Dear Mr Blair,

A little while ago I went back to the primary school I attended in the 1950’s. I don’t remember there being any ethnic minority children there at all then. But now, seeing all the children in the playground, and I suppose looking to see one who might remind me of myself or of one of my school mates, I had difficulty picking out any white faces at all. Those I did see formed a small (ethnic?) minority.

I turned away feeling very depressed. After the depression came anger – not at the children, or their parents (who can blame them, given the chance, for coming here? And besides, I know that most of them are nice, decent people), but at you politicians who allowed (and are continuing to allow) it to happen.

I do not like being an ethnic minority in my OWN country! And I cannot imagine anyone - of any ethnicity - who would. And don’t tell me that was an exception. It is not – certainly not in the parts of London that I know.

When I brought this matter up with my local Labour Party I was told, more-or-less, that I was being “racist”. And that is the problem. I know very few people who are not deeply unhappy, if not depressed and angry, at the numbers of immigrants (ethnic minorities) who have completely changed the ethnic composition and character of large swaths of our cities, but no one dares say anything out loud for fear of being branded a “racist”. Neither do we want to offend the immigrants themselves.

Although, interestingly, I‘ve talked to second and third generation immigrants who understand how I feel and entirely agree with me about the need to halt further immigration, because they see their own position being undermined. In a crowd you often cannot tell whether someone has just flown in from Bangladesh or was born and has lived here all their life.

With race, ethnic identity and immigration, as with the fundamental “non-sustainability” of some of our economic and lifestyle aspirations (e.g. mass air travel and individual motorisation for a projected global population of 9 billion), we are not facing up to reality – not really, not to anywhere near the extent necessary to deal with them properly.

It is very difficult facing up to really BIG problems (especially for politicians who want to get elected), but by not doing so we are badly letting our children and coming generations down.

Yours sincerely

Roger Hicks

www.spaceship-earth.org