We are the World

A section from a large post on the Herald board trying to motivate a debate on how to improve social integration in Britain:

"I think the Scottish Government should launch a "good neighbour" campaign encouraging people to welcome newly arrived asylum seekers and immigrants into our local communities. Simply smiling and saying "hello" to a new face on your street can make a difference, you could even invite them in for a cup of tea if you're feeling particularly charitable (I would).

We should also ramp up funding for English classes which could be taught by all our local authorities, in conjunction with local colleges or universities. The Home Office could send letters to the newly arrived, if it has determined their English skills could use some improvement, e.g. not able to get by in employment with even basic broken English.

With that as one campaign, the Scottish and UK Governments can launch campaigns -"We are all Scots" for the Scottish Government -"We are all British for the UK Government". The campaign should encourage tolerance for people of all colours of skin and beliefs, and remind people that our asylum seekers and immigrants can, and do, have a valuable contribution to make to our economy and society - a point that I'm sure we can all agree on."