Immigration vs Racism: Some thoughts on the EU

Rarely do I get through the week without some comment on the state of "non-existant" immigration laws, or the state the European Union is in. Those powers that be in Brussels, it seems, are apparently hugely intent on controlling and ruining every single aspect or our lives, as well as wanting to make it illegal to identify as British, forcing us all into a United States of Europe.

The reality, to be honest, isn't that bad. At the end of the day, it is you and I who vote in the European elections. There are euro-parties that act as the groupings for national parties; if you elect Labour, they are grouped with other like-minded parties across Europe, if you vote Conservative they also group with similar parties and so on. The only real mistake was no British government ever asking the public whether they wanted to be a part of the EU. In that respect I definitely believe we should have a referendum, because it is something we should all have a say in. But I would vote yes, because I believe we're better together than apart.

A real dirty word in this country at the moment though seems to be immigration. A person can't comment on immigration policy without being called a racist.

Don't get me wrong, I completely hate the "them and us" mentality, that somehow a person of another nationality is less than us "respectful" British people. I don't think that's helpful at all; To be honest it's quite a worrying trend. But what frustrates me is the mismanagement of the labour market and free movement/trade within Europe.

I believe a better idea would have been to start off by categorizing a country based on its GDP in relation to other European states. Its going to sound like I'm suggesting a two-tier Europe; but I want to make it clear that the stated aim should be to equalise income and poverty levels to those of the "target" group countries (e.g. the UK, France, Germany). Members of the target group will have unrestricted access to each others trade and labour markets; pretty much how the EU works now.

In contrast, those in the "developing" group will have a more restricted policy on migration and the like. However, all countries in the target group will be required to pay into a fund with the sole objective of raising income levels in the poorer European countries. As well as this, money should be put into language education in all member states for any other member state, to foster genuine free movement and communication between countries based on common languages. The main aim would be to slow down economic migration, so that all member states are truly equal in terms of pay; so that the free movement of labour really is based on demand and skills rather than purely being paid more in another country.

For now I think the best policy would be to require all member states just to monitor migration between the countries, so we get a more accurate picture of what is happening in the continent, rather than cheap opinions from UKIP and the BNP, or rhetoric from the left.

Interested in seeing debate on the subject.