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| Andrew Pope on BBC South Today Photo: Southampton Independents |
Andrew Pope is a co-founder of Southampton Independents. He is a Member of the Independent Network. He runs a small business PopeyMon Consultancy. He is a Member of the Federation of Small Businesses. And he is a Member of the British Computer Society. The following are his thoughts, and not the views of any of the above. Southampton Independents does not have a collective view on "immigration". But voters may want to know what Andrew's thoughts are.
Andrew writes:
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| Andrew Pope |
My Thoughts on "Immigration"
What is Immigration?
During my entire life, and I am 54 years old as I write this, I have heard people talk about 'immigration'.Firstly, I think it is important to be clear about what "immigration" is, because it has become a catch-all in some people's eyes for many problems in our country. It is easy, and too simple, to blame "immigration" and "immigrants" for all of these ills. It simply is not true, in my view.
Immigration is simply the inflow of people into our country of the United Kingdom.
There is legal immigration and there is illegal immigration.
Who Controls Immigration?
The
responsibility for controlling our border lies not in Southampton City
Council's powers. In an international system of states, states control
their borders, not councils.
The power lies in Parliament and the Executive power of the Government of the United Kingdom.
So
if you want to blame anybody for these alleged ills of "immigration",
blame the big political parties and their MPs - Labour, Reform, Tory,
Lib Dems, Greens. They are the ones with the power over the law.
Please
do not blame the legal immigrants themselves. They are just trying to
get a better life and get on, and abiding by the laws set by Parliament.
Labour,
the Lib Dems and Tories have all been in power for the last few decades
- it is their fault if the borders are not controlled to the
satisfaction of the UK population.
The number of legal migrants
has been far too high during the past twenty years. And the number of
illegal migrants has also been far too high. The impact on our country
and our City has been out of control. This is the fault of the Labour,
Lib Dem and Tory parties - not the legal immigrants.
I hope that
the populism of Reform and the Greens does not degrade our country
further, but they seem to both be extremists on the right and the left.
The right of politics has fractured. The left of politics has fractured.
The two party system seems to be dead.
Independents like me are on the rise, because people say the parties are all the same.
What Is My Education?
Now I will delve a little deeper, and declare interests and tell you about my background. I have:
- a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Leeds, and
- a Masters degree in Global Politics and International Relations from the University of Southampton
- a Diploma in Information Technology from Adelaide Institute of Training and Further Education, a college in South Australia
- a Certificate in Global Labour Studies from the University of Leeds, via my old unions UNIFI and Amicus. This was done under the union's Lifelong Learning programme and led to my Masters.
So I have travelled, and I have lived, studied and worked across the UK and in Australia.
What Is My National Identity?
Now a little about me, my background and my national identity and legal status.
I grew up in Enfield in North London. I have lived in other parts of the UK, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Lancashire, Somerset and now Hampshire for my work in Software Engineering, and getting my first degree in Leeds. I lived in Australia for most of the 1990s, in Adelaide in the beautiful State of South Australia.
I have been an immigrant myself - an unintentional one because I fell in love with an Australian woman and applied to become a permanent resident and then a citizen of Australia, a country which I love but not as much as my native England and my adopted home in Southampton. That's why I live here.
I say England deliberately. What do I feel is my own national identity? I am English. I am Australian. And I am a European. In that order. I decide. I choose my own national identity. I choose Englishness over Britishness.
What Is My Legal Status?
My national identity is not the same as my legal status. I am a dual national, born in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And I acquired my Australian passport through a torturous process that I and my partner went through, when we were both in our twenties. We were in love. We wanted to be together. But we were treated like criminals by the Australian Government.
The Discrimination and Abuse of Immigrants
So I have sympathy with immigrants. I have felt some of the discrimination of being an immigrant, of abuse of being called a "Pom" and called a lot worse. When it is said in a light-hearted way, or in a friendly way, I don't mind. But at other times I was discriminated against and called a "Pom" in a very nasty way with other expletives added in. This happened in the heat of battle on the football pitch, but it also happened in Australian society. So I know what it can be like to suffer discrimination as an immigrant.
I do not think that I have received the racism and abuse that others may have, though. And I sympathise and can empathise with them, to a certain extent.
Don't Blame The Legal Immigrants
As I have said already, please do not blame the legal immigrants. They have played the rules and just want a better life. Our country is a great country, I saw this and realised when living on the other side of the world.
It is perfectly understandable that they want to come and live in our great country.
Do Blame The Illegal Immigrants (and Labour, Lib Dems and Tories)
People that come here illegally should not be allowed to stay, unless they are granted asylum. They should be treated in a humane way, while they are being processed. I believe this is what the majority of UK citizens believe.
But should they be treated better than UK citizens? Absolutely not.
I say again, if the borders are not controlled properly, that is the fault of elected MPs and more so, of the Executive Government - over the last few decades that has been Labour, Tories and Lib Dems.
Do Not Allow Our Hard Won Rights To Be Taken Away Because of "Immigrants"!
Our ancestors fought for our rights - the Chartists, the Suffragettes, the early unions, the Fabians and the co-operative movement, and the soldiers and people of two world wars whose actions created the current international system of states.
The current international system of states, and international institutions and conventions such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, NATO, the European Convention of Human Rights, the Refugee Convention, the International Criminal Court and more, are supposed to be there to allow the liberal system of multilateralism to function.
Yet there are those who would take us out of these conventions, all due to the lies about blaming immigrants and immigration for our nation's ills.
I do not want our rights to be taken away for false reasons, so I will fight this. And I will fight the tendency towards tyranny, and away from democracy.
Conclusions and Call To Action
It is too easy, and too simple, to blame "immigration" and "immigrants" for all of our country's ills. It simply is not true, in my view.
If you want to blame anybody, blame the Labour Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats Party. They have been the ones in Government over the last few decades. They did not get a grip, and still have not. Until they do, extremists will grow - whether Reform or Greens, or those who want to denigrate our national flags.
What is needed are replacements for those parties that have not listened and acted on citizens concerns.
Make sure you vote accordingly, to support independents who represent your local area, and who work with you to deal with local issues.
Take the big political parties out of the picture, and vote Independent.
Thanks for reading.
If you agree, get in touch. If you don't agree, get in touch. I love to hear from the public, I enable this as much as I can, as long as people are civilised in their debate. I subscribe to the LGA's and LGA's Independent Group's Debate Not Hate campaign.
Andrew Pope, MBCS, MFSB, BSc (Hons) Leeds Computer Science, MSc Southampton Global Politics and International Relations
Member of Independent Network
Co-founder of Southampton Independents and Somerset Independents
