[@ethelmini]

That's because we pay the likes of the French nationalised energy company for not supplying energy to their UK customers.

[@Pixiedust8399]

The argument paying MPs that much is allow people from modest backgrounds a chance to become an MP. If MPs only received a meagre salary, you'd end up being represented by only those from wealthier backgrounds who could afford run for office. It's a little bit like London where the rich graduates/actors can afford to work for nothing for a year to get a step on the ladder because they have family wealth to support them.

[@Dark_Embracer]

@@Pixiedust8399 But why pay for MP's heating bills for their second homes after they earn 92k as a salary?

[@rlmtrelomatt7390]

To even begin to want to be a politician a handsome sum of money is needed and well out of the reach of ordinary people😢​@@Pixiedust8399

[@ahmadalwadi9156]

@@Pixiedust8399 You missed the point, MPs should have a large enough salary so that people are inclined to put their name in and they don't become liable to corruption. But why are we paying their energy bill? I mean for poor people, their energy bills don't get subsidiesed, they did it last year or whatever it was but that was it

[@monkeyatemycookie]

The 29K aalary sounds very high as someone from Scotland, that's a high paying job. I'm a doctor and I don't make that much. let alone my spouse. I want to return to the UK but my spouse is European and earns 17k a year working from home as a translator, so they basically told us that we can't move back to the UK together. We have a small club here of British doctors who don't want to go back because of the government atm

[@Faiythe]

Yep, as soon as you take certain southern areas out of the equation the average U.K. salary falls very quickly.

[@mildlydispleased3221]

Scotland is supposed to have some of the best salaries outside of London and the inbred Southeast. Much higher than the dirt poor north.

[@shelleyphilcox4743]

Then you must be FY1...which actually increased this year from £29.3k to £32.3k basic, before additional sums for extra or out of hours uplifts and £37303 for FY2 on the 2016 contract. CT1 & 2 pay is £43923 basic, which is at 3/4 years out of university.

[@wetukman]

True I live in Scotland I work on many lines (and finance) in car insurance I earn 16k a year, so 29k is a bad number

[@ianjenkins1905]

@monkeyatemycookie I'm not sure where you live now, but I will call bs on you not being able as a Dr to earn more than the £29K in the UK. The average salary for a DR in the NHS, in the UK is £72K, DR's in training earn £32K and this moves up with with experience and moving into specialised fields. But then I would be suprised with salaries in Scotland. They are determined by the SNP.

[@scottcurtis1770]

I have a Thai wife of 8 years who has been with me in the UK for about 6 years. Her English isn't great, but she communicates well with everyone she meets. Her issue is that she freezes in a test situation. We have had to restart the spousal visa once before and are due to do the same again soon. As you have stated, I look after her financially in everything, paying for the NHS surcharge, council tax etc. We live in private rented accommodation and don't rely on anyone. I am worried that when reapplying for the spousal visa this time, we may encounter issues with all of the increased costs. We Don't ask for anything from the government, only a fair shot at living our lives together unhindered. Keep up the good work and please keep reporting on this. Thank you.

[@2pb]

My sympathies to you both. The constant opportunistic raising of the spouse visa and Immigration Health Surcharge fees is a huge double whammy. Add to that the 50 quid per pop for the LITUK test. I believe there is some type of medical exemption you can apply for if your wife simply cannot pass the test due to medical reasons - perhaps psychological in this case? I would suggest visiting your GP to see whether this route is feasible.

[@Chiaralyla]

I was about to suggest the same. Please see a lawyer snd a doctor and se if you can get your wife exempted from taking test. Good luck ❤

[@tombartram7384]

Ask her who Francis Pym was. See if she slips up.

[@trickygoose2]

I am a Civil Servant whose job title includes the word "executive". After 17 years on my grade I have just breached this £29,000 threshold.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

And the pension not going to be as great as promised either. I left teaching for a lower salary in industry but in a couple of years doubled it and out paced it year on year.

[@anthonyferris8912]

Junior "executives" are entry-level positions in the business world. They typically work directly with senior executives and managers.

[@Mike-lb1hx]

You also have a pension worth around 2 thirds of your salary so a 50k package, nearly double the average wage,

[@gordonhayward4409]

I am always dismayed by civil servants getting treated the way they are now. It was always understood that you took a civil service job knowing it was below the market value for that position, but that you would have a good pension and conditions etc. Successive governments have eroded that benefit (mainly Tory but Blair takes some blame also). Shameful.

[@stevieinselby]

The £38k salary threshold was only ever a trojan horse - they knew that if they announced that the threshold was going up from £18k to £29k then there would be outrage, so they put an absolutely ridiculous amount out there first and then row back, and as if by magic people are taken in by it and think they're being reasonable about it.

[@2pb]

Correct - and we plebs fall for it every time. They play us like the proverbial violin.

[@davidjohnson5635]

And guess what? They did it anyways! And too bad for migrants like me and my wife who already paid for our visas in November!

[@pandawanwanwan4841]

@@davidjohnson5635 so they kept the 38k salary threshold right ?

[@davidjohnson5635]

@@pandawanwanwan4841 Yep, with some minor exceptions that most won’t be able to take advantage of. We had done all the research we can and didn’t have any idea they were even considering the increase. Now my wife is having to ask her employer next year for a 13k raise just so they can keep her, haha. Guess we’re going back after our two years visa is up :\

[@pandawanwanwan4841]

@@davidjohnson5635 Hopefully it will change after the elections and the change in the politics, 38k pounds is crazy, no one get paid this much especially if you don't wanna live in london

[@alexh5759]

How the UK gov calculated £38,700: Average uk hourly wage = £15.50 Hours one can work per week = 48 (I mean officially, we can still have a 6 day work week) £15.5/hr * 48hr/wk * 52wk/yr = £38,688/yr round it to £38,700. In calculating the new number, i think they reduced the requirement to allo those who only work 37.5hrs/wk and went with 36hr/wk. I disagree with the policy but i listened to the minister and this was my interpretation of what they said was their calculation. Hope that helps.

[@pratosaurusrex1128]

I mean I know a lot of people who work 48 hours+ a week but which companies actually pay their staff for a 48 hour work week? My experience is the work week that most employers pay for is somewhere between 35 to 40 hours a week.

