> Firstly, I don't think they actually introduced one of those, did they?

The fact they didn't introduce it doesn't change the fact that adding 50,000 nurses required an increase in immigration. I went back and re-read the article, they also promised more childcare places. Guess what? That also requires more immigration.

In fact, I just read the manifesto itself and they also added a "fast-track NHS visa," so we have a clear "let's increase immigration" policy right in your face! Page 22, hilariously right next to where they promise "numbers will come down."

> They also said things like "And Australia has proportionally even higher migration than the UK under that scheme!", which is true, but again that's because the government has decided to set the amounts of visas at that level and sets them higher or lower

You're correct, the government can choose to give out less visas, and they hinted that they would in the manifest (page 22). But if you read the rest of the manifesto, you realise quickly that the two goals can't be achieved at the same time. It's like promising to cure cancer by shooting the patient.

Look, we can argue about this until the cows come home but, if you voted Tory because you thought they would bring immigration numbers down, then you should have read their manifesto. The fact that they were never able to do this was right there!

Going back to "I voted for Brexit," then complaining about Brexit. Well, that's also something that there's no excuse for. In December 2019, the deal that was to be agreed was known. If you didn't like what it said about fishing or whatever, well, tough shit. You agreed to it when you put your tick in the box for Conservative.

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Manifesto: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5da42e2cae7ebd3f8bde353c/...

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Nursie 4 days ago | parent [-]

I think we're talking at cross-purposes here - I'm not really taking a position one way or another on whether the Tories would/could have reduced immigration, and they certainly didn't deliver on that.

I was just pretty flabbergasted at the time by the blanket misunderstandings of the system that was being talked about, seemingly from all sides.

I didn't vote for them either way :shrug:

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scott_w 4 days ago | parent [-]

I think it's important to understand the context, which is where my initial reply was aimed at:

> Wtf are you talking about? The Conservatives promised to reduce immigration in 2019.

Taken with that context, it's important to understand the manifesto to realise they didn't really "promise" to reduce immigration.

> I was just pretty flabbergasted at the time by the blanket misunderstandings of the system

A lot of blame belongs with our media. Frankly, it's piss-poor, barely goes beyond surface level reading of things and attempts to get soundbites out of politicians. I get more out of random YouTubers and podcasters, which has its own problems because how do you know which ones know what they're talking about?

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scott_w 4 days ago | parent [-]

> I didn't vote for them either way :shrug:

Just to clarify on this point, I didn't mean "you" as in literally "you," I intended this in the informal "you" that's used in British English to indirectly refer to a group of people.

	▲	Nursie 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		I know, just wanted to be sure I wasn’t coming across as a frustrated Tory voter!