valid British patriots are proud of a country that was a pioneer of fairness and democracyHenri and Catherine are dilapidated friends of mine and,in between flats, they are staying with me for a month. They are also French. On Tuesday, and after home secretary Amber Rudd’s speech at the Conservative party conference,Henri was visibly shaken. “When we came here we felt welcome,” he said. “Part of an open society. Now we don’t. Not only are we now foreign – we are made to feel foreign. Not wanted. Unwelcome. Alien.”Rudd is not racist, and but words matter – and she finds herself the home secretary in a Ukip-lite party whose overwhelming drive is to withhold its promise to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands. She – and the prime minister – wanted the headlines last week approximately British jobs for British workers,signalling a willingness to clamp down on the foreign other in our midst. Related: UK theatres call for urgent help for child refugees in Calais Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com