[@joepiekl]

​@@pratosaurusrex1128 Yep, even for hourly paid people, they might work 48 hours in a busy period, but that's the exception. I bet you'd struggle to find many hourly paid people who genuinely work 48 hours a week through the whole year.

[@pratosaurusrex1128]

@@joepiekl you do tend to get it with salaried workers, but still the employers don’t usually pay overtime so they are only paid for 35-40 hours of their week.

[@thearabianmage]

Take London out then do another national wage average and I’m sure you’ll get closer to £24-25,000. London skews a lot of national averages so sometimes these averages can be misrepresented.

[@evan]

That’s not misrepresentative though. It’s the most populous part of the country so REMOVING London would be misrepresentative

[@melitajay]

​@@evanLondon is only 13% of the country's population so it's not particularly representative

[@VinnieSajan]

​@@melitajay13% only in London is pretty big!

[@llpalm08]

There is no reason they should be targeting legal immigration to here since anyone who wants to and can do it legally actually will benefit the economy.

[@daspeed198]

yeah even some of the more racist people aren't against legal immigration. Who on earth are they trying to please?

[@GG-hu9dn]

Not housing though?!

[@joshuanorman2]

@@GG-hu9dn maybe if the Government wasn't insanely inadequate we'd have enough housing

[@west3918]

@@joshuanorman2 so not enough housing is the fault of the government, but importing more people will have no effect?

[@GodsWheat]

Well you know In uk both amount of houses built by councils have decreased I case for councils some counties hardly build any at all and private builders realize that they don't have competition and can easily control supply to squeeze out as much profit from a single unit as possible

[@hamishc6555]

Thank you for covering this, I didn't realise something that was going to affect me so much was happening in the country. My wife is from America through all the legal and massive amounts of money we had to sink into the government to get her here. The fact they are targeting people who want to be here legitimately is ridiculous.

[@dremmanuelnwogu]

Taxation and immigration is the hugest source of revenue to the UK government. The immigrants on visas have no recourse to public funds(benefits) and visa fees/ ILR fees, IHS(Immigration health surcharge) keeps going up. There are many “criminal” forms of extortion in the UK, but people can’t complain/revolt as they are boxed into tight corners. The system doesn’t encourage hardwork. The harder you work, the more tax you pay(PAYE,NI contributions) while those who earn much less or not earning live off the benefits of your labour. In the long run, people find ways to avoid working hard and get into benefits system. Who doesn’t like the soft life afterall? If things must get better, the government should be talking about ways to ensure that the major source of revenue isn’t taxation and immigration. There should be motivation to drive people into the workforce.

[@mob8451]

I'm German and have nothing to do with the UK, but I love to watch your rants. Promised - if one day you rant about German politicians, I won't be offended.

[@bakakafka4428]

Get in line, he has to do Belgium (Flanders especially) first!

[@YHIEEDC]

You're German of course you like watching people complain ;)

[@FalkonNightsdale]

Ah Germany - the land of extremes… First ruining Europe with war… Now ruining Europe with smog from GreenDeal coal plants and criminality from "Wir schafen das!" nonsense…

[@jinankalo9386]

Rants? It's facts not rants, the Tories created brexitshit so they have full sovereignty over their corruption.

[@neverlookback1244]

@@bakakafka4428Flanders should separate they are single-handedly holding Belgium

[@NotThatOneThisOne]

From the ONS site..."Early estimates for November 2023 indicate that median monthly pay was £2,310". So the average annual salary is £27, 210.

[@ecodes8498]

Are these numbers net or gross income? Just curious since usually in Greece we talk to each other about our salaries in net income but use gross income in contract negotiations and official records and reports

[@evan]

Link me

[@JQ-999]

@@ecodes8498 it would be gross. Realistically the take home would be around £22k 🤣🤣🤣

[@JivanPal]

@@evan KZbin is unfortunately increasingly allergic to URLs in comments; it will almost always immediately automatically flag them as spam and put a mark on the commenter's account, making it even less likely in future that such comments will be accepted.

[@JivanPal]

​@@evan I believe the discrepancy in figures is as follows: ONS: "Average household income, UK: financial year ending 2022": An analysis of disposable household income (that is, post-tax take-home pay, not gross or discretionary income, of _all_ household members combined, including state benefits and income from investments) from April 2021 to March 2022: Median figure is £32,300 per fiscal year. Figures for FYE 2023 have not yet been published. That the study concerns _household_ income and includes pensioners' annual reported funds easily explains the higher figure compared to the following two sources. ONS: "Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK: December 2023": An analysis of each individual PAYE-subscribed employee's income (that is, data only concerning (a large subset of) employed persons, not pensioners etc.). This is a new experimental data set whose analysis and core data is being refined on a monthly basis as more RTI data comes in from HMRC via the PAYE system. The original analysis in Dec 2023 gives a median figure of £2,310 per month, which if assumed constan or equal to the mean over a given 12-month period containing it, is equivalent to £27,720 per year. It is unclear to me whether this data concerns gross or post-tax/disposable income, but if the figures are gross, then the equivalent expected post-tax figure is around £23,100 per year. ONS: "Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: December 2023": An analysis similar to the above PAYE analysis, explicitly concerning weekly gross income during Dec 2023. Median figure excluding seasonal bonuses is £620 per week, which if extrapolated in the same way as above is equivalent to £32,240 per year, which post-tax we'd expect to be around £26,400 per year. In combination with the figures from the previous reference, this leads me to believe that the previous reference uses post-tax data.

[@tallonthorn2]

P.S, as someone with an American girlfriend who’s trying to stay in this country, I’m finding your videos really helpful, it’s genuinely concerning right now as I get the feeling it’s equally if not more difficult for me as a British guy to get into America to live and work.

[@mindfullymellow2323]

My son’s uni mate (studied in the UK) also has an American girlfriend. They just entered a UK civil partnership in October. She has a job in business, but she also had a graduation visa that was coming to the end of the allowed two years. Maybe that made a difference, but she can stay in England.

[@Catsandcamera]

Maybe if it's possible, you could look at the median salary based on different parts of the uk, because just a quick google looking at the midlands and this sentence - 'The median salary for female is ranging between £26.8k in Walsall and £29.1k in Birmingham' came up. Then I looked at London and it said 'The median salary for female in London is £38.3k. The UK median salary for female was £29.7k in 2022. The median salary for male in London is £45.1k.'. So I'm sure people who are commenting from the midlands or the north who say 'most people are on less', are saying that because it's true in the area they live.

