I make no claim over the accuracy of the statistics, and I neither endorse or refute her personal conclusions. The report is long and detailed, so it will be published in sections over the next week or so. I have put statistical information in blue font. The remainder are Mrs Gillick's own views. YOUR VIEWS ARE WELCOME, both for and against, and you can make them known via the contact form at the bottom of the blog, or via Twitter - https://twitter.com/wisbechevenmore
The Council's Strategy (2007-10)
Fenland District Council sprang into action the following
year.....though not, alas, on behalf of local people. The sole purpose of the
council's 'Migrant
Population Strategy7 was to
give all possible aid and succour to the foreign
incomers. Their every need and every difficulty was considered in detail, the
Council appearing to regard them as a small downtrodden minority, cruelly
coerced here against their collective will. Thus migrant problems with housing
and employment, welfare benefits and entitlements were agonised over, as also
their need for interpreters, further education, skills training and
qualification recognition, together with suggestions for their sport, art and
leisure pursuits. Even the migrants'
apparent lack of family planning and sexual & mental healthcare were deemed
worthy of conciliar scrutiny. Get everything really right for the foreign
workers, avowed the caring Council, and '...multicultural
community cohesion...' would assuredly follow.
In pursuit of this happy daydream,
Council officials began at once to organise a grand assembly of 45 organisations, the Diverse Communities Forum,8 to carry out research,
produce leaflets and devise action plans. Verily, it was a bureaucratic heaven
in the making. Here are just some of them:
Cambridgeshire
Human Rights & Race Equality Support Service - Patient Advice & Liaison
Service - Care Network - Drink Sense - Dial Drug - Strategic Migration
Partnership - County Gypsy Traveller Manager - Migration Population Customer
Advisers - The Ferry Project - Fenland Volunteer Centre - Citizens Advice
Bureau - Job Centre Plus - Oasis Centre - Ormiston Trust - One Voice4
Travellers - Peterborough Race Equality Council - Richmond Fellowship - Roddons
Housing - Rosmini Centre - Advice for Life - Mobile Europeans Taking Action -
Fenland Travellers Forum - Learning & Skills Council - King's Lynn Area
Resettlement Service - Fenland Play Strategy - CP Learning Trust - Single
Information Portal Project - Adult Community Learning Fund - Keystone
Development Trust - East of England Development Agency etc etc etc..........
Government has spoken
Rack their brains as they
might, local people would be unable to recall a comparable Council strategy
ever having been devoted to their
kith and kin, even though Fenland has been disadvantaged for decades, its
uncomplaining inhabitants enduring the lowest wages and poorest housing, the
worst health and most inadequate education in the entirety of East Anglia.
However, had local people ever actually
seen the Migrant Population Strategy they would have realised at once
why Fenland Council was so keen to assist the new foreign workforce rather than
the indigenous one. Put simply, it was merely following the Labour Government's
diktat, spelt out two years earlier by Immigration Minister, Des Browne, and
quoted approvingly by the Tory-led Council in its Migrant Strategy:
"We
are not and cannot be 'fortress Britain' if our businesses are to grow and
prosper and our economy to thrive. We are a stronger player in an increasingly
international market place and....we are successfully attracting the workers
that Britain needs."
(Des Browne MP Feb. 2005)
5.
It's the economy stupid
The Immigration Minister's call
for a migrant-fuelled economy was reiterated nineteen times in
Fenland Council's Migrant Population Strategy.
The following five samples will suffice:
* 'Migrant workers....make a huge contribution
to the rural economy, often filling posts where there is no suitable or
insufficient local labour. Without this labour force many businesses would not
be able to work at full capacity.'
* 'It is clear
that local companies regard migrant workers as key components in their strategy
for the current and future prosperity of the Fens.'
* 'Working with
employers is a key for many reasons.....Many employers are keen to work with us
as they see this as a means of helping their migrant workers, and will in turn
help sustain their business.'
* 'Migrant workers bring £360m
to the Region's economy. One in three are employed in food, agriculture,
construction, hotels, catering, cleaning and manufacture, making them a highly
significant element within Fenland's local economy.'
* 'The
increasing dependence of Fenland employers on migrant labour and the continuing
attractions of the Fens as a preferred destination for migrant workers, coupled
with economic factors in EU accession countries, suggests that migrant labour
is likely to remain an important feature of the Fenland labour force for the
foreseeable future.'
*************************************
TO BE CONTINUED
