All entries for Monday 10 October 2016

Letter to Chris White, MP for Warwick and Leamington

Writing about web page http://www.notforeign.com/

Xenophobia in Britain and at the conservative party conference

Dear Chris,

I was appalled to hear Theresa May’s party speech last week in which she derided “citizens of nowhere” and suggested that “foreigners” would only be able to stay until “home grown” replacements could be trained. I was even more appalled by plans of the home office to force companies to “list” their foreign workers to government under proposals announced last week.

Foreign nationals, such as myself, make an enormous contribution to this country’s culture, economy, and society. We have long helped to shape its common heritage and identity. We are not a separate caste in society – we are your friends, partners, colleagues, and neighbours. A country robbed of these people is a poorer country in every sense: we are a part of who the UK is.

I am sure you are as appalled by this populistic rhetoric as I am. By choosing race and ethnicity as the marker of who belongs and who does not, Theresa May and the current UK government are indulging in xenophobia. As the children and grandchildren of those who fought fascism, you and I, as a German national in whose country the nazis where allowed to rise on similar rhetoric, both have a duty, in defence of our shared humanity, to resist state sanctioned discrimination based on nationality and to condemn policies that seek to restrict the rights and freedoms of citizenship to those who subscribe to an exclusive ethnic or national identity.

I therefore call upon you to express your dissatisfaction to the government’s bitter, racist and divisive language. And hope you will support me in calling on all of those who support an open, tolerant and inclusive vision of our country to join together, in solidarity, to oppose the racist actions of this government over the past week.

With my best regards,
--
Rudolf A. Roemer

Rudo Roemer : 10 Oct 2016 15:18 |  Tags: Conservative Party Conference Xenophibia |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem