The immigrants who went, especially from Pakistan, to Britain, and who have formed large communities in places like Bradford, have notoriously failed to integrate. Actually, it’s a bit more complex than that. The young women of Pakistani origin seem to have taken advantage of British freedoms to educate themselves and become medics or accountants. They are a fine example of what you can do if you are offered an opportunity. The men, however, still seem to cling to the old ways, considering themselves, for instance, superior to women. Some have been radicalized in the new British mosques.
Part of the fault lies with the Labour Party, which adopted a deconstructionist policy of “everything’s acceptable; there’s no right or wrong. Form your mini-Pakistans if you want to”. This was never wise. Immigrants migrate because there are no jobs at home, or because of political violence, corruption etc. It is unreasonable, whether you are an ardent moslem or a hasidic Jew, to spurn the country that gave you shelter, freedom, education and opportunity, not to mention government payouts and health benefits. Actually, it is a form of racism, and breeds reciprocal racism. Epicureans do not approve of racism.
I am all in favour of tolerance but share the concern about the attitudes of immigrants who seem to despise Western values and refuse to fit it. They are free to return to their homeland, but don’t want to do that either. If you decide to support ISIS and think your fellow citizens are infidels not to be tolerated, then you should be treated exactly the same as those other subverters of Western values – the NAZI and Fascist sympathizers during the Second World War. Tolerance has to have limits or it becomes licence. To this extent I do sympathize with the supporters of Brexit, who want to cut themselves off from immigration. I regard myself as liberal; imagine the private views of some who regard themselves as conservatives.
The last sentence is particularly poignant. He would never say it out loud, but my Dad has particularly harsh attitudes towards Muslims and some Orthodox Jews- though he disguises the latter in anti-Zionist rhetoric. My mum, despite being a woman, is very anti-feminist and thinks women ought to be an effectively subordinate role in society. The good thing about political correctness is that is has made public discourse more polite and less prejudice. But the downside is that instead of people expressing their views, they just harbour them quietly, making their arguments harder to counter. It also fills people with fear as to what they are thinking.
As for immigration, I really don’t like the tone struck by Farage and the Brexiters. Not only do they want excessive reductions in current levels of immigration, they express regret that many people came here in the past. But if you challenged a UKIPer to go up to say a Polish person who arrived recently, and say ‘I wish you never came here,’ most would shy away. Although I believe the number of economic migrants ought to be reduced (partly to allow more refugees). I think there has become an obsession with EU migration amongst the Right. Immigration didn’t cause the financial crisis, and it certainly isn’t a good enough reason to leave the EU; Norway and Switzerland have higher per capita rates of immigration than we do. This is similarly true of other right-wing idiots like Donald Trump, who blames Hispanics for America’s recent troubles. That doesn’t explain places like West Virginia, which are poor, and yet have virtually no Hispanic immigrants at all.