Juggernaut1064

Cant see it happening, England has enough immigration problems stemming from being in the EU, I don't think they'll want to throw open the door to commonwealth countries too ?
Most modern commonwealth countries i doubt will want to open their doors to a large number of uncontrolled immigration either, a nice idea or dream but highly unlikely it will happen.

Steve_

No we don't. New Zealand, Australia and Canada have large native populations of their own and what about Québec? Their law is based on the French civil code, not the common law.

We are most definitely not "basically the same people", all four countries have large immigrant populations and they're not from the same countries necessarily.

What he's arguing for was pretty the case until each dominion came up with their own citizenship, which they did in part to gain control over immigration. So they're not likely to want to give it up now.

And Canada is more within the US sphere of influence anyway.

Steve_

Yes, I think geographical integration makes more sense than integration based on some common history from a long time ago. The UK is essentially part of the European trading block (EU and EFTA) and Canada is part of the N American trading block (NAFTA).

scilly

I'm old enough to remember the to-do there was in the UK in the 1950s and into 1970s, when there was a much freer movement of people from Commonwealth countries into the UK


They were considered British citizens .............. hence the mass immigration of people from the Caribbean nations in the 1950s and 1960s

and the mass movement of East Asians expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972 ............ he ordered the expulsion of 60,000 Asians who were not Ugandan citizens but were mainly of Indian extraction, and most held British passports. This was later changed to include all 80,000 Asians resident in Uganda, except for professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers. Most of those with British passports, around 30,000, emigrated to the UK.


all carried British passports, or were easily given them .............


and the great British public got all mad ............. I well remember visiting England the year after, and hearing the comments from friends and relatives


the usual cry was "these people are taking our jobs"


no, they weren't ................ because no-one was working, or willing to work, at the jobs that many of those immigrants were willing to do.


I'd bet a pretty penny that the same cry would arise if this petition passed

Almost Canadian

Only England and Wales share the same law in the UK.

orly

Indeed...which is why Northern Ireland still has fantastically worded crimes from the 1850s like "Child destruction" punishable by, as you might imagine, penal servitude for life.

Steve_

He's talking about common law, so I assume that means Blackstone, Bill of Rights 1689, the Magna Carta-type law. Most of the UK and Dominions do have the same basis of law but Québec has a larger population than New Zealand and most definitely does not.

Steve_

Yes exactly, The Great British Moan and Whinge.

First they moan about people coming into the UK, now moan decades later about no-one wanting to let people in from the UK.

Sometimes I wonder if people are aware that the British Empire no longer exists. You wouldn't know it listening to Nigel Farage.