Peace in Rural East Anglia Feb04

EAST Anglia is a beautiful county with the best of green and pleasant rural English countryside that so many people enjoy. It is no wonder that many of our citizens choose to work, retire and live in different parts of the region. Like most areas of rural England, residents enjoy peace, tranquillity and the pleasure of country life, including country sports.

Politically, people in the countryside tend to be Conservative or Liberal Democrat while heavily populated urban areas, like Ipswich, tend to be more supportive of Labour. Until recently in England, there has not been a place for extreme political parties, like the British National Party (BNP).The recent council by-election in Yoxford, contested by the three major political parties as well as the BNP, showed a surprising 15% of the 1,080 voters choosing the BNP candidate. The Conservatives lost the seat to Liberal Democrats and Labour came fourth.

Clearly, most voters in Yoxford reject Mr. Blair as insincere and think that spin, not substance, prevails in Whitehall. The new Conservative candidate in Yoxford was disadvantaged by the adverse media projection of the controversy on the war in Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) while the Liberal Democrat opposition to the war in Iraq, as well as their active local campaign, helped in their success.

The BNP seems to exploit the fears and concerns of voters by highlighting issues relating to crime, asylum seekers, immigration, illegal workers, drug abuse and everything European. It blames immigrants, not Labour's failure to control immigration. It does not offer an immigration policy that will ensure an adequate NHS, education and transport network that depend so heavily on the hard labour of so many of our ethnic citizens who, working anti-social hours on low wages, pay taxes and play their part in good community relations.

Failure of the Labour Government to stop illegal immigrants entering Britain, failure to limit access to genuine asylum seekers and failure to manage immigration strictly by skilled manpower requirements create anxiety and concern amongst our people. Such an uncontrolled flow of unskilled people drains our social services and impacts adversely on standards and availability of quality of health services, education and housing for our own citizens.

Such a failure of Labour in Whitehall should not alter the character of British people. Britain has an international reputation as a nation that can be trusted. This reputation is based on centuries of tradition - tradition based on honest diplomacy, aid for the poor, compassion for genuine refugees fleeing from terror, religious or racial persecution and justice for the politically oppressed. Britain and British people are known for fair play.

For all these reasons, it is essential that residents of East Anglia recognise that it is best to identify the cause of our problems - Labour's failure to govern - and take appropriate action rather than allow our fears to devalue our national character and vote for extreme parties in desperation!