All the politicians are talking about immigration - another sign that a general election is coming - and it seems that each party wants to take a harsher line than the next.

There are certainly votes out there for those who appear tough on immigration but who could not care less about its causes or what happens to immigrants, refugees and migrant workers when they reach the UK.

I wish I was on the BBC’s Question Time programme when Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, appeared on it in late October. I would have said to him what we used to say decades ago: ‘We are here because you went there.’

Nick Griffin and the BNP conveniently forget, or choose to ignore, the fact that large numbers of white British folk have emigrated to other countries over the centuries and are still doing so today.

It is, of course, non-white immigration that stirs the BNP up the most, which might have had an arguable case to present to the racist section of the white working class if its leading lights had not saddled themselves with Nazi baggage.

In my opinion they are completely wrong but are entitled to express their views - providing it does not lead to violent attacks, arson and murder against people who have come to live peacefully in the UK.

Political games

Mr Griffin has decided to run for parliament as the MP for Barking, where Margaret Hodge, the former leader of a very left-wing Islington Council, is MP.

It may be tempting to play the immigration or race card during an election but it is very dangerous.

During Ms Hodge’s time in Islington, the red flag was hung on the mast of the town hall. Today she is trying to outdo the right-wing with her anti-immigration statements and is on record as saying that British families have a legitimate sense of entitlement to social housing over immigrants.
There is a myth prevailing among certain sections of the population that immigrants, refugees and migrant workers are taking social housing away from the local community and are given priority in allocations.

Nothing could be further from the truth. For example, the vast majority in the Somali community live in very cramped, overcrowded conditions or in temporary housing with severe consequences for community cohesion, children’s growth and education, not to mention the health of the very young and old.

Somalis represent the most disadvantaged, most overcrowded and most in-need community in London and in many other inner city areas. They have large households, mainly headed by women as a lot of the men have been killed or are caught up in the fighting in civil war-ravaged Somalia. Yet, as a community, they do not feature in official figures. They are subsumed in the black African category.

Extensive research, which will be launched in the new year, shows the the problem in East London is at crisis point. The report on the Somali community - No voice, little choice - will be launched on 26 January. Commissioned by Karin Housing Association, researchers Sue Lukes, Mohammed Aden and Hannah Lewis, carried out a study for 18 months and the results are so stark that the authors are calling it the ‘Somali emergency’.

Somalis are not people who can get a mortgage, rent privately or go on a 10-year waiting list. Their requirement for social housing now needs to be addressed urgently if we are not going to create another seriously disadvantaged and discriminated-against minority, which will have serious social consequences in the future.

Most other recent immigrants to the UK are those who have come as refugees from wars which have their origins in British colonial divide and rule policies; or as migrant workers coming to the UK to do jobs that local people do not want to do.

Today the largest group of refugees seeking asylum are from Iraq and Afghanistan, both countries we have invaded.

The consequence of our invasions or interventions is fear and insecurity, not to mention the destruction of the economy of those states. It is that fear that drives people out of their countries and too often into the hands of people traffickers.

Coming back to Nick Griffin and the BNP, I would also like to remind him that certain aspects of Sharia law, which he finds so objectionable in a Christian country like Britain, can be found in the Bible. While he is at it, he should turn to Exodus 22.21: ‘Thou shall neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.’

Tony Soares is a housing consultant

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