Comments by "Acid Joke" (@PWMoze) on "Demographics Part 4: The European Breakdown" video.

Interesting that Peter didn't mention the UK. I'm presuming he puts us in the same group as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium etc. Of my group of mates from school in the 70s and early 80s only two have chosen to have children and one of them only had a single child. By far the majority of us chose, for one reason or another, not to have children.
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@Michaelw777.52 I'm a massive fan too and certainly wouldn't feel well informed enough to disagree with his data or his analysis. I know from various long form seminars of his that have dealt with demograhic change that the UK firmly falls within the group with an aging population (the upside down pyramid analogy) with the final wave of 'boomers' now moving into retirement without sufficient numbers to be replaced in the work force. I'm interested in Peter's take on the UK because we have relied upon immigration to counter this demographic trend since the sixties but of course we now, post Bexit, have had a seriies of governments that have placed themselves against the principle of immigration on cultural grounds while continuing to allow immigration on economic grounds (often without fully owning that fact in public). It would seem that we don't want immigrants from Europe, despite how useful they may be to our economy and society, but continue to rely heavily upon economic migrants from Africa and S.E. Asia. I would be interested to know how Peter thinks the UK could deal with this obvious dichotomy. Germany, with their aging population, take in millions of migrant workers and asylum seekers each year, while here in the UK we are encouraged to think of them as 'the enemy' by the popular press and a scourge that has to be stamped out by at least two of the last Home Secretaries. We know that concern over immigration was a huge part of the pro Brexit vote and yet we now find many of our businesses and public services simply can not find sufficient labour to function properly, especially the NHS. What is the answer? Is immigration a necessity to a country like ours or is there another way that our political leaders and economists are unaware of or ignoring?
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@Michaelw777.52 It is interesting that you should suggest India as a possible economic/immigration partner for the UK. We have a long tradition of immigration from the Indian subcontinent in the UK, especially in the sixties and seventies. Most of the children and grand children of those immigrants are now a fundamental part of our society just as you describe in your previous comment. Our current PM, Home Secretary, Mayor of London are all part of that diaspora. The list is quite extensive. However in more recent times India has quite consciously positioned itself, politically and economically, quite separately from the UK. For example the Indian government has failed to support sanctions against Russia and still involves itself in various economic relationships with China which the UK is becoming increasingly suspicious of. In many ways India is asserting its global independence now and has turned away from its traditional links with the UK. Instead we have an ever closer relationship with Bangladesh, Pakistan and certain West African nations such as Ghana and Nigeria. In recent governmental statistics on immigration by far the majority came from those countries. This in itself is very ironic as most anti immigration sentiment in Britain before Brexit was not actually directed at the Poles, Czechs or Romanians who were entering Britain because of EU freedoms, but rather the African communities but especially the largely muslim Pakistani and Bangla Deshi communities that were seen as dangerously anti Western in their ideology and religion. Thisnis of course was a narrative that was widely promoted by the right wing mainstream press and was instrumental in the anti EU sentiment prior to the Brexit referendum..however misplaced that logic may now seem. In other words, the UK was very sensitive to issues surrounding immigration and continues to be. Those issues always include a distrust of other races, religions and cultures and the fear of being 'replaced' culturally and socially. Once again, very ironic considering our history of immigration from our empire, Ireland, Eastern Europe, Protestant France etc etc, We are a nation built on immiration going back to the Romans, the Celts, the Vikings and the Normans. I won't bother mentioning the prehistoric 'beaker people'. Its almost like a running joke. This is my question to Peter. Given that British people have always been quite reluctant to openly embrace immigration, particularly from other ethnicities, how can we possibly address our population drop off? On a lighter note check out this link, it says it all much better than I ever could, https://youtu.be/1cgeXd5kRDg
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