Wisbech has endured another spell of bad days, where the
headlines have featured grim story after grim story. Firstly, we learn that
Wisbech is one of the least integrated towns in Britain, in that the indigenous
population go their own way, as do the large number of immigrants in the town,
and ne’er the twain shall meet. This survey, by some think-tank out in the far
blue yonder, has declared it so, and national media have been quick to pounce.
It is small recompense to learn that our near neighbours in Spalding are even
worse at getting on with each other than we are.
Next, and far worse, we have a poor woman in her forties
being raped near, of all places, a children’s play area. It is a mistake to
judge the impact of an event by how much it features on social media, but this
nasty episode was not bumped up as much as it might have been, possibly because
the rumour mill suggests that the woman was from Eastern Europe, and so not
‘one of ours’.
To cap it all, when news spread that a man had been stabbed
at a house on Churchill Road, and was in hospital with life-threatening
injuries, the doomsayers were quick to speculate that the men involved would
not prove to be English. And so it was, when the news that the dead man – for
this quickly became a murder case – and his alleged assailant were both
immigrants, heads were nodded sagely, and there was a chorus of “I told you
so.”
Anyone who thinks that Wisbech was a haven of enlightenment,
peace and prosperity before the arrival of the immigrants, either has a
defective memory, or took a bang on the head as a teenager, thus putting their
earlier years into a kind of Disneyland soft focus. Wisbech has always been a
knockabout, rough and ready, frontier-justice kind of town. I have written
about murders, assaults and assorted villainy in the town, and you can find
these in previous blogs – just use the search facility.
Have we experienced a descent into lawlessness since the
immigrants arrived? My personal view is that you are much more likely to come
to harm at the hands of a drunken Eastern European car driver than you are to
meet with misfortune at the hands of a one of his colleagues wielding a knife.
So why the fear and loathing? Why do local people write on Facebook that they
don’t feel safe anymore?
There are several reasons, none of them being simple or
conclusive. In no particular order, here are my views on the issue.
(1) There
are too many single men, 18-30, in the immigrant population. Young men the
world over, when in each other’s company, with no family restraints, will
behave badly, given half a chance. Put these men in a situation where they are
frequently without work, sharing sub-standard accommodation, and with ready
access to alcohol, and what could possibly go wrong?
(2) There
are winners and losers in the immigration game. Clear winners are people who
have bought buy-to-let houses. Given half a chance, they can rent these out to
people who, at face value, seem fairly respectable. But then, these respectable
people turn out to be in the pay of bigger and more sinister interests. Maybe
gangmasters, people smugglers? House and rooms can be let and sublet to the n’th degree, bringing much joy to the
wallets of people at the top of the chain, and misery to those near the bottom.
(3) Farmers
and bosses of food-processing plants think all their Christmases have come at
once. Farmers may well be paying the going rate for cabbage harvesting or
asparagus cutting, but by the time the agencies have carved out their share,
the workers are often left with the square root of sweet fuck all.
(4) It
is unfortunate, in so many ways, that Fenland is run by the Conservative Party.
At the heart of their misrule at Town Council level is a man who actively
supports the concept of HMOs – Homes of Multiple Occupancy. He vehemently opposed
recent legislation to clamp down on the robber-landlords. He also defends the
right of misguided young men to drink themselves senseless in public places. He
is also very vocal in support of shopkeepers who want to profit by selling
strong drink to these same young men. He takes every opportunity to criticise
the police when – on rare occasions, admittedly – they attempt to enforce the
law. He sneers at people who look to people like him and his political coterie
for leadership, and a proper vision of what life should be like in a small
town.
(5) Immigrant
numbers in Wisbech long since reached the critical mass which makes it
unecessary for immigrants to learn English. A small percentage of New
Wisbechians do want to learn, and I have the privelege of working with these
groups, and a more genuine, good-humoured – and generous – group of people you
could not hope to find. The fact remains, however, that they want to learn
English because they are keen to learn, and keen to integrate – not because
speaking English makes their daily lives any easier.
As I write this, we learn that one of the more charismatic
people in political life – Boris Johnson – has thrown his weight behind the
campaign to leave the European Union. This gives me a sense that we may be at
the start of a long journey to reclaim our country. If that eventually happens,
I doubt I shall be around long enough for the changes to affect me, but for my
children – and their children – I can feel only optimism.
But what of the here and now? If we do leave the EU, nothing
will happen to the thousands of people from the Baltic States and elsewhere who
have made Wisbech their home. And why should it? Most of them are working here,
paying their taxes, and getting on with life. Their children already speak English
as well as most of the ‘natives’, and in a generation, people will wonder what
all the fuss was about. My hope is that recapturing our borders with Europe
will lead to a much greater awareness of our sense of nationhood, and what kinds
of behaviour we expect from people who view our culture and traditions with
scorn, but are very amenable to our generosity in terms of healthcare, schools
and benefits.
Angela Merkel has sown the wind with her catastrophic weakness on
inward migration and, in terms of her political career, it is hoped that she
will reap the whirlwind. What we decide on 23rd June this year may
just be the first brick in the wall which saves us from the cultural
devastation imminent in mainland Europe.
