Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Council Leader's letter to Yvette Cooper - sent in partnership with Haringey Welcome. Celebrating our diversity
|
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Amy Sharp
-
I think this letter rather misses the point of Starmer's speech. It also dismisses the the concerns of people around the country who worry about uncontrolled immigration and the impact it has on government services and social cohesion. Those people include people of immigrant backgrounds. Many of them live in Haringey and are likely to be perplexed by this letter.
We had doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers and emergency services workers before the era of mass immigration. Mass immigration swamped them and the housing market to the point that more workers and housing stock were needed to meet the demand. Bringing even more people without controlling the numbers and their ability to contribute simply perpetuates and exaserbates the problem. It's like the old nursery rhyme about the spider swallowing the fly!
Individual immigrants are not the problem. Uncontrolled immigration is the problem. We need much smaller numbers. We need controls at the individual level on who comes, why and for how long. We need to stop the rackets and abuses. We need to train local people and stop businesses dampening wages with desperate foreign workers. We also need a border to stop illegal immigration. We need time to recover and adjust and for people to integrate.
-
Permalink Reply by Martin (Woodside)
-
Indeed Amy, Peray Ahmet's stock letter smacks of the usual defensive reaction to any government policy that might be deemed to oppose the deluded globalist dream, . Sadly there will always be those who seemingly can't or refuse to differentiate between managed control and completely closed borders.
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
-
I don't think that Peray Ahmet's letter can fairly be described as a "stock" letter.
It is not a usual letter.
if it "smacks" of anything, it smacks of a need to be seen by local Labour Party Members to be saying something in the wake of Starmer's speech; the White Paper and of course, Labour's loss of St. Ann's Ward: no matter how lacking in meaning it may be.
There is nothing standard about it. I agree with Eric Easter that it is a strange letter and one that reflects an inability to reconcile her Leader's opinions with local Labour opinion.
.
-
-
The reason I describe it as a stock letter Clive is because it contains the same format, repeated buzzwords and platitudes (to ad nauseam) that you'd expect to find in any political left-leaning policy, leaflet or flyer. As pointed out, it doesn't really say anything, but is merely written to give the impression of "I'm on your side" and "she's got our backs" to keep an element of her political supporters happy whilst not actually binding to anything.
-
-
We are writing to you …
The council leader's letter is not what it appears and is not what it says on the tin.
The letter needs to be seen entirely in a local Party-political context. It may have been addressed to Yvette Cooper, but the real audience is the local Labour Party Membership to whom, I understand, it was sent.
Few Labour Party Members are likely to have read beyond the short opening sentence (below) and may have assumed that the rest of the letter to the Home Secretary was some kind of detailed critique of the Labour Government's White Paper.
We are writing to you about the Government's recent Immigration White Paper.
However, this is the first and last reference to the White Paper: there is nothing about the Paper and lots about diversity and Haringey.
It requires no reply from the Home Secretary and will have no influence on her. However, the current local leader may hope that the letter shores up the slumping support for local Labour, as was evidenced by their St Ann's Ward by-election loss.
Keir Starmer's recent speech on immigration demonstrates that he sees his main political threat as coming from Reform, rather than the Conservatives. It was aimed at northern parts. It may well embarrass the local leadership. But Labour Party members who were copied-in are likely to pay more attention to the words of their unprincipled national leader, than to the words of a local leader trying to steer a calmer, middling course and not upset anyone.
Rivers of Strangers/Island of Blood ?
The current local leader tries to assuage local Labour members at the same time as saying nothing that could be viewed as directly critical of the White Paper, of the Government, or of the unpopular national leader and his island of strangers remarks.
Peray Ahmet's letter fails as an attempt to distance herself from her leader's immigration policy. Another reason that this exercise in distancing cannot be credible, is because much of the local leadership want to be MPs and if at all possible, become part of the Government!
Embarrassing,
Does the Labour Party not need to find a new leader?
.
-
-
A strange letter indeed. As you say, Clive, it doesn't actually say anything to anyone. What is the intention other than to repeat a few slogans?
Some of those slogans are empty mantras if you examine them closely.
For instance, the 'diversity is our strength' one ignores the fact that diversity has the opposite impact on society. Unintegrated cohorts of people living and working on separate goals and without common values is not a recipe for achievement. On the other hand, integrated teams working to common goals with the same values is the way to go.
What are the problems that have been solved by diversity? I've never seen anyone articulate a tangible example.
The one about immigrants not being a burden is nice in sentiment but requires some qualification. Yes, there are many, even numerous examples of immigrants who have been successful and been net contributors. I think of the Jewish business people, artists and scientists who came here from the Russian Empire and from throughout Europe before, during and after WW2. I think of the East African Asians who have brought commercial skills and built businesses. But there are others who are a burden. There are many unskilled, unhealthy and uneducated people who do create a drain and who will never end up contributing more than they take in public funds and housing. We need to be more selective for our society to thrive again and for our economy to be successful.
© 2025 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
