On the whole I found Nick Robinson's documentary on immigration rather lightweight.
However there are two statements that need to be challenged.
Right at the start of the programme he said "We are a nation of immigrants" and later said "Britain has a long history of migration".
Recently I read A House Unlocked by Penelope Lively. It is a history of her family home, a Lutyensesque house in the west country. But it is also a social history of the United Kingdom during the twentieth century.
On page 203 Penelope Lively talks about the arrival here of refugees during the Second World War and says: "Unemployment was high; this country was already overpopulated and did not have a tradition of immigration".
Nick Robinson tells us we have a long tradition of immigration and indeed we are a nation of immigrants, Penelope Lively says we had no tradition of immigration until the Second World War.
Who is one to believe?
However there are two statements that need to be challenged.
Right at the start of the programme he said "We are a nation of immigrants" and later said "Britain has a long history of migration".
Recently I read A House Unlocked by Penelope Lively. It is a history of her family home, a Lutyensesque house in the west country. But it is also a social history of the United Kingdom during the twentieth century.
On page 203 Penelope Lively talks about the arrival here of refugees during the Second World War and says: "Unemployment was high; this country was already overpopulated and did not have a tradition of immigration".
Nick Robinson tells us we have a long tradition of immigration and indeed we are a nation of immigrants, Penelope Lively says we had no tradition of immigration until the Second World War.
Who is one to believe?
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