Yesterday I was in tears. Today, I’m in the Guardian and on the BBC World Service. So first of all a huge THANK YOU to everyone who commented, linked, retweeted, posted my article on Facebook. I had no idea how much of a chord this would strike with people when I was sitting here pouring out my sadness and anger on to the Internet last night.
I’ve had nearly 200 comments here, over 800 on Comment is Free, and more tweets than I could keep up with even if I’d stayed up all night. I want to summarise and address a few of the common themes I’m seeing.
The comments I’ve received to this article here and elsewhere fall roughly into the following categories:
1. A lot of people came forward and said “I’m sorry I didn’t stand up to this earlier, I took it as given that she was a bigot and didn’t think it needed saying.”
2. A slightly smaller number of people have re-iterated concerns about immigration – some coherently, others less so.
3. A small number of people tell me they’re fine with me personally and with others like me who pay tax, but all those other immigrants should go home.
4. A small number of people have told me that I’m overreacting and that people say much worse things on a daily basis about immigrants.
5. And a tiny minority have told me to eff of home.
To those who didn’t think it needed saying: If you don’t speak up and tell your leaders that you don’t buy what you’re being fed by the tabloids, your leaders will only listen to the tabloids. It doesn’t matter if you’re a majority – if you’re a silent majority it’s as if you don’t exist. Speak out, don’t let things like this go unchallenged.
To those who say Gillian Duffy’s comments were harmless and people say much worse things: You are right, they do. But most people who say worse things don’t get grovelling apologies from the Prime Minister or to dominate the news cycle for over 24 hours.
To those who are fine with me personally: Thanks. I am flattered. No, not really. I’ve been on the receiving end of this all my life. Huge loud heated discussion about all those foreigners taking our jobs and our women, then someone turns around, sees me, falls silent and mutters how of course they didn’t mean me. It comes back to this: Every human being deserves to be treated with some basic dignity and respect, regardless of whether they work hard, pay tax, speak perfect English, or contribute in some other way to society. It’s easy to forget that – and I have at times been guilty of forgetting it myself. But maybe by standing up and writing this, I can help us all remember.
To the people who would like me to eff off home: Britain is my home, for better or for worse. I have lived here longer than in any other country; my partner is British; most of my friends are either British or live here; when I have children, I want to raise them here. It’s as simple as that.
And finally, as it’s the most complex issue, to those who have re-iterated concerns about immigration: Of course there are legitimate concerns in this area. However, the word immigration is often used to cover a multitude of sins – from unemployment, to housing, education, health care, social services. These are all complex issues, and I believe we should look at them individually and give them the amount of attention they deserve. Using immigration as a short-cut is lazy and cheap political point-scoring. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: The sad thing is that the political culture of this country makes it difficult to have a real debate on those issues because presenting a balanced view on the subject would be political suicide.