{"id":13578,"date":"2022-05-16T12:59:04","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T10:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=13578"},"modified":"2022-05-16T12:59:04","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T10:59:04","slug":"talking-points-a-noble-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/2022\/05\/16\/talking-points-a-noble-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking points: A noble tradition?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TALKING POINTS<\/span><\/h4>\n\n

A noble tradition?<\/h1>\n\n

Headlines about the ways in which the UK aids refugees prompted Twitter users to consider the nation\u2019s historical attitudes towards the issue. Anna Whitelock<\/span> took stock of the debate<\/h5>\n\n
\"\"
Child refugees arrive in England in 1938 as part of the Kindertransport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Following recent news stories about British policies towards refugees and asylum seekers, Twitter users reflected on the history of Britain\u2019s relationship with those in need. Journalist Jonathan <\/strong>Freedland <\/strong>(@Freedland) kicked off the debate, noting that \u201cPeople keep saying that Britain has a \u2018noble tradition\u2019 of taking in refugees, citing the [pre-Second World War] Kindertransport as proof\u2026 But here\u2019s the problem\u2026 To quote the late, much-missed [historian] David Cesarani, Britain \u2018was prepared to allow refuge for children, but not for adults who might enter the labour market\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Understandably, Freedland\u2019s comments prompted much discussion. Alex <\/strong>Sufit <\/strong>(@AlexSufit) noted that \u201cmany of the adults who made it to our shores, Jews and others escaping persecution, were interned as \u2018enemy aliens\u2019 \u2013 alongside Nazis and Nazi sympathisers. Some were shipped as far as Australia to [internment] camps. Britain has, at best, a chequered past in this regard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Julia Kirchhausen <\/strong>(@jkhausen), meanwhile, offered a personal perspective: \u201cThat may be true, but my father was one of the Kinder <\/em>Britain took in [during the war] and he was forever grateful. Maybe people did what they could in the fringes to try to help in whatever way they could. Is that so wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201c<\/span>The immigration pendulum here in the United Kingdom has always moved in wide arcs\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Yet Denise <\/strong>Fluskey <\/strong>(@DeniseFluskey) offered another story with a very different message: \u201cBoth my parents survived the Holocaust, [so] I know the after-effects of trauma that ripple through the whole family. The Kindertransport saved lives, but also gave death sentences to the parents and bequeathed traumatic survivor guilt to those children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Some commentators were eager to point out that other examples were perhaps more illustrative. David <\/strong>Robinson <\/strong>(@scotsmandavid) argued that \u201ca better one is the quarter of a million Belgians [whom Britain took in as refugees from] 1914\u201d. The author and British Army major Levison <\/strong>Wood <\/strong>(@Levisonwood) looked even further back, pointing to the \u201c50,000 Huguenots [who] settled in Britain after persecution in France [from the 16th century]. It\u2019s a fairly noble tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Finally, Jeff <\/strong>Kaye <\/strong>(@Jakdaw09) aimed to find some common ground. \u201c[It\u2019s] important we do not get carried away with the nonsensical notion that Britain has always welcomed refugees,\u201d he suggested. \u201cThe immigration pendulum here has always moved in wide arcs. The Aliens Act of 1905 [which implemented some of the UK\u2019s first controls on immigration] is another example. [The UK has] two traditions on refugees \u2013 one noble, one not so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Join the debate at <\/span>twitter.com\/historyextra<\/a><\/p>\n\n

\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n

Anna Whitelock <\/strong>is professor of history at City, University of London<\/p>\n\n

PICTURE CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TALKING POINTS A noble tradition? Headlines about the ways in which the UK aids refugees prompted Twitter users to consider the nation\u2019s historical attitudes towards the issue. Anna Whitelock took stock of the debate Following recent news stories about British policies towards refugees and asylum seekers, Twitter users reflected on the history of Britain\u2019s relationship […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":13867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"8","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"8","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_8-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_8-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_external_id":"June-2022-8-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"June-2022-8-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000085632||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000085632||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.282","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.282","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.282","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.282","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"de2d4977-6998-4200-99aa-454f8dbebdf9","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-05-16T10:59:10Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"435286a5-1b85-48dc-a78f-3d69cd79f669","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-05-16T10:59:10Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AQ1KGpRuFSNynjz1pzXn2aQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[16],"tags":[46],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-e1651572709263.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-e1651572709263.jpg",940,1255,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-e1651572709263-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-e1651572709263-225x300.jpg",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-e1651572709263-768x1025.jpg",768,1025,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-e1651572709263-767x1024.jpg",767,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-1536x1189.jpg",1536,1189,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-3364204_cmyk-e1651572709263.jpg",940,1255,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"TALKING POINTS A noble tradition? Headlines about the ways in which the UK aids refugees prompted Twitter users to consider the nation\u2019s historical attitudes towards the issue. Anna Whitelock took stock of the debate Following recent news stories about British policies towards refugees and asylum seekers, Twitter users reflected on the history of Britain\u2019s relationship…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13578"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14240,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13578\/revisions\/14240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}