'When we have had a huge influx of refugees in the past during war times, so many have enriched the country.'We might like to think we were a welcoming country in the past, but increasingly restrictive legislation was repeatedly passed, from the 1905 Aliens Act, through successive Immigrations Acts, to stop people coming here.We know that by the outbreak of World War II, about half a million European Jews tried to come to England to escape the Nazis but only about 70,000, including almost 10,000 children, were granted entry. We might well celebrate the 'kindertransport' initiative, but there was little corresponding 'grown-up transport' for Jewish adults to come to the UK, with tragic consequences for so many.
Peter Evans ● 14h