It is not very often that we jump out of our seat in agreement with most politicians’ views. However, we did just that in reading Sir John’s Major’s words of praise for immigrants’ “guts and drive to travel halfway across the world to better themselves and their families”
And while we are at it, lets put to rest once and for all the myth that immigrants are only interested in the UK’s social security system.
In the interview, Sir John talked about “his time as a young man when he lived in modest circumstances with his family in Brixton, south London.”
He said: “There was a different social value placed on immigration. I saw immigration at very close quarters in the 1950s.”
“They shared my house. They were my neighbours. I played with them as boys. I didn’t see people who had come here just to benefit from our social system. I saw people with guts and the drive to travel halfway across the world in many cases to better themselves and their families.”
It might be quite a surprise that Sir John’s tone was quite in contrast to that used by David Cameron, but we like it. Yes, yes, and yes once more!
Sir John’s thoughts were part of an interview with the historian Peter Hennessy for the BBC Radio 4 programme, Reflections, which will be broadcast at 09:00 BST on Wednesday 13 August.
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
