[benlumen]

Most people understand, if they're being honest, that we're not a xenophobic nation in the slightest.

I think the UK's anti-immigration sentiment is basically driven by chronic overpopulation in the South East. House prices won't come down despite near-constant development and congestion gets worse and worse. This is why the Scottish (for example), just don't get it. They simply don't have these problems in other parts of the union.

Young professional couples are stuck in an extortionate rental market or, if they're lucky, can spend most of their income on a mortgage on a fraction of the box they live in and still pay rent on the rest.

All that said, as a resident of the SE, the door should be open to Ukrainians. They're fighting a war on The West on behalf of all of us at this point and our problems are comparitively trivial.

[ealexhudson]

Density in this country, even in the SE (where I also live), is not that high. The "near-constant development" is not a picture I recognise - in fact, we build precious few new homes each year, far too few, and the number is going down. In 2020 we only built 123k homes?

I recognise the issue with congestion, although I would contend that's a national issue. Oxford is probably as bad/worse as anywhere else. The cost of housing is a huge issue, but that's mostly supply/demand because we're not building anything like enough homes.

"Not xenophobic in the slightest" doesn't match my experience. Most English people don't even like Scots/Welsh/Irish, you don't have to go far overseas to find people we have a nationally visceral reaction to. I'm not sure anyone objective could see our English media / watch our sports / look at the workforce statistics / look at political leaflets in this country and judge us "not xenophobic". London is literally the only place I would consider that not being a huge issue.

[benlumen]

Not that high compared to where? The whole of England itself is statistically one of the most densely populated countries on earth.

Interesting that you mention Oxford - Oxfordshire's towns and villages are being transformed by soulless new housing estates with no corresponding increase in public service provision; you can drive for miles from here and into neighbouring counties and not stop seeing them. I don't recognise this area at all compared to growing up.

Genuinely can't speak to the xenophobia, rarely encounter it and don't let it go unchallenged when I do.

[drcongo]

> The whole of England itself is statistically one of the most densely populated countries on earth.

No, it isn't.

[benlumen]

What sort of response is that? I'm sorry but yes, it is. You can very quickly look this up. Small island nations and city states aside, there are only a handful of major countries more populated than England.

[drcongo]

The UK is an unbelievably xenophobic nation, as the front page of any tabloid newspaper on almost any given day will attest.

[pasabagi]

I think this is a misleading impression: tabloids represent the views of the british establishment, which is atavistic, racist, and generally awful. I don't think the general population is so bad.