I have never heard of Gavin Jacobson or read any of his book
reviews. However he seems to have
stirred John Denham, former Labour cabinet minister and MP for Southampton
Itchen who now heads The University of Winchester’s Centre for English Identity
and Politics, into writing to the New
Statesman.
It seems that anyone who dares to mention any concern about
migration is seen in some quarters as xenophobic!
John Denham’s letter, which I came across published in The Week on 15 December 2018, is
reproduced below. It first appeared in
the New Statesman.
Not another xenophobe.
To the New Statesman
After the rush of EU migrants post-2004, the day rate for
self-employed building workers in Southampton fell by 50%. The 15,000 new arrivals were accommodated by
private landlords turning family homes into multiple occupancies, thereby
changing the character of streets and neighbourhoods. Some schools were ill-equipped for their
first non-English-language-speaking students.
At the time, I regarded these as legitimate concerns, but I learn from
Gavin Jacobson that I was just another “nationalist and xenophobe”. His assumption that any worry about
immigration is evidence of a pernicious outlook skews his reviews of several
important books on populism.
John Denham, Labour MP
1992-2015 and former cabinet minister.
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