EDITORIAL DE THE TABLET

Editorial

A dangerous numbers game

The polls tell us that immigration continues to head the list of issues of most concern to the British public. What this means is less clear. There is anxiety about community relations and failure to integrate, particularly with reference to Muslims who were, or whose families were, initially from Pakistan. There is the more recent influx from Eastern Europe following the enlargement of the European Union. But there are also substantial populations in Britain’s largest cities of Nigerians, Somalis and other African nationalities, alongside well-established communities ori­ginally from the Caribbean (who are now second-generation British born and bred). Indeed, the groups broadly referred to as immigrant are so diverse that almost any generalisation about them is true to some degree. And in addition, there are refugees and asylum seekers from less peaceful parts of the world, many of whom have no papers and work illegally for low wages.

This complexity and diversity makes it misleading, if not dangerous, to play the numbers game. That has not prevented a group of politicians and churchmen, led by Lord Carey, a ­former Archbishop of Canterbury, from expressing opposition to the prospect of the United Kingdom’s population reaching 70 million in 20 years’ time. It is known that recent immigrants have a higher birth rate, although it tends to settle down to the national average after a while. Nevertheless, what is behind this campaign is a perception that Britain is gradually diluting its distinctive national character, vaguely referred to as “Christian” but also with an unspoken implication of “white”.

These issues are by no means unique to Britain. The Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Vlk, has recently warned that immigration and the high Muslim birth rate could lead to Islam filling the vacant space in European culture caused by the flight from Christianity. Rioting between Italians and immigrant ­workers from North Africa in the southern Italian province of Calabria are but the latest warning sign that many Italians feel threatened by immigration.

The Vatican is seriously concerned, but rather than stressing the need to limit numbers, it has put the emphasis on tolerance, above all by recognising the common humanity of all sections of the population. This is a similar message to that given by the bishop with pastoral responsibility for migrants in England and Wales, Bishop Patrick Lynch of Southwark, to mark the ninety-sixth World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “A migrant’s legal status is quite separate from his or her human dignity,” he said. “A human being’s worth is defined and determined by their God-given dignity, not by the papers they do or do not carry.” Pope Benedict’s message to mark the day was similar, with each stressing the pressures on immigrant children.

So church voices are on both sides of the argument. To adapt Bishop Lynch, if a person’s worth is not defined by the papers they carry, then neither is it defined by whether they are Muslim or Christian. Yet what Cardinal Vlk and Lord Carey are protesting at, in essence, is “too many Muslims”. They need reminding that Huguenots from France, Catholics from Ireland and Poland, Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe, Hindus and Sikhs from India and indeed West Indians from the Caribbean became, quite quickly, recognisably British once they settled down. People are anxious that they cannot rely on that happening again. But such fears need assuaging, not pandering to.