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Immigration rhetoric risks turning Britain, not just the Tory party, nasty
by cityam
“F**koff back to France,” says the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, when asked about migrants using small boats to cross the channel. Not an overdone parody; Britain in 2023, and the words of Lee Anderson, truly the Churchill of his age. Charming.
This is not the place to go into the wheres and wherefores of the government’s small boats policy. Clearly, France remains a civilised country; equally so, it’s not difficult to see why an Englishspeaking migrant might find these shores more appealing than the banlieues of Paris. The issue is not the policy but the rhetoric. Doing the rounds on Twitter yesterday was a British tourist board ad from the 1970s,
The City View
published in Japan. “You have 50 million British friends,” it reads, alongside a picture of a young couple, a beefeater, a City gent in a bowler hat and a mildly problematic image of a Scotsman, complete with a kilt and a sporran. “Isn’t it about time you visited some of them? They’re helpful. Fun. Kind. Pleased to show you around.”
Words matter –not just for winning elections, but for a country’s image abroad. Our greatest strength is our soft power, and a reputation for being open and tolerant. The reality remains
