TIMES ONLINE: Our balanced migration policy is not ‘chuck 'em out'. It is essential for British society
The Church's response to immigration in recent years has drawn heavily upon the call to welcome and treat the stranger as if you have Christ in your midst. This is absolutely right, yet we also have to question whether the unprecedented levels of immigration that we are now seeing can truly contribute to the “common good” - another theme the churches have emphasised in their teaching on social justice.
The facts are simple. Immigration has tripled in the past ten years. The Government predicts that, over the next 25 years, immigration will add seven million to the population of England - seven times the present population of Birmingham.
For years it has been impossible to question the wisdom of large-scale immigration without being branded a “racist”. This lack of respect for others' views has suffocated healthy debate while providing grist for extremists. Many people ask: “Who is listening to our concerns?”
And it is easy to see why they are concerned. The British people are not racist. They know the benefits that migration has brought to our country down the centuries. But they see society changing before their eyes, like a film that has been speeded up. For example, 25 per cent of UK births are to women born abroad. There are at present 1,338 schools where at least 51 per cent of pupils do not have English as their first language. At a third of schools in Leicester and Blackburn, the majority of pupils do not have English as their first language.
Behind these facts is an unprecedented turnover of population. Last year alone about 600,000 people arrived in the UK while 400,000 left. With a turnover of a million people in one year, no wonder many people sense that the glue that binds our society together is weakening. It takes time for people of different cultures to get accustomed to each others' ways and, regrettably, not all newcomers are committed to integration. Some are not even sure about the democratic values that are the very foundation of our society. It Isn’t Racist to Want a Cap on Immigration >>> By Lord Carey of Clifton | September 10, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)
