Afghanistan scheme

Not sure. Short fat guy i think?

That’s the problem isn’t it a lot aren’t but there are also some that are but when you fail to deal with either properly you get genuine problems created that get people really angry and extremist on both ends of the spectrum use that to hide their lies wrapped up in truths to push their own agenda, people with genuine concerns about the problems the situation creates wrongly get accused of being either right wing extremists or left wing extremists, the genuine asylum seekers get caught up in the middle and unfairly get blamed for the problems illegal migrants are creating and the whole thing creates divisions in society which start to creap into all sorts of areas of life like this.

None of these issues have anything to do with football and certainly not Walsall FC and don’t belong anywhere near the club or matches. People with concerns either way should direct their anger at the politicians, both those failing to deal with it and those stopping it being dealt with by playing political games and should make their voices heard in the right forums not at a football match.

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The even more embarrassing part of this was that, at the next match, he attempted an apology in the Bonser Suite but his apology came out as “I’m sorry if anyone was offended” rather than “I’m sorry for blaming the problems at Acorns on innocent asylum seekers”, so he dug himself even further into a hole in my estimation. He gave himself several chances to correct himself but, each time, it came out as “some people were offended and I’m sorry if they were”!

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Thats how i apologise to my wife. She doesnt buy it either.

Im all for free speech… maybe they can let it happen… on the astro pitch.

Im sure the club know about it, but ive emailed the SLO just incase.

Best case scenario is we win our last game, get into the playoffs then noone is gona give a single flip.

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So they wouldn’t be banned as they’d still be able to attend away games.

I don’t think getting all red faced and shouting at a hotel will be reasonable grounds for a FBO.

You’re forgetting the club banned several UTS posters just because they didn’t like what was being said.

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Which ones? The “5 idiots behind the goal” at Brentford or the ones who did this?

Walsall FC can ban anyone they like and have done several times in the past to people perceived as not towing the Club line

Photo taken from E and S

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I’m not comfortable using sports for a vehicle for politics regardless of your view.

A strong view should stand up on its own merits. There’s no need to involve a football club.

I was thinking swiftyboy, Thanny and Neil Ravenscroft.

Let’s also remember that in recent times they also banned Rob from Working Party Meetings.

My point was that they can ban whoever they want.

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No way should this be allowed anywhere near the club or especially on club land , hopefully the relevant authorities have been informed of the intentions of a few (hopefully) bigots , it’s only a short step away from the Liverpool hostel situation , virtual riots on the streets.if there are any proven WFC supporters arrested, cautioned or found to be organising this their right of admission to the club should be reviewed.
I too believe that the immigration system and laws are a shambles and need reform urgently but public confrontation is not the way .It’s not the people in the hotel who are to blame for this it’s many years of poor government guidance and lack of strong enforceable policy which is to blame.

It is very awkward for the club given the very close proximity of the hotel to the ground.

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Agree with a lot of that. I do believe though that the majority of the public believe that the asylum seekers, such as those in the hotel should not be here, in the same way as they believe that illegal immigrants, who are invisible in the main, shouldn’t be here.

None of those people in that hotel are illegal immigrants. They are all there waiting on a decision to allow them to stay or not.

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I’d agree with that. This is where those demanding compassion for asylum seekers fail to see where the majority of the public’s perception of what’s happening is. Most people when referring to “illegal” immigrants actually mean people who’ve rocked up from France or Belgium in a boat, because they perceive this to be an illegal method of entry into the country, ergo those arriving this way are “illegals”. As opposed to those who’ve snuck in or overstayed which are actual illegal immigrants, because there’s no visibility for these as they are hiding their status.
Also the perception is that as they’ve already entered the asylum system within the EU, they then shouldn’t be allowed to carry on across Europe, eventually migrating to the UK. So that their claim should be processed wherever they first entered, that is they should be returned to Italy, Greece or wherever for a decision on their asylum status.
This is also coupled with the perception that the current asylum procedures are out of date and that loopholes in the system are being exploited/gamed to enhance the chances of gaining asylum status, such as being trafficked, or being a child etc.

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Fixed that for you

“It’s not the people in the hotel who are to blame for this it’s many years of poor government”

Few things on this don’t sit right with me. Why use a football match to pedal political things like this some folks really are brain dead.

Then again, I know these people need to be housed somewhere but a hotel next to a football stadium ? Not sure they thought that one through. It’s got potential flash point wrote all over it.

Glad the majority of Walsall fans are normal folks who’d give this sort of rubbish a wide birth

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Thanks, but no idea what you mean

You didn’t need to add this “guidance and lack of strong enforceable policy which is to blame.”

Not really looking forward to that afternoon to be honest.

There’s a tipping point at which the atmosphere goes from boisterously lively on the brink of boorishness into what appears to be a convention of conts on a day trip.

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I pick one game to be at the Bezzla in years, and it’s hijacked on the day by a bunch of right wing asshats excercising their legitimate rigHt to pRoTEst. I hope the club, and the police, video everyone gathering for this on the club car park and, if they come out of the ground, ban them. Absolutely no reason to associate our club with some vile racist platform.

To be clear, protesting the UK’s immigration laws and procedures by gathering on a football club car park and going to shout outside a hotel full of bewildered migrants in the middle of a process they don’t understand, with no idea of when it will end, or how, is not a great way to change things. It only benefits the participants.

If it makes the news it’ll be for all the wrong reasons, and I hope that the police treat this as event hijack, and it doesn’t cost the club extra policing money going forward.

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Different person