According to an article by Michael Deacon in the ‘Telegraph’ today, Gus O’ Donnell, former Permanent Secretary at the Treasury (2002-2005) , has ad admitted that he actively promoted immigration because he believed it was his job ‘to maximise, not national welfare, but global welfare’.This mindset, which is not uncommon among left wing politicians and civil servants, sees Britain, not as a country, but as a charity to whose assets foreigners are just as much entitled as native born citizens. This helps to explain why there are now more than one million foreign born people in this country claiming Universal Credit, why Britain has agreed to pay Mauritius £30 billion to take over the Chagos Islands (a vital strategic asset), why immigration judges make it virtually impossible to deport foreign criminals, why almost half of social housing in London has a foreign born head of household.Obviously a certain level of immigration is necessary. The bien pensants souls on the Forum never tire of emphasising how dependent the NHS is on foreign doctors, nurses, porters and so on, all of which is true. But not all immigrants work in vital sectors. Some are in low paid jobs where the tax they pay does not cover the cost of the houses, schools and hospitals which need to be built to accommodate them. And some are on benefits and pay no tax at all.The cause of the problem in my view is secular religion. In the Victorian era high minded individuals like Gus O’ Donnell would perhaps have embraced Christian socialism. But nowadays the number of people who believe either in Christianity or socialism has sharply declined. The ideological void has been replaced by a new age religion, anti-racism, which resembles traditional religion in a number of ways. It has got an original sin, colonial exploitation. It has got a sin for which there is no forgiveness, making disobliging remarks about ethnicities and nations other than white British (or Jewish). It has got a priestly class, immigration judges, whose word is (literally) law. It has got penance for sins, paying billions to people from abroad.As Michael Deacon argues, Britain is being destroyed from within by people who solemnly believe they are doing good, who think they are tackling global poverty, fighting racism, promoting inclusivity and atoning for historic injustices. But it is thanks to them that we have grooming gangs, hate marches by Hamas sympathisers and rocketing immigration from wildly different and sometimes hostile cultures. The mindset of the well meaning is making us poorer, less safe and more divided.
Steven Rose ● 27d