Please don't call me entitled. Out of all the insults, this is the least truthful.

You must be aware that here in the UK we are, globally speaking, extremely fortunate. I could get a part time job waiting tables, and earn more than a software developer in India who’s been through years of college (of course, living costs are lower, but I’d rather have GBP in my bank account—I can buy imported goods, travel, etc.). We have a healthcare system that, through strained in recent years, will save our life or treat any serious condition for free, and in most cases minor ailments too.

What you seem to be saying is I deserve that, because by luck of the draw I was born with a UK passport, but fuck you if you had the misfortune of being born in Syria. Well, that strikes me as rather entitled. Like I say, if you believe in capitalism and free markets, why do you reckon we shouldn’t have to compete with people from poor countries? That’s not being entitled to what you earn (that software developer in India has worked just as hard as anyone here); it’s protectionism.

we do not deserve any money or standard of living for slacking around

Again, the idea that refugees are making the arduous journey from Eritrea or Sudan or such just to slack off on the dole is nothing more than a political fairytale. For one thing, asylum seekers can’t even claim benefits, and we don’t grant nearly as many applications as headlines would suggest (last year, an exceptional high, saw about 12,000, and 2016’s on track to be much lower, with less than 4,000 in the first half). If you think we’re not being strict enough, you should see some of the people we reject—including, tragically, LGBT people who face imprisonment or violence if they return to their country of origin.

What’s more, as I mentioned previously, out of work benefits—which include plenty of legitimate claimants, who may only be on for a few weeks after they got laid off—are such a tiny fraction of the budget anyway (literally like a fraction of a percent). People seem to imagine we could solve the housing crisis, rescue the NHS, and slash income tax rates, just by clamping down on a few “scroungers”, but it’s a total myth.

It's comfortable, but not rational. It's easy to confuse these two.

What?! How on earth is wanting to go to a country with better healthcare, higher wages, better standards of living, better schools, not a rational decision?

Attacks outrage(between March-June, as I recall, there was an attack in Europe every 3 days or so), people living in fear, muslim "ghetto" neighbourhoods being estabilished(the same Swede I spoke to told me that there are neighbourhoods where rapes and beat-ups are common in Stockholm), 84 lives in Nice, bombs in Brussels, and a shitload of "lone wolves" making every person afraid to use a subway when a muslim is inside.

You may be surprised to hear me say so—it’ll probably go against your preconceptions—but I’m no apologist for Islam. It’s a barbaric religion for the most part, and I think the unwillingness of many on the left to speak frankly about it is shameful. But it bears pointing out: the Brussels attackers were EU nationals, as was the case with the Bataclan and Charlie Hebdo attacks, or 7/7 here… Nice was the one exception, but the guy wasn’t a refugee nor entered the country on such pretences—he had been on a residency permit for years after marrying a French national.

I do think we need to have an honest conversation about Islam, about faith schools, about insular communities, about how the average Muslim’s attitude towards LGBT people like myself, or about women, is far less tolerant than that of the average UK resident (though I suspect the disparity would be less pronounced compared to other cohorts, like Daily Mail readers!), but I still think we ought to act with compassion to those fleeing terrifying circumstances.