Let’s start with a definition of valid: based on truth or reason…my way of thinking may be different from yours, but it’s equally valid (Cambridge Dictionary).
Kemi Badenoch, who is standing for leadership of the Conservative party, has written an article in today’s Sunday Telegraph emphasising the need for better immigration controls and stating her view that not all cultures are equally valid..
Asking for immigrants to “love this country and will maintain and uphold it’s traditions, not change them” is a big ask. Cosmopolitan cities in the UK benefit from the variety of cultures and their different traditions. Indian, Jamaican and Irish music crosses national boundaries and develop new fans worldwide. Where would we be without Ravi Shankar, Bob Marley and Christie Moore? Dance and literature are not rooted in a UK culture. So what is it that Kemi thinks is peculiar to living in the UK? Is it tolerance, a sense of fair play, good manners and the like?
Kemi Badenoch who spent her childhood in Nigeria wants to strengthen an integration strategy that takes into account that immigrants’ “heads and hearts are still back in their country of origin”.
Those who have benefitted from the liberal society in the UK often seek to deny others that same privilege.
For some it’s a numbers game. By changing the rules on International postgraduate students and their families the Conservative government reduced the opportunity for some highly qualified people to stay in the UK. It also reduced the amount of money UK universities could earn from those paying much higher tuition fees.
It might win Kemi Badenoch votes in the leadership contest, but isn’t she ignoring the elephant in the room? The Conservative government wrecked the UK economy and we need all the help we can get to rebuild it. That includes granting visas to foreign nurses who are helping to prop up a system badly suffering from understaffing and underinvestment.
odespinner 