Vitriol etc

I live in Worcestershire. At times, Worcestershire makes me sad. Two letters in particular didn't help (standard rage against the Europe/immigration machine). Having killed a man with a letter last year (true story), I came out of my self-imposed exile to vent once more.

I don't expect for a second that it'll get published.

"It seems today’s whipping boys, at whom we wag the finger of blame when things go south, are now immigration and Europe. How reassuring a reminder of the quivering jowls of rage of Middle England that both should crop up last week in response to Peter Luff’s defence of the EU (Your View, 10^th January).

I’m no Conservative, but am far from being so single-mindedly partisan that I automatically refute everything our MP suggests. Over this, I am inclined to agree with him. Or maybe not; every day, I struggle to move (even to breathe) due to the “millions of Bulgarians and Albanians” compacting and squashing me like some kind of European car-crusher. Yes, we have people who choose to move from their prosperous, luxurious lives of hovel-dwelling fruit-picking to appreciate healthcare that they do not have to pay for; but then again, we are living in a time when the birth rate and immigration are falling while emigration rises (because when Britons leave the country to live in a nicer one, that’s unobjectionable), and the influx of different cultures has indisputably enriched our own. Oh, and there’s the fact that -newsflash- these people are also paying tax. And yes, it costs us money to help fund Europe. But what’s the viable, pragmatic alternative? We are big players in the EU, politically and economically. While we might see a short term benefit as more of the budget is kept in Britain (to spend on useful things like, say, cutting the tax rates for the best off while slashing the payments for the worst off), in the long term there seems little benefit to Europe sliding into further financial disarray(except maybe schadenfreude; incidentally, one import we are more than happy to make use of).

No-one could argue convincingly that immigration or remaining in the EU are perfect, flawless ideas that will lead to the perfect society. But I truly fear that the hasty, fear-induced kneejerk reaction of slamming the door on both will lead us to no good place in the long run."