13 May, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n
cc: Jeremy Corbyn<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sir Kier Starmer,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m deeply disappointed that as a barrister whose impact was rooted in well chosen words and well considered argument the words you chose in your recent comments about immigrants and immigration are easily – indeed almost naturally – interpreted as exclusionist and xenophobic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your statement that Britain might become \u201can island of strangers\u201d stuck me as some of the most blatant dog whistling and pandering to fear I\u2019ve had the misfortune to witness from a major party since arriving in Britain six years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Britain I know relies deeply on immigrants. The people being actively discouraged from coming, working, and choosing to stay are as far as I can tell the only thing holding off the total collapse of Britain\u2019s health and care systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking as someone who\u2019s recently navigated the process of residency and citizenship, and having a social circle with others along the same journey, I\u2019m frustrated and dismayed on their behalf at the announced intent to double the residency period ahead of indefinite leave from five to ten years. Moving the finish line on people already well into the race throws plans into chaos, and lives into limbo. If that is indeed the plan it seems unfair, unreasonable, and unnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m a (naturalized) citizen, and I vote. And government\u2019s behavior since the election continues to make it unlikely my next vote will be for labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026Dan Berger
N19 3DA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
13 May, 2025 cc: Jeremy Corbyn Sir Kier Starmer, I\u2019m deeply disappointed that as a barrister whose impact was rooted in well chosen words and well considered argument the words you chose in your recent comments about immigrants and immigration are easily – indeed almost naturally – interpreted as exclusionist and xenophobic. Your statement that … Continue reading “A perspective from a recent immigrant”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-london-calling"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1836"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2057,"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836\/revisions\/2057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oubliette.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}