Thursday
19 April 2001 (ET) Cook
argues for immigration into 'tikka massala Britain'
Legitimate immigration is "the necessary and unavoidable result of
economic success," the Foreign Secretary will argue, because it
"generates a demand for labour faster than can be met by the birth rate
of a modern, developed country". Tolerance of people arriving in Britain
from different cultures is therefore "a condition of growth and
prosperity in the modern world," he will say. Mr Cook's speech, to the Social Market Foundation, is designed to increase
the pressure on William Hague, who has been forced to distance himself from
the comments
made by some of his Conservative MPs and parliamentary candidates
who have been accused of "playing the race card" in their
constituencies. However, it will also infuriate some of Mr Cook's ministerial colleagues,
who argue that skills shortages should be filled by British workers rather
than by recruiting people from abroad. Clare Short, the International
Development Secretary, said that encouraging economic migration would
"cream off" high flyers from poor countries, where their talents
were needed more than in Britain. Kim Howells, the trade minister, has also said that people should be
trained in Britain rather than brought in from abroad. Barbara Roche, the
immigration minister, called last year for a debate on whether the rules
should be relaxed to allow more people to come into Britain to find jobs
rather than seeking asylum. In his speech to the Social Market Foundation, Mr Cook will say that the
ethnic composition of the British people is constantly changing. He will say:
"The British are not a race, but a gathering of countless different
races, the vast majority of which were not indigenous to these islands. "In contemporary London, there are over 300 languages spoken. This is
not a burden we must reluctantly accept. It is an immense asset that
contributes to the cultural and economic vitality of our nation."
Chicken tikka massala had now become "Britain's true national dish",
which illustrated the country's way to absorb and adapt to external
influences. "Chicken tikka is an Indian dish, the massala sauce was added to
satisfy the desire of British people to have their meat served in
gravy." The speech is one of a series by ministers aimed at defining the
nature of Britishness in the run up to the general election. Mr Cook will
say: "The modern notion of national identity cannot be based on race and
ethnicity, but must be based on shared ideals and aspirations." He will seize on the comments made by John Townend, the Conservative MP
for Yorkshire East, who claimed
that Anglo-Saxon society had been "seriously undermined" by
immigration. Mr Cook will say: "This narrow view of
British identity, fed on myths about 'our island race', arises from a pitiful
misreading of British history." 17
April 2001: Tory candidates told to avoid racism |