As an immigrant, I believed trust was the most British of our values
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Version 0 of 1. A year ago this week I helped organise celebrations to mark 800 years of Magna Carta, because I believe strongly in the values of the country I choose to live in. Like every British immigrant, I am British by choice. Deciding to uproot and make a new place your home takes determination, courage, initiative, and a willingness to work hard. We haven’t always harnessed those qualities to benefit our country because we have not encouraged all our migrant communities to integrate, but that’s a British decision, nothing to do with the EU. This referendum has turned into a debate about whether immigrants pay more in tax than they take out in benefits, whether you would wait longer for a doctor if there were fewer EU migrants treating you or being treated. It should be about whether you can trust anything you are told by a politician or an expert. Until recently I would have said that the most British of British values is trust: we trust our neighbours, our politicians and our institutions not to take advantage of us (it is why we queue, why we don’t know how to haggle and why we ask policemen for directions). It marks Britain out and is a quality most of the newer EU countries want to import. If the leave campaign wins it will be a depressing demonstration we no longer trust, and that is what is changing Britain, not the EU.Meher OliajiLondon • Remain’s economic arguments do not reflect experience on the ground. As a parent with two sons, one a postgraduate and the other an undergraduate in his penultimate year, I have witnessed their countless unsuccessful attempts in applying for jobs and internships. There are thousands in this situation, while at the same time they are told of the opportunities that come with remaining in the EU. It is not rocket science to deduce that, even if more jobs are created, the sheer increase in potential applicants far exceeds those available thus reducing one’s chances of getting an interview, let alone the job. It took 19 months of applications before my older son was fortunate enough to secure a job. While it is true there are jobs to be filled that may be faced with a shortage of skilled applicants, it is also true there are many job vacancies that are overwhelmed with applicants who are well qualified. It is often the case that many large employers in their recruitment advertisements express the desire of selecting the brightest of the bright with questionable psychometric testing. Should we assume therefore that 98% of unsuccessful applicants, many of whom would be very capable of doing the job in question should be left for the scrap heap of unemployed graduates? I am tired of hearing politicians and other economic experts lecturing us on the benefits of remaining in the EU, including working in other EU countries. They seem oblivious to what many graduates entering the job market are actually experiencing. The fact is that most graduates from UK universities seek jobs in the UK and want to live in the UK. The freedom of movement of people and labour within the EU is a free for all scramble. It is a reflection of a lack of control, an abdication of responsibility and an inability of government to show any preferential response to our own home-grown graduates whom we have invested in so heavily and laden with debts that may never be repaid. We may not as yet have the high levels of youth unemployment occurring of other European countries but the likelihood increases with a migration influx that is not sustainable.Name and address supplied • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |