Free Thinking 2012 - Immigration and the Challenge to Belonging
Arts & Ideas
BBC
4.2 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 15 November 2012
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What does it mean to belong? Multiculturalism, integration and social division are increasingly part of the political debate. But what impact does immigration have on everyone's sense of national identity? To debate, Philip Dodd is joined by David Goodhart, director of Demos think-tank, Migration Watch Vice Chairman Alp Mehmet, Professor Jean Grugel of Sheffield University, and Sunder Katwala, director of think-tank British Future. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4 November 2012.
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, it's a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps |
| 0:21.2 | that it's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream |
| 0:26.1 | van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to evil genius on BBC sounds. |
| 0:32.1 | This is a download from the BBC. For more information and our terms of use, go to BBC.co.uk slash radio three. |
| 0:40.4 | Hello and welcome to Free Thinking Radio Three's festival ideas here at the Sage Gate said. |
| 0:49.1 | Too much immigration robs locals of employment opportunities, even helps employers to lower wages. |
| 0:57.0 | Immigrants are often innovative and generate jobs and wealth. Look at the founders of Google and Yahoo, |
| 1:04.0 | the first an immigrant, the second the child of an immigrant. Too much immigration dilutes social solidarity, makes us more |
| 1:13.9 | suspicious of each other. That's one reason why it's becoming ever harder to defend common benefits |
| 1:20.4 | such as the NHS. Recent immigrants pay more taxes and take fewer benefits than existing citizens. |
| 1:30.4 | These are just four conflicting views of immigration. |
| 1:35.2 | But inside the DNA of the immigration debate is also a debate about who we are and who we want to be, |
| 1:47.0 | as the UK, like all other countries, |
| 1:55.2 | becomes more and more globalised. What does it mean to belong to Britain in the 21st century? |
| 2:02.8 | Well, there could hardly be a more timely moment to have an immigration and belonging debate, |
| 2:06.4 | with Scotland soon to have a referendum on independence, |
| 2:11.5 | an EU where people can pass freely across national borders in crisis, |
| 2:21.2 | and at another level entirely, with a new record-breaking James Bond film release release, with 007 rolling himself ever more tightly in the Union Jack. To debate immigration and belonging, I'm joined by David Goodhart, |
| 2:28.8 | former editor of Prospect, now director of the think tank Demos. Alp Mehmet is a former British diplomat and the country's |
| 2:36.6 | first ethnic minority ambassador. He now is the vice chairman of Migration Watch. Professor |
| 2:42.6 | Gene Grugel is the director of Sheffel University's Institute of International Development. And |
| 2:48.5 | Sunda Kadwalah is the director of the identity and integration |
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