Bridge Ward News » Immigration

Common Culture or Freedom of Association? The Rose and Crown affair

James Spencer — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:57:54 +0000

Kevin Algar has raised a storm on his blog by responding to a post of mine about immigration. He raises an interesting dilemma, that of radical mosques. The Rose and Crown looks as if it is likely to be converted into a mosque, and the issue is not whether this should happen, but whether the call to prayer should be issued and whether we should not look more closely at the links of the proposed mosque to radical Islam. On the first point I’m not that bothered. Perhaps I would be if the proposed mosque was near me, and a daily call to prayer around dawn would be far more intrusive than church bells weekly around 8 AM on Sunday (one of the things I miss from Rectory Road were the church bells being rung from St Mary Stoke, something you don’t hear in Belstead Avenue). On the whole, I’m relaxed about calls to prayer.

What does alarm me is about the alleged Wahhabi links. Wahhabi Islam is an intolerant and pernicious form of Islam which is not native to the Islamic communities of the Indian subcontinent and that is using money from a foreign government, Saudi Arabia, to corrupt Islam in Britain. It is, to put it bluntly, the form of Islam that made Osama Bin Laden. I have friends from Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is native, and the form of Islam that it preaches is a very unattractive and repressive type which is highly unpopular among the majority of the population who do not belong to it but have to live within its strictures.

Do we really want the next generation of Ipswich’s small Muslim community to feel that Britain is a kuffir society that rejects them? Do we want widespread sympathy, or worse, for terrorists? These are questions that need to be asked now, when we can do something about it rather than in fifteen years time when we can’t. The alleged links with the Wahhabi sect need to be fully aired and if they are proved then we in the wider community need to do all in our power to stop this. This is not a time for cultural cringing.

Turkish Accession to the EU : Immigration Questions Part 4

James Spencer — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:19:08 +0000

This is probably a bit of an obscure area on the immigration debate – particularly as it is the end of the current series, but this is very important for any area which has attracted a large part of the Eastern European immigration – such as Old Stoke and other areas such as Rectory Road and the upper end of Wherstead Road. If this is the sort of area that will attract Polish immigrants now, it will attract Turkish immigrants if Turkey is allowed into the European Union. The pressure on rents, house prices, unskilled and semi skilled wages, doctors’ waiting lists and school places will be felt in exactly the same places – although it is likely to spread wider to places like the Maidenhall Estate and the Hayes.

One rather worrying piece here is the assertion that there is balanced immigration within the EU. Well to a point. There is now, but there has not always been in healthier economic times. There is also a difference between British pensioners going to Spain, or British computer programmers going to Amsterdam and Polish plumbers going to Ipswich. There are different pressures from different types of immigrants. While immigration can be a very healthy thing, there does need to be a constant watch to ensure that the right mix of immigrants is coming in.

Here are Ben’s answers:

Questions on Turkish accession and immigration

18. There was no mention of Turkish accession to the EU in the Conservative Manifesto or Programme for Government, although there was a general expression of support for further enlargement. Do you accept that David Cameron was wrong to say that those who oppose Turkey’s accession were driven by “protectionism, narrow nationalism or prejudice”?

The Conservative Party and David Cameron in particular have for a long time stated their support for Turkey’s appropriate accession to the European Union. There has been no change of policy in this area.

I do agree with the Prime Minister that some of those who oppose Turkey’s accession do so for the wrong reasons although I am sure that he at no point sought to claim that everyone who opposed Turkey’s membership of the European Union did so on a selfish basis, as your question indicates.

I believe that Turkey’s accession can only be achieved with VERY strict safeguards on its borders. I understand that it is an issue which causes people a lot of concern and I appreciate that some people are inclined to urge caution. I too agree that there should be extreme caution even though I am a firm supporter of Turkey’s accession.

19. Do you approve of Turkish accession? If so where was the most prominent place that you stated this before the election?

I support Turkey’s appropriate accession to the European Union and have done so for some time. Anyone asking me whether I supported Turkey’s accession previously would have received that answer, although I have to admit that this was not, as I recall, a matter of primary interest to the voters of Ipswich.

Turkey’s accession to the European Union is vital if we are fully to develop our economic ties with that country. By 2017, Turkey will be the second fastest growing economy in the world. The current value of our trade with Turkey is over £9 billion. The government therefore believes that Turkey is of crucial importance to our own economy and hopes to double this figure over the next five years. Furthermore, I am assured by the government that Turkey’s unique geographical position at the border between Europe and Asia means that good relations with that country are essential to preserving the security of the UK.