[@NotThatOneThisOne]

Nationally, the median salary is £27,720. So near to 50% of salaried workers are on less, including the higher salaries in London.

[@ianjenkins1905]

@@NotThatOneThisOne Median salary in 2023 is £34,963, ranging from £44,370 in London to £31,200 in the North East

[@joepiekl]

@@ianjenkins1905 That's for full time work though. Plenty of people are underemployed, with fewer hours than they would like, and lots more people have to work part-time because of things like childcare commitments.

[@IshtarNike]

Precisely. This number is more reasonable but just on a human level such high numbers even if they are "average" have disproportionate effects regionally, racially, and by age. Basically a young person from outside London is VERY unlikely to see wages like that for some time, meaning international marriage isn't an option for them anymore. It puts a very high price tag on love for some people. Literally breaking people up I'm sure. International marriage isn't for the working class basically.

[@JivanPal]

Highly populated places with a high relative cost of living, like London, definitely skew figures. There are also less-populated places with similarly high cost of living, such as York, which skew things just a little bit further. I'd be interested to see some bell curves describing the cost of living distribution across the UK and each of its sub-countries.

[@thejamesthird]

Newly qualified nurses are only on £28,704 are they going to send all the migrant nurses home? Ridiculous

[@Jenny-tl7gk]

As a born and bred british... agree 100% with that u say. I think they just plan to drag the uk into the bin at this point 🙄 .. on the other hand, just know there are alot of uk citizens who welcome anyone into the country! 😊

[@a.j.7795]

Found my way back to this video as the salary threshold for the skilled worker visa of £38.7K will come into effect next month. Sadly, no backpedaling in sight for that and it will most likely mean that my stay in the UK will end next January when my current visa runs out.

[@davidjohnson5635]

We’re running into the same problem. My wife got a job for 26k on the HPI visa in February before they finalized the insane 38.7k number. We’re probably going to have to leave in 18ish months because we can’t imagine her work giving her a 50% wage increase over that same time. Company loses out on a competent employee and we lose out on living in a country we like far more than the one we came from ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@mogreen19]

Serious topic and Evan made me laugh way too much. Thanks. Ans a merry happy holidays to you too 😀

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

Asylum seekers are not illegal. They are entitled to make a claim for protection from the host country. They are only illegal if their claim is fairly found to have no merit and they then refuse to leave. If I was living in a country where my life was in peril, I also would want to escape and seek assistance. Thank you for the video.

[@nicktankard1244]

That’s a bit of a grey area. They are illegal when they cross the border but as soon as they claim asylum they are no longer technically illegal. I come from a bad country and I could’ve claimed asylum in any western country on arrival. And I know people who did claim asylum in the US based on political persecution. I immigrated legally 5 years ago though when my home country was not as bad as it became later. But also there are illegal immigrants who never claimed asylum and just live there. I don’t think it’s a big number though.

[@bar10ml44]

You seem ignorant to the fact that Asylum is not a money making criminal industry.

[@bar10ml44]

That should read IS a money making

[@odindave6506]

France ??? 😂

[@chrissouthgate4554]

@bar10ml44 Perhaps if it was possible to seek asylum to the UK before arriving here (as it used to be) then it would also not be a Criminal Industry. Similarly, if a few more Civil Servants had been employed to sort the problem out in a timely manner then the entirely predictable backlog would not be so large that we can't now employ enough of them!

[@BC-tb1uh]

Thank you. This is by far the best of yours that I have seen. The UK needs more like you. (And your mimicry is awesome!)😄

[@grahamguest142]

Thanks for your contribution to this country Evan! ❤

[@ukmaxi]

I think the Guardian's £29k 'being higher than the median' number is based on the 2011 census. Which lists the gross median weekly salary as £498 (~£26k p.a.).

[@oshifish2]

I am just blown away at all of this! I am an American who pays into the NHS and too had to pay the fee on my Visas. What they are doing seems criminal when we are paying into the NHS. This hike is insane and I would not be happily married to the love of my life had this new threshold been in place. Ohhh and we still pay taxes to the gool ol USA! Uggghhh! Have a Merry Christmas!

[@user-mp5cg8lt7i]

You mean to file right??? You only pay tax after the first 100k. If you’re over here making more than that, please let me know your secret.😅

[@JivanPal]

@@user-mp5cg8lt7i > If you’re over here making more than that, please let me know your secret. Become a specialised worker in a field such as computing, engineering, or medicine, and Bob's your uncle.

[@MattOatesUK]

Nobody pays into the NHS thats kind of the problem. Your taxation in the UK isnt at all proportional to need. Even National Insurance isnt even vaguely like insurance in the USA its just a nonsense out of date name. Its just another tax, none of it directly has to be spent on the NHS or saved for your future pensions etc. It just goes into a giant pot used for things like Trident 3 as much as your personal NHS bill.

[@JivanPal]

@@MattOatesUK Immigrants to the UK pay an additional fee proportional to the duration of their stay called the Immigrant Healthcare Surcharge, which as the name implies is notionally in exchange for access to NHS services. The argument about National Insurance is tired and simply factually incorrect. State pension payments and eligibility for numerous state benefits such as New Style (formerly "contribution-based") Jobseeker's Allowance are tied to one's National Insurance contribution record, even if the monetary amounts involved aren't directly apportioned to such state schemes. Government budgets are complex, but the fact remains that one's ability to access UK state funds is dependent upon one's contribution history.

[@user-mp5cg8lt7i]

@@MattOatesUK Then what on earth have the government been doing with all the IHS fees? It’s called an Immigrant Health Surcharge. There’s no excuse to have record migration, with record amount of IHS fees coming in and not have a better funded NHS. Where did all of those funds go?

[@thedeutschman9905]

The worst part of this is nobody is fighting for the non spouse visa income change because it’s not happening to British people, I guess it really takes for it to affect British people to see a change.

[@davidjohnson5635]

Sometimes it seems effecting them does not seem to matter if you can frame it as happening to someone else, too.

[@cryptolife9377]

UK minimum wage is £11.44 per hour, so most UK salaries are typically around £20,800 per year. Most positions only allow you to work 35 - 39 hours per week.

