By D. J. Webb
I agreed with Dr Gabb on his doubts over whether Brexit would suddenly lead to a transformation in the British elite in a libertarian direction. I suspect we will find out that all the laws and regulations blamed on Brussels are still strongly supported by the bureaucracy in Whitehall. One of the packages of measures identified that could save billions a year is the Climate Change package of EU regulation. But who believes that no-one in Whitehall will argue we need to carry on implementing such regulations? I believe Brexit *could* be handled well and produce a positive economic result. But there is a strong possibility some of our new advantages will be squandered.
A more pressing concern is immigration. UKIP made what appeared to me to be a tactical point that free immigration from the EU was “discriminatory” in that doctors from Bangladesh did not have the same access to the UK as doctors from Poland. Good grief! As a tactical point, it was one of the worst points to make. I don’t think any country needs immigration to survive as such, given the right policy measures at home, but given that we have encouraged large-scale long-term unemployment (which leaves us scrambling for low-skilled labour in care homes and elsewhere) and that we encourage graduates into easy degrees, instead of more challenging Medicine, Dentistry and the like, it is quite possible that gaps in the labour market will be identified by an independent UK government. Such gaps are policy failures at home. But they should always be filled by migrants more likely to integrate: the Poles and not the Bangladeshis, please!
Migration Watch previously pointed out that EU migration was a positive financial benefit, although the overall figure was low, adding £4bn a year to the economy. Non-EU migration was a negative, subtracting £118bn. You don’t have to be a genius to work out which migration stream should be addressed on a priority basis. It makes no sense to encourage the development of communities associated with crime, terrorism and a refusal to integrate. Let no-one claim that as “most Muslims are not terrorists”, this justifies the creation of unassimilated Muslim communities, which are the medium in which the small extremist minority flourishes. I do not seek to smear majorities of any community. But in the end, this is our country, and non-assimilated communities are an absurd result of UK government policy, even without high crime rates (eg in the Jamaican community) and the risk of terrorism (in the Pakistani community).
UKIP has succeeded by associating the EU issue (a wonkish issue) with immigration (a visceral issue). The party should focus now on issues like political correctness and immigration, and oppose family reunification visas and the refugee racket as a priority. No-one who supported Brexit wants to see Somali refugees and Pakistani doctors flooding in, or spouses and family members coming in from the Indian subcontinent. This is not down to colour prejudice at all. Some of our cities are in danger of becoming majority-ethnic, and it is time to say we have done our bit immigration-wise and pull up the drawbridge. But, for pity’s sake, if we need migrants, take them from Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania. We need to start defending England’s right to be English, and that means migrants who we can assimilate. Even after Brexit, we will continue to co-operate with European neighbours.
Finally, Cameron should go now. He lied and lied and lied, and suborned the civil service to issue unlawful mendacious propaganda. I would like to see him go today.
