Dr D you are absolutely right - Britain has always been welcoming of refugees

From the “Strangers” escaping from persecution in the Netherlands who contributed to the development of our fine city, to the Bangladeshi’s who were the last arrivals in the East end of London. We are the “Land of hope and glory, mother of the free” and whichever way you cut it our proud tradition is currently being eroded as a political football.

In Spitalfields in London there is a building (19 Princelet Street) that houses a secret synagogue from the time Jews were persecuted in the UK which is now the “museum of diversity and inclusion” one of the items on display is a suitcase full of luggage tags where you are encouraged to write what you would take from your home if you had one hour to pack a suitcase and leave (something that should never happen in Europe).

When I visited one tag stood out amongst “the family silver”, “my pets”, “photo albums” etc. - This tag was “My hopes and Dreams” this has stuck with me for years.

We are lucky that so far life is still cushy but we can only imagine the tyranny of war and the panic of leaving our home with only the contents of a couple of bags.

We should welcome refugees with open arms. We failed in 1939 we shouldn’t fail again.

Posted By: Ruttles, Mar 10, 13:48:13