David Goodhart, director of Demos, argues that liberal thinking on immigration has in recent years promoted two contradictory ideals.
In his new book the British Dream David Goodhart, director of Demos, argues that liberal thinking on immigration has in recent years promoted two contradictory ideals: ‘solidarity’ – we are unified by a common purpose – and ‘diversity’ – everyone is different. For some time, he shows, the promotion of diversity in government policy has won out over the promotion of solidarity. Yet in these times of recession and austerity, progressive thinkers need to promote social solidarity, which will require, he argues, a period of low net immigration, and a new kind of civic pride and patriotism. Following his talk David will discuss the issues raised with Sunder Katwala, director of the identity and integration think tank British Future, and Nazek Ramadan, director, Migrant Voice.