[@letisound-kv6wh]

I didn't know about the "no recourse to public funds" policy for people that hold a visa. I wish this information (and others) was more widespread, it might help changing some people's views for the better

[@Chahlie]

As someone who plans on heading over on an ancestry visa (grandparents were paid to leave 100 years ago), I can assure you that isn't the worst of it- there is a huge 'health surcharge'. I think the last time I looked it was around 5000 pounds for me. It's just baffling when all these people are welcome for free, without even a criminal check.

[@ChrisChronos]

"Average income" is always terribly skewed. If you look up the average income of a specific town, you'll see how drastically things change.

[@Dark_Embracer]

I'm unemployed and looking for a job very few jobs pay the Government's required salary where someone can live comfortably on like £38,700 or £29,999. Majority of jobs pay less then that.

[@gabortoth3644]

As someone who was in catering/hospitality £29k is kinda high..."How much does a Head chef make in United Kingdom? £33,000/Annual Based on 10000 salaries" Not to mention the lower ranks......

[@avancalledrupert5130]

But for anyone who Dousnt work in retal or hospility its bugger all. Its less than a site labourer makes emptying the bins and loading out for tradesman.

[@bigbarry8343]

the problem is, the wages are out of whack the the cost of living. Immigration is not going to help, especially from the low cost of living economies.

[@lookafternumber1]

It should be Illegal to have more than one home. So everyone can have a home. You present it well❤ £29000 is not average Salary in UK I think £23000 is. People don't find a job so it is Immigrants' fault. NHS going down the drain It is Immigrants' fault. Rising Living cost is Immigrants' fault. Economy going dow the drain is Immigrants fault. It is Not Immigrants' fault It is actually the people who are running this country, it is their fault because they don't care about the people they just want stay in power so they can manupulate the system to get rich themselves Nationally and Internationally. Rishi Sunaks Father-in-Law is A Billionair but he Needs Rishi to Support Genocide of Palestinian so they can clean Gaza because they found Gas and Oil there so Rishi's Father-in-Law can get the oil. Win Win for the rich and powerful. They have no concern for people of UK they are just in it for themselves. They all stick together the BBC and the powerful. This is why yoy will never find out the truth. Maintream media Brainwashing people with lies, they always blame everything on Immigrants. Sad but True.

[@kev2034]

I don't disagree but the Tories would drag their feet at that suggestion. A progressive tax where you pay more per house you own, so single home owners will pay the lowest on their property might be easier to gain general support for. Everything else you've said though, right on the money. If immigration was actually a problem they'd shut it down tomorrow but they haven't, Brexit just opened up the doors for more immigration from outside of the EU so the wealthy elite can benefit from cheap labour and have a scapegoat to point to when anyone questions why shit is tough for the average person.

[@annepoitrineau5650]

Also, contrary to what the far right propagate, the largest families in the UK are not of foreign origins, they are British. Moreover, the Guardian had an article yesterday telling us there were more empty houses than people in need of housing (yesterday's 25/12/2023) . Of course, they might be sub-standard or in the wrong places, but it shows that the UK housing situation is chaotic and needs government intervention. Better local government, but they have no money.

[@IanDarley]

Still a lot easier than getting into the US. I was rejected in the 90s because the job only paid $45k and my American wife and I couldn't find a sponsor for $80k.

[@systemchris]

Spouse visa or work visa - my friend went there on a spouse visa to join her husband and he only earned 30000 usd he was only 25

[@user-mp5cg8lt7i]

Im pretty sure it’s not a 45k income threshold for the US.

[@IanDarley]

@@user-mp5cg8lt7i I'm speaking from first-hand experience (1991), not conjecture.

[@diavalus]

read the OP's comment again @@user-mp5cg8lt7i

[@dfpguitar]

Something that seems to be overlooked by those whose favourite talking point is "illegal migrants" which for them specifically refers to asylum seekers arriving in small boats. Is that there is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker. Any person claiming asylum is fully wholly "legal" until their claim is investigated and they are found to lack grounds for asylum. It is only at this point that they become an "illegal migrant". An asylum seeker arriving with no papers is 100% as legal as someone coming with the right Visa and a £100k income.

[@janvanruth3485]

so before they actually do claim asylum they are illegal...

[@BP-of5cp]

The funny thing is seeing the absolute desperation of UK employers in trying to find multilingual speakers in both tourism jobs and sales jobs with German, French, Spanish and Italian amongst the most requested and having to increase salary offerings because as we all know British born citizens who can speak anything other than English aren't many 😂. Those businesses are going to have to start offering salaries above the required threshold or deal with the fact their business is going to suffer the consequences.

[@Strigulino]

Brit here. Was absolutely disgusted at this policy from the start. You’re only allowed to fall in love with someone from abroad if you’re rich? BS. Tories out.

[@blooky102]

@@Believer3_ Its expensive in both countries. BTW this thing doesn't include immigrants with permanent residence so I'm happy about that at least.

[@nicktankard1244]

Kinda yes. Also why should you be allowed to come to a country if your only qualification is being in love with a citizen? Visas by marriage always annoyed me a bit. It’s a super easy way to get into a wealthy country. I think all visas should be evaluated based on the merits of a particular individual and not their marital status. Family immigration already works like that in many other countries. If you want to bring your children or elderly parents along you need higher income to support them. Kinda makes sense tbh

[@Strigulino]

To answer some of the comments - there are plenty of people in the UK earning less than that and having to make do supporting their family. It’s okay to be poor as long as you’re from round here. Foreigners are okay but only if they’re rich. Sunak looking after his own.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

@@Strigulino Too many full time and even professional jobs pay below a living wage and so teachers, nurses and other professionals have working tax credits and other benefits. The raising of the minimum wage may help (to £23795 per annum) but looks to put more people at that level than raising salaries for everyone.

[@blooky102]

@@Believer3_ you do know you sound racist right?

[@Han-rw9ev]

£29,000? The Tories need to pay more attention to what a lot of regular UK citizens are being paid.. I mean, cut out all the billionaires and millionaires, and then see what the rest are actually getting. Even 'just' £20,000 is considered standard..

[@longrolstral]

Yes, while spouses have no recourse to public funds, illegal immigrants do. The government is after the wrong type of migrant.

