[lg policy] UK: Tories Reveal Official Immigration Policy

[jmillar at YORKU.CA]

     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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