[lg policy] UK: Tories Reveal Official Immigration Policy

Tue Dec 15 04:19:46 UTC 2009

Colleagues, 

Spot on, Christina. 

While I appreciate the concern of some respondents regarding the
transmission of an article published by a right-wing organization, we
should accept the fact that this is a list intended to show the various
political and intellectual currents that affect language and related
policies in the world. I would not want our moderator to decide which
messages to disseminate about, for example, the debate on "reasonable
accommodation" in Quebec. Nor would I expect him to decide whether
relevant statements by representatives of the Tamil Tigers about language
issues in Sri Lanka, or by Kurdish nationalists about Turkish language
policy, are suitable for academic readers or represent the views of
"terrorists"/"freedom fighters": you can't study language policy as if it
were a sanitized abstraction. You can't understand Soviet nationalities
policies - and related language policies - without being aware of the fact
that very opposed views are present. Are Estonians xenophobic for
insisting that their language be used in public life --- or are they an
oppressed people who want to reverse the effects of Russian colonization
and forced Russification of their population for generations? Should Hal
be expected to decide which declaration by a speaker on Fox News is racist
hate propaganda or legitimate opposition to large-scale migration of
undocumented workers and their families who lack basic English language
skills?

So, let's take a deep breath and enjoy our roles in using our intellects
as a means of defending what we believe is right, without fear of being
contaminated by reading the thoughts of those we disagree with. To our
moderator, deepest appreciation. 

Stacy

(Mr.) Stacy Churchill, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
Distinguished Research Fellow, University of Ottawa

Language Policy List <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu> writes:
>My dear Jeff Millar,
>	Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.  If you don't like certain  
>notices, there is nothing which compels you to stay on this list.
>I, and many others, are profoundly grateful to Professor Schiffman for  
>the work of love he does to provide us with this wide round  of  
>information.  We don't need anyone  to tell him what he should and  
>shouldn't publish on his list.  And how can I object to the views of  
>the BNP if I don't know what they are?  An academic mailing list, as  
>you put it, is for the dissemination and exchange of ideas, not for  
>pontificational censoring.
>Christina Bratt Paulston
>
>
>
>
>On Dec 14, 2009, at 4:35 PM, jmillar at yorku.ca wrote:
>
>>
>>     As someone who has only recently joined this mailing list, I  
>> respectfully
>> offer the following comments to the moderator and to the other members
>> regarding the posting “Tories Reveal Official Immigration Policy.” A  
>> previous
>> posting has already pointed out the source of the message, namely  
>> the far-right
>> British National Party. I, however, would like to express my dismay  
>> that this
>> message was ever sent over the list. I do not appreciate receiving  
>> unsolicited
>> propaganda from a neo-fascist organization in my inbox, even if it  
>> is merely
>> for informational purposes from a professional mailing list.
>>     I realize that the disclaimer at the bottom of every message  
>> makes it clear
>> that the list is meant solely as “a service to its members and  
>> implies neither
>> approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the  
>> list as to
>> the veracity of a message’s contents,” and that members “are  
>> encouraged to post
>> a rebuttal” to messages with which they disagree. However, I fail to  
>> see what
>> ‘service’ is being provided by posting a message from the BNP.  
>> Couldn’t the
>> purely informational value of the message have been conveyed by  
>> posting an
>> article from IPPR, or a press release from Mayor Johnson, or even the
>> Conservative Party? Furthermore, I don’t feel that members should  
>> have to
>> ‘rebut’ the racist and xenophobic ideas of a group such as the BNP  
>> on what is
>> purportedly an academic mailing list. I am only taking the time to  
>> do so now
>> because I think it would be worse to let the posting pass unnoticed,  
>> as if it
>> were a message like any other.
>>    I have found many postings on this list useful, in particular the  
>> book and
>> journal notices, and the conference calls for papers. However, the  
>> tendency to
>> post from non-academic (and non-mainstream media) sources does not  
>> provide the
>> kind of information for members that an academic mailing list  
>> should, and it
>> can also be highly problematic, as in the present case.
>>
>> Jeff Millar
>> PhD (3) Student, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics,
>> York University, Toronto, Canada.
>> E-mail: jmillar at yorku.ca
>>
>>
>> Quoting Harold Schiffman <hfsclpp at gmail.com>:
>>
>>> Tories Reveal Official Immigration Policy: “Tens of Thousands of
>>> Immigrants a Year”
>>>
>>>
>>> A Conservative Party government will encourage “tens of thousands of
>>> immigrants” to come to Britain every year, according to Tory Party
>>> shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling.
>>> Speaking at an immigration debate organised by the leftist Institute
>>> for Public Policy Research think tank last week, Mr Grayling made the
>>> announcement after being questioned over Tory policy by Labour’s Alan
>>> Johnson. Mr Grayling said his party wants to bring in a “cap” on
>>> immigration levels into Britain. According to his figures, more than
>>> 150,000 migrants entered Britain last year under the “tiers one and
>>> two” category for “skilled migrants.” (As other figures have shown, a
>>> majority of these “skilled” migrants end up working in kitchens and
>>> other menial tasks, but Mr Grayling ignored that issue.)
>>>
>>> Referring to the 150,000 figure, Mr Grayling told the debate audience
>>> that a “Conservative government would seek to bring this number down
>>> to the tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands.” Mr
>>> Grayling’s comments come hard on the heels of a pronouncement by his
>>> senior party colleague, Tory London mayor Boris Johnson, who said he
>>> wanted the taxpayer to pay for “all refugees in London to have  
>>> English
>>> lessons.” Mr Johnson said the plan was part of his new “migration
>>> board to lobby for more courses for non-English speakers. “It’s
>>> imperative refugees learn English as soon as possible to ease their
>>> integration into London life,” he said.
>>>
>>> He has formed a “migration board” to direct more Government funds for
>>> language courses. The Conservative Party mayor is also actively
>>> campaigning for a full amnesty for all illegal immigrants in Britain.
>>> Mr Johnson is backed by the Refugee Council which stressed that the
>>> “process of integration starts from the moment a refugee arrives.”
>>> Immigration facts which the Tories have ignored:
>>>
>>> - The UK population is likely to hit 70 million by 2030. Immigration
>>> will account for 70 percent of the increase, directly and via births
>>> from immigrant parents.
>>>
>>> - The total net inflow of foreign citizens from 1997 to 2007 has been
>>> 3 million, or roughly 5 percent of the population. To this must be
>>> added illegal immigrants whose numbers are estimated to be around
>>> 620,000.
>>>
>>> - About 40 percent of the forecast increase in the number of
>>> households will be due to immigration. Already, just over half of
>>> inner London school pupils have a first language other than English.
>>> Continuing immigration will transform populations in many areas.
>>>
>>> The British National Party alone stands for a zero immigration  
>>> policy,
>>> in contrast to the Labour Party’s open doors policy and the Tory’s
>>> fake “cap” policy.
>>>
>>> The BNP alone states that the indigenous population of this country  
>>> is
>>> under threat from colonisation and has the right under the United
>>> Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to protection
>>> from invasion.
>>>
>>>
>>
>http://bnp.org.uk/2009/12/tories-reveal-official-immigration-policy-%E2%80%9Ctens-of-thousands-of-immigrants-a-year%E2%80%9D/
>>>
>>> --
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>>> Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a  
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>>>
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