[@theshyguitarist4536]

So correct me if I'm wrong, but at 4:13 that gross salary figure of £34,963 is stated by the ONS as the "median" and not the "average", which are separate stats. Both are measures of central tendency, but the average (calculated by taking the sum of all salaries and dividing by the population) tends to be skewed upwards by high income earners. So the average salary is likely higher than this quoted figure. That said, the median is probably a better representation of the average joe (the median is defined as the 50th percentile, or the literal middle of the salaries if they were organised in a huge list in numerical order).

[@theshyguitarist4536]

All that said, I would be interested to dig deeper into how the ONS gather data as it does seem personally surprising to me that a median UK salary is as high as that. This might have more to do with my area and social network though which doesn't represent the population at large.

[@been2711]

I think using the mode would be a better representation. The income that most brits are on.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

50 percentile gives the figure of £23,800 per annum. 75 percentile is £38,800. 30 percentile is £19,000. Most of the country do not earn anything close to the average salary.

[@theshyguitarist4536]

@geraldmcmullon2465 What source is this from? (Note: I'm not saying you're wrong, I just have multiple sources with conflicting info and I'm trying to create this mini database of different figures and sources). One obvious thing I'm finding is that some take the full population (including those part time or zero hours contract), others only take full time employees, others take the hourly pay and convert it to annual pay regardless of the hours worked per week. It's confusing as hell to reach an agreement because no-one can agree what data to collect 🫠 Some of its political cherrypicking some of it's just innocent differences in approaches.

[@chrissouthgate4554]

It always surprised me that whenever the newspapers quoted a pay scale that no-one I knew was on it!

[@longrolstral]

The whole thing is still confusing since the CURRENT INCOME is a COMBINED INCOME (sponsor and applicant) not only the sponsor's income. If the current rules are to be applied to the new minimum income, that would also be a combined income.

[@Matityahu755]

"Happy holidays, Evan! I've noticed that your accent is becoming more British than American."

[@andthatsshannii]

I cried for days when this originally happened. I'm just sorting my marriage papers out after being with my future husband for over 4 years. I'm a teacher, so I don't make a whole lot. I just want to be together now. Spent a long time trying to figure out more sources of income - trying to make a tutoring business work, freaking out. I can afford the new salary threshold to sponsor his spousal visa, but I'm really considering leaving the country now thanks to all this. It's stressing me out and I just don't know if I can do this anymore. Unless my business takes off and I can make a fair income from tutoring, it's just not going to work. The worst part is that my husband would have been able to come here for free a couple of years ago. He's French.

[@firstname4337]

maybe you should leave and go to whatever country your husband is from

[@andthatsshannii]

@@firstname4337 I said where my husband is from in the comment. I also said I was considering leaving. Didn’t you read before commenting?

[@GG-hu9dn]

It'll change when tory vipers are OUT!! Don't read nasty gammon troll comments On here? Horrible sad hateful individuals - all of them! Don't stress?!

[@west3918]

@@andthatsshannii cool, fuck off there then

[@nicktankard1244]

Can your husband support himself in the UK? I don’t know what to think about this new law. On one hand you can’t put price on love. But on the other hand marriage is the easiest way to get into the country. I tried immigrating to the UK in the past and it’s bloody hard to get a visa. So putting restrictions on who can come into the country makes some sense to me. Immigration by marriage always annoyed me a bit. Maybe I’m jealous because it’s a super easy way to get into any wealthy country that way. And I come from a poor country and wanted to escape desperately. I spent several years trying to get in via the regular work related channels. Eventually I was able to get a work visa to Germany.

[@twig5543]

£29k is probably excluding london, which always skews the data. £29k is a very good salary for a large number of jobs. The government loves including london in their stats because it makes them look good.

[@davidjohnson5635]

Which is going to drive migrants seeking work in the major cities and crowding out the citizens already present. It really produces the worst case scenario for everyone.

[@egris00]

I love it! You tell 'em Evan! That certain section of the British public should be shown your videos about immigration because it's rational, logical, backed by credible sources and data. Its important you tell them the true situation & figures, again and again until it sinks in.... Might take awhile. Merry Xmas to you!!

[@IshtarNike]

The main reason they need to see him, let's be honest, is because he's a well spoken white American. The anti immigrants crowd only imagine immigrants to be poor Eastern Europeans or non-white people from Africa and Asia who they "have nothing in common with." People like Evan are the only people they truly see as people even if they'll never admit it.

[@CameliaCraftsDesigns]

The current government pull most of their ideas from the same place as that initial figure😐

[@clarissagafoor5222]

Average professional workers salary here where I live is around 43,000 UK pounds a year! Just how low are UK wages? I`m living in a place where many people run away to the UK because reasons btw!

[@denisebrooks4513]

I just love you John Oliver mode. You're good at this!

[@sparkasaurusdonna]

Merry Christmas, Evan. Thanks for this follow up video.

[@jdnetwork-reselling]

if they are not in social housing then they are renting, causing an increase in demand which does reflect on house process, when rents go up buy to let property investments become more sought after

[@chriscuthbertson]

Most people probably earn less that 29K, but a smaller number of high earners (probably working in London) has raised the average.

[@evan]

by definition that's not possible if the MEDIAN is £35k. Average? Yeah that's possible. Median? Nooooo

[@AdamColl]

​@@evanThere is a large enough portion of the population that live in London though that could skew a median too, plus the rest of the South East who also earn far more than the rest of the country that would further skew it upwards. £29k is a good salary up in the North.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

@@evan The 50 percentile is £23,800. 30 percentile is £19,000. The 75 percentile is £38,800. Figures for 2020/2021 from the office of national statistics. Not seen provisional figures for 2023.

[@LarsPW]

Immigration is a very hot issue in Germany at least since 2015. And no, immigrants do not help Germany to compensate low birth rates because they are on benefits to a very high degree. Even Ukrainians are floating back to Germany e.g. from France currently because they can get Bürgergeld in Germany while they have to work in other Western European countries. Germany would be thankful if the problems with immigration - legal or illegal - do not exceed over those of Britain.

[@wWvwvV]

There is not such a thing as illegal immigration in the UK. The UK has cut of legal paths for asylum seekers. The UK has stopped to processs asylum seekers applications and has built up a big backlog like in the NHS. The plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda will also not be implemented as it is unreasonable. The Tory govn paid mio to Rwanda for nothing. There wont be a single flight. Airlines don't want to be negatively associated. They all denied. There are no planes to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

[@bennjamann]

£29,000 is very high for most people, I’ve never earned that much in my life, and neither has anyone I know

[@bennjamann]

Who tf do you know earning that much working in a shop or something outside London? And blowing smoke up who’s backside exactly?