The Home office has confirmed that Turkey’s accession to the EU is still a long way off and it is not yet clear what form the accession process will take. Turkey’s application process has already taken far longer than any other: it first applied to join the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1959 and although formal accession negotiations began in 2005, these have now stalled. Eighteen out of thirty-five negotiating ‘chapters’ are either informally blocked or formally frozen, and talks on opening another chapter, scheduled for 22nd December, have now been cancelled.

20. The Conservative Manifesto or the Programme for Government talked about the use of transitional controls for new accessions. Do these transitional controls include immigration?

I am told by the government that it has always been very clear on the need for immigration controls for new members of the European Union to avoid any influx of immigrants from new member states. This was the case with Romania and Bulgaria and will also apply to Turkey.

21. Will permanent or indefinite controls on immigration from Turkey be considered as a condition for Turkey’s membership?

I have investigated this with the government and their policy is as follows.

There will almost certainly be long transitional restrictions on free movement of workers in the event of Turkey joining the EU, probably in the form of a permanent ‘safeguard clause’ allowing member states to introduce restrictions in certain circumstances. However, there is currently no agreement on permanent restrictions.

I am assured that the 2005 negotiating framework for Turkey provides for long transitional periods, specific arrangements and (for the first time) permanent ‘safeguard clauses’ on free of movement of persons and other areas. Furthermore, the government believes that the decision making process on the eventual establishment of freedom of movement of persons should allow individual member states as much scope as possible to determine their own arrangements taking into account the impact on competition or the functioning of internal markets.

It is vital to remember that net immigration from the European Economic Area has been almost balanced. There is no reason to suggest that this would change with Turkey’s accession. This of course was not the case with the 2004 enlargement of the EU. In this case, the last government were forced to admit they had got it very wrong. Labour ministers predicted an influx of around 13,000 immigrant workers from Eastern Europe, but by giving all the new EU citizens work rights, they opened the borders to over 600,000 immigrants. The government reassures me that, in the event of Turkey’s accession to the EU, it will implement strict measures to prevent this from happening again. These restrictions will be more severe and more permanent than those applied to the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the EU.

22. Will any Treaty that prepares for accession of a new country automatically be subject to a referendum lock due to the diminution of British representation in EU institutions? Or will the coalition break their promise as they look to be doing with the scrutiny of national budgets (including those outside the Eurozone) that is proposed by Germany?

Following the successful passage of the EU Bill through the House on 11th January, the government has assured me that in future any significant treaties or changes to existing treaties relating to Europe will be subject to a referendum lock.

Thinking aloud on immigration?

James Spencer — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:12:06 +0000

It’s easy to say that politics has changed in the last two years, but the reason why we have truisms is that they are true. One of these areas where there has been a dramatic change has been immigration.

Immigration has always been an issue in Bridge, but it has now shot to the top of the agenda. When I was canvassing in the Hayes a couple of weeks ago immigration had gone to the top in a place where I can’t remember it being mentioned once in the last General Election. Part of this may have been due to the BNP raising the issue by standing in the last council election, but there seems to have been something else going on.

Even when I’m delivering leaflets I usually have at least one conversation with a voter about immigration and how it affects their area. This is not the case when I’m on the other side of the river (although it’s still an issue).

Why is Bridge talking about immigration in particular?

The high level of buy to let activity in the Old Stoke area may be one reason why immigration’s so talked about which will probably explain why there are so many more European Union immigrants live around here. I’ve heard very few complaints about crime and immigration (although anti-social behaviour certainly is an issue). Job insecurity may also be increasing people’s perception of immigration – but it wouldn’t explain why Bridge is so worried about immigration.

However the main parties in Bridge, both Labour and Conservative are going to have to find out why people are worried about immigration here and actually address those concerns. Sadly this may be a bit too much to hope for when a Labour agent (who is not paid for by the taxpayer, honest) goes around a count accusing a Tory councillor of being friends with fascists due to the fact that he beat a Labour candidate.

This needs to stop. We need to up the maturity on this debate and address the voter’s legitimate concerns on this issue, because if we don’t then there is a darker force waiting in the wings who will.

Ipswich let down again?

James Spencer — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:35:08 +0000

You may remember the man getting arrested on Stoke Bridge, well there’s

a man getting arrested by armed police on Stoke Bridge. Well there’s more to this. The man, Mariusz Lipinski, is the primary suspect for the murder of his wife, Gosia Lipinska, who lived in Duke Street. All quite squalid and nasty so far.

However the Evening Star is reporting that he was bailed at the time of his arrest, had made threats to kill his wife and had been arrested for carrying a knife while on bail. It’s odd how Chris Mole had made an entirely fatuous call for an automatic sentence for those who carried a knife, while still supporting a government that seems to find £400 a day for a “national lead peer for Labour at the Improvement and Development Agency” while not being able to fund enough places so that knife carrying wife threatening bail violators are off our streets.