In an unstable and increasingly hungry world, drained by civil wars, famine and over-population in many countries, the pressures of migration could mount dramatically and far beyond the capacity of a single country to absorb. An equitable balance, based on existing economics and populations, ought to be worked out on an inter-European or global basis to determine how any anticipated or actual flow of refugees is to be allocated in a manner that does justice to hosts and refugees alike. Moreover, in our own minds we should convert the country from appearing to be an asylum into becoming a sanctuary. That will turn us all in the end into beneficiaries, being, as we hope, advantaged rather than impoverished by the newcomers and by their culture, and perhaps even by their economic contributions, as happened notably in the United States of America. To the degree that new arrivals feel welcome and appreciated, they will work harder to become an asset rather than a liability.
Successful integration depends on hosts and newcomers alike.
And that success is a true measure of our civilisation. My Lords, I am in some difficulty. I have enormous admiration for the noble Lord, Lord Jakobovits. He has made a wide-sweeping speech but, I believe, a Bill do now pass speech. He was invited personally by the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh, to make that speech.