Immigration myths
From N.E. Heywood
Sir: Charles Moore states, ‘People may say they want a ban on immigration, but ... they would quickly discover that they could not find enough building workers, waiters, cleaners, plumbers ... ’ (The Spectator’s Notes, 29 January). I have lived here in the Midlands for 20 years. In that time I have dealt with plumbers, builders, roofing specialists, electricians and cleaners. All without exception have been native-born white English. I have never discriminated but have just used the Yellow Pages.
Has Charles Moore got hold of one of the immigration myths mentioned in your leading article?
N.E. Heywood
Halesowen, West Midlands From Andrew Sim
Sir: Please inform Petronella Wyatt (Singular life, 29 January) that the ‘annoying young Londoners who harass you at traffic lights in order to wash your windscreen’ are invariably immigrants, mostly semi-organised gangs of Albanians and Romanian gypsies.
Andrew Sim London SE3
Generosity, not PR
From Henry Porter
Sir: Ross Clark (‘Tsunami balls’, 29 January) may have a jaundiced view of tsunami fundraisers but he is certainly not entitled to say that celebrities or any other group are using the catastrophe as an excuse for a party. The fact of the matter is that a party is a very effective way of raising funds rapidly. The few well-known people who attended the Emergency Party at the Twentieth Century Theatre on 23 January were fantastically but also modestly generous.
Our event was organised in under a fortnight and raised nearly £60,000, three times what we expected. Because Burberry provided very generous sponsorship, every penny raised will be sent to the three organisations working on the ground in Sri Lanka and Sumatra — Plan, Rebuilding Sri Lanka, and Fauna and Flora International, which has adapted its operation in Sumatra to cope with the terrible aftermath of the tsunami. Incidentally, nothing of what we raised will be spent on administrative or promotional costs. By the end of this week, three substantial donations will go to rebuilding harbour walls, repairing fishing boats, coping with water and sewage problems, providing school supplies and numerous other small requirements which are simply not being covered by the big charities and aid agencies.
The party was a success. Mr Clark may have to get used to the fact that celebrities and ordinary people have instinctively responded to this disaster without the slightest thought of how they may appear or what someone is going to say about them in the press.
Henry Porter
Bayswater Tsunami Appeal, London W2
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