[@87CVH]

​​@@Believer3_master degree grad architect assistants don't earn that even in london

[@tobynorris]

@@Believer3_ How much does London skew that though?

[@charliefen]

@@87CVHreally? See I'm doubting that. The reason why is because £27,000 and up is what they expect you to earn to start repaying student loans. Anything under that and you don't repay 😂

[@87CVH]

@@charliefen yeah most grad architects don't earn enough to pay their loan back until years after qualification and thats if they find a job... (esp with the current cost of living) many are having to house share as they cant afford 1 bed rent ... unfortunately lengthy study / high skill doesn't equal high pay

[@XY-uc1tw]

Unlike the USA, which has very little native people in it, countries in Europe are still national countries with social help system. Therefore, there are bigger mindset differences between the USA and European countries. The taxpayers in Europe don't want to pay into a system where most people from other countries get to use it. For example, in Germany after 8 years, more than %70 of refuges and Asylum seekers are still lives from social help system...

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

When you kill off most of the native population and steal their land. What was your point? The rules across Europe on the benefits an immigrant gets when living and working here are strict. They don't get all the benefits that a citizen does. In the UK they have to pay for NHS care. But if they are on low income then some working tax credits may apply because the UK government supports UK business to pay non-living wages. Refugees (non German guest workers) might have additional issues fitting into work in Germany although they seemed to contribute a lot in the factories I worked in as a student.

[@freyawhite4267]

6:21 seems to be some confusion between the percentage of immigrants in social housing and the percentage of social housing taken up by immigrants in this section

[@growinghearth2404]

So I got accepted to a teacher training program at Oxford in December and as of January 1st I cannot bring my spouse and children. I can't afford to maintain two households, so goodbye to that cool opportunity.

[@mrbearbear83]

You have to remember that most Conservative voters think Boris johnson is a competent person

[@ct1ru7we5j]

I had no idea you were still making content! For some reason, I stopped seeing your videos in 2020. I'm so glad to see you're still producing.

[@daliaa5294]

British immigrants have no recourse to public funds but we have to pay into NI which funds the public from our payslip. Why can’t we be exempt from that tax ?

[@thecrimsondragon9744]

Just stumbled across your channel and gotta say, your British accent is hilarious 😂🤣🤣

[@nicktankard1244]

Is illegal immigration a big problem in the UK? I don’t know the numbers but what percentage of immigration to the UK is illegal? I thought it’s a pretty low number compared to the US. Legal immigration is good if it’s managed carefully and not overdone like in Canada for example

[@laramorrison5973]

yes it has been a major political sticking point in elections here for years and is the main reason why Brexit was proposed and eventually voted for. The majority of them are asylum seekers/refugees entering via dangerous small boats across the English Channel from France which has a very high fatality rate. In the past year, there were 52,530 illegal migrants detected entering the UK, 17% increase on 2022.

[@nicktankard1244]

@@laramorrison597353k is not a small number but if I remember correctly the total immigration was at least 10x of that. So the number of illegal immigrants is less than 10%? That can’t have that big of an impact on the economy. So if you stop all illegal immigration it will reduce the total impact by 10%. Not sure if that’s super significant in the grand scheme of things

[@nicktankard1244]

@@laramorrison5973 the UK has 67 million people. Surely 53k people coming to it illegally won’t have a big impact. So I was wondering how much of it was a real problem and how much was just political populism.

[@laramorrison5973]

@@nicktankard1244 inflation, recession, Brexit, strains within the UK relations e.g. calls for Irish reunification and Scottish independence, cuts to devolved government budgets, ageing population, COVID and a health service on the verge of collapse have all fueled racist and anti immigration sentiment among sectors of the population here. Illegal migrantion is costing the government significant funds which are required elsewhere. But it has mostly just been used by the right wing who feel that their idea of what the UK was/should be is under threat as it looks more and more likely that Scotland and Northern Ireland will leave in the coming decades and as the monarchy becomes more and more redundant/unpopular to encourage extremist and racist policies and public sentiment which is forcing the government to respond. It is more of a social issue than economic.

[@nicktankard1244]

@@laramorrison5973 that makes sense. It’s not much better here in Canada. All the same problems basically

[@DarknessFalls24]

Dude youre brilliant. As a BRITISH BORN indian i am happy that youre in MY COUNTRY.

[@222o-u3t]

“brexit will only be racist to EU immigrants! we’re safe” also brexit:

[@DarknessFalls24]

@@222o-u3t yeah the way I've been treated since Brexit is despicable.

[@222o-u3t]

@@DarknessFalls24 sadly eliminating non-white ethnoreligious demographics is all it was about in the end.

[@marcoroma2863]

Excluding service charge, the salary of a waiter working at a 5* hotel is around £21,500

[@Sku11King77]

Yeah but in fairness waiters aren't exactly skilled workers are they. 5* or not it's still the job you give to local teenagers to help them afford to go out on the weekend.

[@chrissouthgate4554]

@@Sku11King77 They did write a 5* hotel, I think you will find that is not entry-level. Also, Teenagers may need to support themselves, this is the equivalent of saying that you can pay some employees less because they happen to be women!

[@caitlin329]

​@@Sku11King77This is a huge misconception about a lot of industries. These are often full time jobs, so not done by school age teens. It's the same in retail or fast food. If you've worked in any of these areas, you quickly see that it's in large part adults doing it full (or almost full) time.

[@Israphella777]

I was dying for a video listen to, and Evan provided🙌🏻

[@W417on]

Not finished watching yet, so maybe its discussed or someone will correct me, but i believe why they're saying 29k is more, is because the majority of the uk is on minimum wage, or just over. Like for me personally 29k is way more than i earn 😅 and pretty sure thats the same in majority of sectors

[@evan]

but the median is 35k so 50% earn more 50% earn less

[@colinmorrison5119]

@@evan It's £32.9k in Northern Ireland, 6% less.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

@@evan no that is average. 75 percentile is £38,800 (2020/2021 figures). £23,800 is 50 percentile. ONS.

