Thoughts on Theresa May Conservative Party Conference speech & what she is does not seem to understand

Being at Work I was unable to see Theresa May’s speech to the 2015 Conservative Party Conference in full. I have however seen the reaction to it and have seen some snippets. She cites the example of the Huguenot’s. This country took in 50,000 Huguenot refugees. Far more than the 20,000 Syrian refugee’s being proposed today. She also says that refugees should seek refuge in the first safe country – there is merit in that, but is Turkey safe?  Certainly not all of it.  

Are the Greek Islands the most suitable first refuge?

Many refugees only feel safe when they have successfully made that hazardous boat journey to mainland Europe. In the case of the Greek Island’s what are they supposed to do when they get there? Remain on the Islands?  Does Mrs May know how small the Greek Island are? Lesvos is the biggest. But there is also Kos.  Lets compare London, Lesvos & Kos. The maps below are to the same scale.

Lesvos

Kos

London area

The London area is far bigger than either Lesvos or Kos. One thing that the maps at this scale do not show is the landscape of the area. In the London area there is nowhere that could be classed as inhabitable. Lets look at Kos.

Kos from Marmari area

Kos up in the mountains

Kos from Zia village

Tigaki, Kos from Zia village with island of Pserimos

Mountains over Zia village

Tigaki, Kos from Zia village with island of Pserimos

Lesvos also has many similar mountainous areas that are not inhabitable. Just where are the refugees supposed to live if they are to remain on the Greek Islands Mrs May. In caves? On the beaches?

If sense prevails anyone can see that it is not an option for all of the refugees to remain on the Islands. OK take them to the mainland. Except the mainland also has a lot of inhabitable mountainous areas.  Even if geographical facts are overlooked how is Greece with its own economic woes supposed to support all of the refugees who arrive on her shores? As Europeans we should be helping out our fellow Europeans the Greeks in offering alternative refuge in just the same way we help them defeat the tyranny of Nazi occupation.

There is no such thing as "Can't"

In another part of Mrs May’s speech, she said:-

“…when immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, it’s impossible to build a cohesive society.  It’s difficult for schools and hospitals and core infrastructure like housing and transport to cope.”

I agree – we have seen the effects of this in Lincolnshire & the Fens, where we have migrants from other parts of Europe who have come here for employment. Our Agricultural and Food processing businesses which feed the country would grind to a halt without them. Not only that, our health service would also suffer as there are many who are now employed by our hospitals. The area has been put under intense strain – but the reason is not extra population. It is a lack of investment into housing, schools, doctor surgeries. Local councils of all political hues have been pointing this out for years in Boston, Spalding and Wisbech just to mention a few.  

In an area where the indigenous population is ageing we needed the vitality that comes with young people who have chosen to come here and do work that many British people don’t want to do and by golly most of them work hard. There are of course some who cause problems with anti social behaviour, but the same can be said of some British. There are some who break the rule of law through ignorance or deliberately. We should educate those who are ignorant of our laws and punish those who commit deliberate acts. and in the worse cases seek to repatriate them to their country of origin. They would not get away with some of their actions at home, so why should they here? We should also look at whether it is reasonable to pay children tax credits & child benefit where the children are living overseas. However these are, I would contend, minority examples.

Most workers who have come from the Eastern Countries of Europe are law abiding, tax paying citizens. We should be encouraging them to integrate into Society by supporting the teaching of English and by allowing them to partake in our democracy by encouraging them to become British citizens.

History tells us that many Huguenots settled in the area. Many descendants are unaware that once their ancestors were considered outsiders and viewed with suspicion in just the same way that Mrs May's speech will fuel.

The inference of  the statement made by Mrs May is that “We can’t” Can’t is not a word that anyone with an entrepreneurial  spirit would recognise. We can build the core infrastructure and we must. We should not be peddling the language that stokes up racial tension & prejudice.