Addressing race and immigration...

In his début appearance on Question Time, BNP MEP Nick Griffin complained that the programme had been a lynch mob rather than a standard edition of Question Time.

It seems that plenty of people agreed, if we can judge by his ratings improvement in spite of his pretty poor showing. But apart from his sounding every bit the racist monstrosity he undoubtedly is every time he opened his mouth, had be been a clever politician he had plenty of chances to score hits against the other panellists who were giving him such a hard time.

Probably the greatest of those was when Jack Straw was scolded by a black lady in the audience for using the phase "Afro-Caribbean" (which she demanded should be "African-Caribbean") and Jack Straw gave an immediate and abject apology. Had Griffin intervened to point out that this was a prime example of sensitivity by ethnic-minorities gone mad and , I think such a point would have resonated strongly with a large majority of viewers. The audience member was really just complaining about how compound-adjectives are formed in the English language. No British person complains about the terms "Anglo-Irish agreement", "Anglo-French relations", or - come to that - "Franco-American relations"). He could have demanded an Anglo-African truce on indefensible political correctness.

In the linked page of Mark Easton's UK blog for the BBC, there is a discussion about black v. African v. coloured v. indigenous v. non-white, and other terms trying to define ethnic groupings. What is PC and inoffensive certainly changes over time, but we have reached the point where there's probably no possible form of language which will not cause offence to some people.

At the same time as defining ethnic groups by any form of vocabulary has become a suicidal game, the alternative of acknowledging no ethnic origins ("people are people"), is also impossible. Allowances have to be made for cultural and race heritage. Can minority groups really have it both ways?

Mark Easton's blog entry ends like this:

"The British people, I think, are broadly tolerant and welcoming. We don't wish to offend or make a scene. That said, there is deep concern about how racial and cultural convergence is altering our way of life, and yet we struggle to find the words to voice those fears."

For me, this sums-up quite neatly the reason why Nick Griffin's party are gaining substantial support. In parts of the UK, there are huge cultural changes going-on, as ethnocentric immigrant communities (grouped most starkly in terms of religious culture) are completely changing the lives of people who have lived in those places for generations, and changing the culture they value. These people are stuck - they have nowhere to run. Mainstream political parties have been unwilling to acknowledge their plight (their politicians don't even live in areas that help them understand those realities). Members of such communities are branded racist if they voice their discontent, so how can we be surprised that when they come to see their views defined as "racist", that they become willing to identify themselves with racist parties?

So what's my radical solution? How about something along these lines...

I have been pondering the sense in starting by getting rid of asylum altogether, and replacing it with an open immigration policy. Anyone would be able to settle in the UK on the basis of being bound by certain conditions for/within a probationary period. These could include:

• learning the local language to at least an intermediate level
• being financially independent (empowered to work but without recourse to public funds and required to be financially solvent)
• accepting agreed core values and obeying the law
• completing a certain amount of useful community work
• perhaps even needing positive references from some British citizens.

Within this broad framework the details would be very important; but the purpose would be to encourage building an honest life, benefiting the country and integrating into British society.

Of course I'm very clear that such a proposal wouldn't be accepted any time soon, but it is a genuine contribution to the debate.