[@lafeministe24]

Well, two less immigrants since the Home Office - after 6 years and 3 rounds of visas - figured out that my children have always been citizens and never should have been given visas 😤🙄

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

Merry Christmas. Happy New. Wishing you a prosperous New Year. But we also now have cards with "Seasons Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" imported I guess.

[@joepiekl]

Let's be clear, this is what the Tories do all the time. Announce something horrendous, but not officially, just via the media (are expected to increase the threshold), and then deliver the actual policy based on how much outrage the vague, unofficial announcement gets.

[@DavidWW1991]

£29k is above the living wage, based on the National Living Wage of £12ph (for outside London) for a 40h week over 52 weeks, which is £24960 before tax. For Londoners, it’s £27352 before tax. I wonder if they’ve meant this instead of the average (which still makes it bad writing/ factchecking but at least it’d make sense).

[@molybdomancer195]

Evan Not all foreign people are even foreign! My grandson is a British citizen through my daughter but he was born in Tokyo. So he’s a foreign born Brit

[@ronoldcross8189]

They got it from the Ogre under the Old London Bridge.

[@silvao1567]

I am still unsure who in his right senses will want to move to the uk. We can’t wait for the next general election so we can vote out these conservative muppet’s.

[@janebaker966]

Its not going to happen. Theyre going to cancel it. They'll think of an ostensible reason. OK I'm too cynical. I'm wrong. But IF I AM RIGHT I won't be a bit surprised.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

Unfortunately the choice of muppets to vote for is across the boards.

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

Think about this; If workers are prevented from bringing family in with them then they will send money home to support that family, rather than spend it in the uk, supporting the uk economy or paying vat on those purchases.

[@Aloh-od3ef]

Just like the polish and Romanians did before Brexit 😂

[@MyshelafromTanelorn]

Im not sure if pwople understands what average means, average is not the minimum at all, average means: I earn 1000 you earn 3000 Averahe is 2000 I still only earn 1000. It means putting together rich with poor and then dividing it to give you a sum that means basically nothing

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

Its almost like they have no idea what they are doing.

[@87CVH]

Cause they don't and don't care, all they do is react to situations in order to stay in their job for another few weeks

[@gwrydd]

rishis plan is to ruin Britain and hes succeeding

[@JackDrewitt]

Yes median gross annual earnings for FULL-TIME employees was £34,963 in April 2023, BUT some workers are part-time so that brings it down to an average of £29,669 UK wide for all those earning, ALSO once you factor in the jobless of 4.3% of over 16s it goes to £27,720, so yes £29k is more than most earn by about £1300pa. 4:44 Its crazy how some can be so confident they are proving someone wrong when they have such poor reading comprehension and reasoning. Also worth saying Wales is £27,852, East Midlands £27,782, Yorkshire £27,648, and North East England £26,959 before you even consider jobless.

[@upfulsoul826]

I think £18.6K is the annual salary for minimum wage workers in the UK. So £29K is way above that.

[@evan]

Minimum wage is not average wage tho so

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

£18,600 is at the 30 percentile by income. 30% of those earning an income don't reach that level of earnings. Minimum wage from April 2024 is £11.44 or £23,795 per annum which brings it to the 50 percentile point of 2020/2021. At the minimum wage might have some sense, but not when 50% of the population fail to earn that.. I have not seen figures for this year (2023).

[@physis8981]

That natives leave an area and that makes prices go down in area calling it a good counterpoint is bad, they will have to move somewhere, prices increase there. It also makes it worse for those people who move because they will probably have to commute for longer, which obviously is bad for quality of life.

[@MattOatesUK]

The median household income typically where everyone on the low side its two adults working is 35k a year. The number you quoted from ONS is fulltime professionals. Most of the country arent even in fulltime work!

[@bicker31]

Pointing out that migrants tank housing prices by making areas less desirable for purchase is not a winning pro-migration argument, my guy...

[@Shyndree]

So here is the real kicker: the fear of migration feeds from a scarcity mindset, that if there are more of us, we will have less to share. In reality though, you can't get growth without more people. The scarcity of housing is not down to migration, it's the inadequacy of house building and government policies that have continued for decades, and it is the rich and powerful who are robbing us. Communism isn't the answer, but feeding this vicious cycle with the Tories sure isn't. Wealth inequality needs to be kept in check, or we end up with this corrupt dystopia, too much of anything is bad.

[@EdaliaDayCreative]

I don’t know the actual statistics but in all circles i move in 29k is regarded as a very well paid job and no one i know except my rich siblings earn above that

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

How many years in employment, say as a teacher do you have to work to get enough for £29K or £38K in a year or so. 30% of the UK don't earn £19K, 50% don't earn £23.8K and 75% don't earn £38.8K. How many from the UK apply to bring in a foreign national as spouse? According to the National Statistics office about 52K per year 2006-2015 when it was published in 2017. Most of the 750k immigrants are the huge rise of foreign students who come here for 5 to 7 years, pay inflated fees and go back home having spent a fortune to live here and contributed to the NHS and GDP. This is a success story as they a funding higher education in the UK and paying to fund the NHS.

[@clivemortimore8203]

Bone to pick with you, how dare a Yankie immigrant make me laugh so much. 😄😄😄😄 Thank you Evan and Happy Xmas.

[@EmmaCruises]

THE MODE 🤣

[@yoitsgunattack]

I don’t understand the narrative that the conservatives are so super anti foreigner yet the uk which is really a tiny island nation has the 4th most immigrants per year. Keep in mind that is globally over 200 countries and they have been in power for a long time now. This year alone we had over 1% of our population become new immigrants. Japan for reference has a total immigrant population of 0.2%. As a percentage we got 5 times more in a single year than japans total. And the uk and Japan are very comparable. Both are island nations of empires that peaked and are in decline. Like more or less that’s your view but the idea that they are “anti” while being 4th in the world is an oxymoron btw I am saying this as someone who EXCLUSIVELY votes third party because I hate both bloody sides. And if I am gonna pretend my vote matters I am gonna choose the one that 100% isn’t gonna be the reason we get fucked over.

