HMG have dreamed up another gravity-defying solution to the problem of immigrants to Britain not being assimilated into the native populace:
A new consultation document suggests that would-be Britons would take a new pledge of loyalty to the UK and observe the national anthem.
Local dignitaries – the mayor or MP, perhaps – would be invited to attend to make a speech and hand over citizenship certificates.
Small commemorative gifts could be presented to new British citizens under the plans.
Schoolchildren might be asked to perform a traditional song or dance to give a local flavour to the events.
And afterwards: “There may be an informal celebration….with light refreshments provided. This would be in keeping with the welcoming nature of the ceremony.”
Of course, these occasions would be perfect for giving our new fellow citizens some practical advice on how to behave like true 21st century Britons:
The new “Britishness test” will not include questions on culture and history, but will concentrate on practical information about benefits, housing and using the NHS.
Schemes like this are only symptomatic of the failure of modern Britain to assimilate – yes, assimilate – new immigrants, and being top-down ‘solutions’ are destined to fail. I don’t buy the Daily Mail-reading Tory cant about ‘these people’ not wanting to assimilate. Sure, some – the Abu Hamza kind – don’t, but in general I blame the attitudes of the natives – and no, I’m not talking about racism, but about the miasma of self-loathing, guilt and fatalism in which they live every day. When people migrate to America they become Americans – even if hyphenated Americans – because they sense the real love of country felt by the native-born Americans they meet, which, unlike in European countries, contains no trace of old school nationalism. When people migrate here, they sense the gloom and – not being gloomy themselves – they want no part of it. I migrated here from New Zealand in 1986, and it took years for me to start feeling even remotely British, and even today I’m not sure that I’m a fully paid-up member of the club, so much so that I’ve considered leaving this place more than once.
No amount of initiatives or consultations by our elites, whether political or media, are going to cut through British miserablism. Why not? Because, with their patronising, lecturing, hectoring manner, they are the larger part of the problem. Love of country grows by itself, not by state intervention. As Carl Jung once wrote: “It isn’t my job to see that cherries grow on stalks.” I wish our restlessly interfering officialdom would take the same attitude.
Leave a reply to Greetings, non-white man! Welcome to British officialdom!