Time for a re-think on immigration?

A couple of interesting slants on the immigration issue caught my eye this week. Mark Steel raises some excellent points, not least in noting that the conservative press are noticeably quiet about British people residing abroad and reminiscient of Alistair Campbell in his pomp when it comes to reporting only the facts that will back-up their anti-immigrant viewpoint.

My personal view has always been that immigration is vital to this country's economy, a view shared by Philippe Legrain. And I am in full agreements with this blogger, particularly with regard to his comments regarding his being a migrant labourer himself, moving from Leicester to London.

There's an awful lot of hysteria when it comes to immigration. I'm not going to go down the well-trodden route to accusing all those who advocate stricter immigration controls of racism. Yet a greater attachment to reality is needed. A housemate of mine once suggested to me that Morrissey, who I usually respect, was correct when he argued that immigration was responsible for the erosion of the British identity. Yet she was unable to give me a coherent response when I asked her what 'British identity' actually involved.

What do I think the British identity is? It's a pretty hard concept to pin down, but I would argue that a major part of it is multiculturalism.