No racism, thanks, we’re British

'This sceptred isle […] this other Eden, demi-paradise, this fortress built for nature by herself, against infection and the hand of war.' Shakespeare's words from Act 2 Scene 1 of Richard II, written some four hundred years ago, express how many Britons still fondly imagine their homeland. As any visitor passing through British passport control soon becomes aware, one of the infections we are so determined to stop desecrating our holy soil with is rabies (though in the interest of fair play we try to keep foot-and-mouth disease to ourselves: British diseases for the British, foreign diseases out!). Another is an open, full-blooded indulgence in sensual pleasure, the national aversion to which is summed up in the title of a play engendered by the permissive 1960s, which became more famous than either its plot or its author: No Sex, Please, We're British. (A few weeks in an English summer generally suffice to convince most newcomers that our climate in any case acts as an effective prophylactic to unbridled lust). A third continental illness that is supposed to beat a retreat in the vicinity of the White Cliffs of Dover is politicised racism. However, this chapter will argue that racism is as persistent in entering British politics as any clandestine economic migrant intent on settling in this 'green and pleasant land'.KeywordsAsylum SeekerLiberal Democratic PartyConservative PartyBritish CitizenshipBritish PoliticsThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.