More anti-foreigner rhetoric in Europe, this time in the UK

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has called for drastic cutbacks in immigration into Britain. The has created tension in the coalition government as the Lib Dem business Secretary Vince Cable is not in agreement with the policy.

The BBC reports:

Mr Cameron said the government’s cap on immigrant numbers would "mean net migration to this country will be in the order of tens of thousands each year, not the hundreds of thousands every year that we have seen over the last decade".

Communities had been affected by incomers unable to speak English and unwilling to integrate, he argued, which had "created a kind of discomfort and disjointedness in some neighbourhoods".

He added: "This has been the experience for many people in our country – and I believe it is untruthful and unfair not to speak about it and address it."

As I indicated yesterday, this is a trend right across Europe.

When unemployment is high, immigrants are seen as a burden and the mood shifts toward the anti-immigration rhetoric we are hearing from Mr. Cameron. Economic nationalism is a force to be reckoned with. This anti-foreigner sentiment will only increase unless the general economic situation improves.

2 Comments
  1. dvdhldn says

    Although I think your thesis is correct – this has been a theme of the Tories for a long time even during the boom years. I think partly because the UK and I think Sweden were initially the only countries to allow unrestricted immigration rights to the new eastern European EU member states and as a result had a larger than planned for influx and it’s associated tensions.

    1. DavidLazarusUK says

      There has also been an abandonment of the low paid and working class in the UK. New Labour took its core voters for granted and hence a rise in the far right in some constituencies, The main parties are ultimately the sole reason that the far right are gaining ground across Europe. If they had had tougher restrictions on immigration and citizenship then many of these problems will disappear.

  2. dvdhldn says

    Although I think your thesis is correct – this has been a theme of the Tories for a long time even during the boom years. I think partly because the UK and I think Sweden were initially the only countries to allow unrestricted immigration rights to the new eastern European EU member states and as a result had a larger than planned for influx and it’s associated tensions.

    1. Anonymous says

      There has also been an abandonment of the low paid and working class in the UK. New Labour took its core voters for granted and hence a rise in the far right in some constituencies, The main parties are ultimately the sole reason that the far right are gaining ground across Europe. If they had had tougher restrictions on immigration and citizenship then many of these problems will disappear.

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