Racism in East Kent

A disturbing story, refering to Thanet and East Kent is to be found on the Press Gazettes website concerning racism, apparently Constance Lee a trainee reporter with the Whitstable Times, was offered £5,000 by a BNP organiser to return to her parents homeland in Malaysia during an interview, also it is reported that there are 50 BNP members in Thanet and East Kent.

Perhaps we should put this in perspective I imagine there are something of the order of 300,000 plus who live in East Kent, which if my maths is correct is less than 2 hundredths of 1 percent, (hopefully my maths is slightly better than my English), but nevertheless it is a considerable worry. But clearly the views of the BNP however expressed are for most repugnant.

Now understandably not only is this a touchy subject, but a very difficult one to discuss. Politicians and media commentator's are by their nature very articulate, and have the confidence to discuss most topics but immigration is one that most politicians shy away from. But clearly one of the key motivations for people to join the BNP, those who are not part of an articulate elite is that same feeling of discomfort in discussing immigration.

We currently have in this country several hundred thousand new citizens from an expanded EC. Now I think we have all heard from Tony Blair downwards, the vital contribution that these people make to the British economy. But what these political and business leaders etc fail to grasp is the real life impact on ordinary lives.

Whilst this is a pure fantasy, could you imagine Tony Blair, and Business leaders, who so praise the competitive advantage of employing or exploiting migrant workers stepping aside for someone on the minimum wage (not likely is it). The thing is chief executives, lawyer's, journalists, solicitors, architect's, surveyors, marketing executives, teachers and even politicians are unlikely to have to compete in the workplace for someone who is happy to earn £5.50 per hour, and it because this group don't feel the effect in fact they benefit by ironically discriminating against foreign workers, by paying them less and then getting all self-righteous, about a tolerant society.

The thing is racism is offensive, obscene and detestable be it middle-income groups getting cheap labour, or inarticulate ordinary working people feeling they have nowhere to go but joining the BNP and attacking migrants, who are only here to work.

It's great that our politicians, do not think migration worthy of debate, even in simple economic terms, or perhaps they lack the maturity to recognise, that 300,000 new citizens of the United Kingdom, arriving in the space of two years, creates all kinds of pressure in housing and employment. It is easy enough for large employers of unskilled labour to rub their hands at the prospect of exploiting migrants, by paying poverty wages, but why don't our politicians insist that the same employers dip into their pockets and pay towards the social costs of providing extra schooling, housing and policing.

I think it is to the credit of Margate, Thanet and the rest of East Kent that we have treated new members of our community with tolerance and respect which is something we can all be proud of.