Stating the bleeding obvious, I know, but ... At least with the UN exercising some sort of peacekeeping role, the number of refugees fleeing for their lives to Uganda or Europe can be kept to a minimum. Which is what we all want, no?
She has a job that involves supplying medical services in and around Goma, where there is currently fierce fighting between a rebel army (alleged to be backed by the Rwandan government) and Congolese troops. The UN are joining in as well. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and...
As I've said ... I can't see what my personal circumstances or yours have to do with this debate. The fact that I have Congolese neighbours within 100 yards of my workplace is irrelevant, as is the fact that I sometimes sit in front of the TV of an evening.
Anyway, its the young Miss...
Eh? I spend my working life engaged in providing services to a huge range of people from very diverse backgrounds. But this debate isn't about me - or you.
Yep. The Surrey Docks have closed. The Scandinavians have dispersed. The point is that they arrived a very long time ago, established themselves as a thriving community with a strong sense of identity and a persisting loyalty to their place of origin. And the locals respected them.
The fact...
The Finnish church was established in 1882, rebuilt in 1958 and refurbished in 2006. The Swedish church goes back to 1906. And the Norwegians have been there for centuries. The current church was built in 1927.
This is a story of an incoming community establishing themselves and retaining...
Oi! I claim Brick Lane. My cousin's immigrant great grandfather was a baker at 26 Brick Lane. Given his ethnic origin, though, it probably doesn't count. Besides which, 26 Brick Lane is a sari shop these days.
The ones from the east. As you well know.
Although my grandmother got on very well with her asylum-seeking African neighbour who was eventually murdered by agents of the government back in his homeland.
Smethwick? "Up north"?
When did that happen? Obviously a long time after those members of my family fled there, as economic migrants, to forge a new life after the collapse of the framework knitting industry in Hinckley.
Not all of them went there, of course. My great great grandad decided...
Returning to the Rotherhithe issue ... because it was good for the local economy and never caused disharmony, even though the immigrants have their own places of worship and their own shops and social clubs. The locals adapted quite well.
Bloody hell! Has the argument really degenerated to the level of pointing at people's relatives to assess the validity of their opinions? I'm condemned for "living in Firle". Nibble's dad was a naval officer.
So what? My grandad was a brickie who lived in a rented flat in Rotherhithe. I...
But that's half the joy of modern life ... the opportunity to learn from different cultures, and appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of different ways of living. People who engage positively in this process (which is what I find when I am out of the country) are the winners. People who...
Where would the UK's private health care services be without the NHS? Who refers patients to BUPA? NHS GPs. Who provides emergency services? Who promotes public health improvements? The NHS. Who recruits and trains staff? The NHS.