David Goodhart, editor of Tribune, has written a couple of articles (here and here) recently on the so-called “progressives’ dilemma” - how to deal with the Left’s ideals of both welcoming immigrants, without destablising the labour market and threatening the poor in our own country.

This is of particular pertinence, as the EU is to accept 10 new member states on May 1st, and there has been costernation in the right-wing press over mass immigration from the Eastern Bloc. Speaking of my own experiences in the Baltic states last year, a number of people I spoke to did dream of moving to Britain and Western Europe, dazzled by the supposed riches and benefits - to them there was no downside, no poverty or deprivation to consider here (I failed to correct them out of politeness, maybe I should have). To be honest, I’d expect a number of people from the new countries to attempt to move here.

But there is no “progressives’ dilemma” here. The former Eastern Bloc is peaceful and (relatively) democratic, there is no evil forcing them to leave. The only “push” and “pull” reasons are to do with the market, rather than any higher moral or fraternal obligation (as was the case with the influx of Commonwealth immigrants such as my own mother, which in any case was tightly controlled). Here, the social security system here could not cope with a sudden influx of new EU citizens claiming benefit, the labour market here might not cope too well either with an uncontrolled influx, and the countries they leave behind could not cope with the sudden loss in (mostly young and skilled) workers. It’s common sense, and the “right thing to do” from the Left’s perspective, to implement some sort of migration control (and I don’t mean total barring, just controls which sensibly deal with the domestic demand for labour) at first, which benefits both this country and the new ones joining the Union. In time, as the other countries catch up, the disparity eases and we can ease the restrictions.

However, Goodhart’s articles touch on a more dangerous philosophy:

The best summary of the dilemma [is]: “If values become more diverse, if lifestyles become more differentiated, then it becomes more difficult to sustain the legitimacy of a universal risk-pooling welfare state.”

and:

[My previous essay] did say that there is evidence for a negative correlation between ethnic diversity and generous welfare (at its most basic consider American welfare versus Scandinavian). And it did say that if we are not to wake up in 30 years’ time and find we are a US-style society with sharp ethnic tension and a weak welfare state we need to be careful…

Apart from the erroneous fixing of some sort of arbitrary spectrum of social cohesion versus racial mix, ranging from Scandanavia to America without considering the special circumstances surrounding either case (geographical isolation in the former, the legacy of slavery in the latter), this quote on diversity goes against his main argument that he was merely against “mass European white immigration” into the UK. It taps into the nationalist feeling that if you’re not one of “us”, you should not contribute to nor take any benefit from our society - in effect, you do not belong. His argument is especially insulting given (as pointed out by Trevor Phillips in an excellent rebuttal) the great contribution immigrants have made working for state institutions, including the NHS, education and public transport, over the past 50 years.

Goodhart crams in token kind words for Britain’s existing Black and Asian population living in poverty, but has already made his case that state institutions cannot exist with diversity and that they are to blame for breaking it up. I don’t believe my presence and my different cultural values, nor anyone else’s, are automatically to blame for any current or future fragmentation of the welfare state or the NHS - people who do break off from their own social responsibilities are of all races and to pin it on ‘diversity’ - i.e. those who are different - is at best a cheap shot and at worst racist.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 20th, 2004 at 00:26:29 and is filed under General.