[@israellai]

England lost one John Oliver and gained one Evan Edinger: Bizarro Oliver

[@wglim100]

thank you for saying what is on my mind. I am an international student in the uk, the audacity that the government have to accuse legal migrants for using up taxpayer dollars is insulting and plain disrespectful. I paid before I came not jst for student visa but NHS surcharged for the number of years I study in the UK (not to mention I am a med student so I technically pay to work for the NHS during placement) and have an understanding when I apply for my visa that I do not have any right to any of the benefits within the UK. I have to proof I have enough money in my bank account to fund myself and any dependents that comes with me to the UK (living expenses + housing) and to leave once my visa expires. Please do tell me, which part of this entire thing includes using up tax payer's money?

[@Sayitlikitiz101]

Merry Christmas! You handsome man, you!

[@alexrusu2905]

You brits are angry foreigneirs take social housing and causing the prices to raise, but I can tell you, there are 2 social flats next door to me, both have been empty since covid. There could be 2 families living there, but Sanctuary, the landlords, have chosen not to give them to anyone. I am thinking, how many houses like this are? Last year I know about another entire street that had empty housing that sancutary has waited to empty (probably taking years) only to do some mass renovations. They changed windows, doors and furniture inside. But then again, I would rather think they should do renovations in cooperation with the tenants. Maybe they want a certain kind of furniture which doesn't work with their needs. Seems wasteful. I am not kidding a whole street. 12 houses that I have visited doing some contract work with them.

[@kelugu3776]

You're killing me with the accents.😂😂😅

[@patdbean]

4:24 yes, the average wage is about 35K before tax. The living wage is about 21k that is the point that if you fall below you can get some in wirk benifits. In the uk about 40% of households get benifits from the state , and most of those are IN work. The question is dose net imigration of 500k a year depress wages? I think it dose, because in 2000 the average weekly before tax pay was 475 pounds a week, before tax. To have kept up with inflatiton in 2023 that would have to be 775 pounds a week , but it is actually about 675. So since mass imigration started (500k+ a year now) the spending power of the average wage has done nothing but FALL.

[@VinoVeritas_]

Your point might be valid if the UK didn't have National Living Wage legislation.

[@patdbean]

@@VinoVeritas_ but what dose that national living wage legislation DO? In 2022/3 the UK paid out 230 billion in benefits 60% of that being paid to people IN work.

[@VinoVeritas_]

@@patdbean National Minimum Wage legislation allows governments to prevent any supposed wage suppression. As for in-work benefits, you do understand that it's only necessary because huge corporations don't pay their employees enough to live on, right?

[@patdbean]

@@VinoVeritas_ but, quite clearly minimum wage legislation doesn't stop pay falling. Because the spending power of average pay Has Done nothing but fall since the late 1990s. Yes, it may well have been worse without it. But why do you think it was introduced ? Since 2000 immigration has pushed what would otherwise have been a stable population UP from 58 million to over 67 million. You can not deliberately introduce that amount of immigration and population increase, and act all "surprised" when the spending power of the average wage dose nothing but FALL for over 20 years. I don't think unemployment itself is the real issue (yes we have 5 million non-working adults) but we also have well over 10 million people, who work to be in poverty, and claim as much or more in benefits than they take home in pay. It is not about the bottom 20% of earners , they are supported by benefits anyway, and always have been. It is those 20% either size of the mid point, who have spent the last 20 years getting screwed by mass immigration.

[@AdZS848]

I am an EU national who left the UK 9 years ago because of my British husband's job. Prior to that I had lived in the UK for 15 years, working there for 10 of those and had 4 British children. While I was gone, Brexit happened. Now, it looks like I will never be able to go back to the country where half of my family is (yes, I consider my in-laws my family and I also have relatives there).

[@PythonLee]

That's your fault it was easy to apply for settled status 6 million EU citizens applied and nearly 6 million got it. You should have filled in the forms

[@rlmtrelomatt7390]

​@@PythonLeesettlement was not available to those who were living out of the country for a certain amount time or not residing in Uk due to work or family needs at the time. This has happened to British citizens living abroad for work. They are now essentially Brits who have had the door closed on them. Who other countries are allowing them to stay on their soil.

[@rlmtrelomatt7390]

So sad that you are having to deal with this unnecessary torment. 😢

[@matpk]

You should blame yourself for not applying British citizenship in those 15 years 😂😂😂

[@matpk]

At least Evan did apply 😂😜

[@monideun]

I beat you many different ministries (education, medicine, construction etc) complained cos they wouldnt get enough qualified people to fill jobs at that $37,000+ pay price. I'm a biomedical research scientist who spent the last 3 years in the UK on a visa. And no one is paid more than $33,000 (out side of London) as a starting salary. And many research scientists are immigrants. Would have been a huge loss to an international field such as science.

[@Jonra1]

If other people calling you racist actually meant you were racist these days, things would be simpler, but it doesn't. At least as many times as it is accurate, it simply means you are saying something other people don't want anyone else to listen to. Before immigration become so widely contentious around Europe, people who were calling for better integration plans and better monitoring and processes when it came to immigration were already called racist. I was one of them, most of my closest friends are foreigners and of different ethnicities and I saw that kind of issues the poorly planned integration caused among immigrants and how in neighboring countries it lead to segregation also. Still "You are a racist". Okay sure, one look at my partner should put that kind of statement into question already.

[@kev2034]

I know you mean well but dating someone of a different race doesn't guarantee someone can't be racist. Think of all those dudes that sexualize Asian women and only marry them because they think they'll match the docile Asian wife stereotype. You can't fuck your way out of racism unfortunately.

[@melitajay]

Thank you for saying this

[@qualitytraders5333]

What's the minimum wage in the UK and is it gross or net? Please define the number of persons in a "family".

[@canonicalgio7837]

working salary is minimum wage which is around 19k

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

£11.44 from April 2024 so £23795 if you can find work at all.

[@rdouthwaite]

Merry Christmas Evan.

[@bellshooter]

Good rant! As a lifelong Conservative I have finally reached the limit of my tolerance. I will seek a more sensible alternative at the next election, erring towards the Green or Democratic candidate, as nobody sensible should vote for Keir Starmar.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

If all sensible candidates went independent we could have the sensible national party forming a UK government. LOL.

[@colinmorrison5119]

@@geraldmcmullon2465 First Past The Post voting ensures that never happens. If the referendum on proportional representation had passed, the Brexit disaster would never have happened, because Cameron wouldn't have been PM.

[@geraldmcmullon2465]

@@colinmorrison5119 I know, but it is Christmas and I have nothing else to wish for LOL.