The Commentary

There used to be an Asian building firm which advertised its services around the West London area. Referring to the notoriously slipshod workmanship of many of their rivals they advertised themselves with the wonderful slogan painted on their vans, ‘You’ve tried the cowboys, now try the Indians’. It made many people smile and probably got them a lot of business.

There can be no doubt that immigrants have been greatly beneficial to this country in many ways, not least in terms of the economy. But now a great debate is raging as to whether the government has allowed immigration to get out of hand. Since 1997 some 1.1 million people from abroad have taken jobs in Britain, some 300,000 more than the figure the government originally published. 52% of jobs created since New Labour came to power have gone to people from overseas. The government defends this policy, saying that foreign workers are needed partly to redress the country’s aging work force and partly to meet labour shortages in a range of jobs. Certainly many foreign workers, especially those from Poland, have the reputation for being very reliable and hardworking.

Rejoice

The immigration debate is highly sensitive and emotive. But there are three reasons why Christians ought to rejoice in much of recent immigration. First, it is wonderful that we as a nation can provide refuge from oppression and a way out of poverty for many people. Second, many immigrants are Christians who have brought vibrant faith with them at a time when our spiritual life is very low. We thank God for the majority black churches in London which are unafraid to speak out on issues like abortion and freedom of religion. Third, we ought to rejoice that many other immigrants are much more open to the gospel than the indigenous population and many are finding Christ. This seems especially true of refugees from Iran, for example. For these reasons alone we should reject the racism of the tabloids.

The other side

However, there is another side to the debate. For example, it was indicated over the summer by the Cambridgeshire Constabulary that the influx of people unable to speak English was causing many logistical problems and to cope they required more money. (Sadly, the BBC misreported this, as if they were saying that foreigners were more likely to offend than Brits, which they did not say.) It is the speed of immigration mixed with the government’s policy of hard-line multiculturalism which portends disaster. Since the end of World War II, Britain has undergone immigration on a scale never previously experienced and that has accelerated markedly since 1997. In his recent book A Nation of Immigrants? (Civitas, 2007), David Conway argues that the stability and tolerance which has characterised Britain for many years has been possible because the immigrant population until the end of the 20th century was relatively small and ready to accept British values. But, he goes on, ‘that relatively high level of social harmony…is now under severe threat as a result of the recent creation of varieties of cultural separation that threaten to unravel the social fabric and to disunite the country into a set of contending ethnic groups’.

The main point is that secularism is foolish to think that cultures and religions, which have fought each other for centuries on other continents, should suddenly be happy to live in peace simply because they are now in prosperous Britain. Although all people are of equal value in God’s sight (Genesis 1.27), it is not true that all religions, ideologies and cultures are equally good.

Immigration debate?

Rejoice

The other side

John Benton

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