To these Wet and Windy Shores

Abstract

This article examines recent British immigration policy particularly with regards to the panic responses to the 2001 riots in Northern English cities. It places policy in the context of the social inclusionary project of New Labour, which it argues makes the fundamental mistake of assuming that the problem is because of lack of assimilation. In fact the problem is not because of lack of citizenship but of citizenship thwarted. Crime and social disturbance occurs in the second generation of immigrants who expect economic and legal equality but experience unfairness. This is exacerbated by social segregation that sets one group of marginalized people up against another. A policy of economic inclusion together with a critical multiculturalism is advocated.