I will not accept a label from anyone - the demonising of honest, moderate, mainstream people is wrong - Peter Bleksley

Many decent, law-abiding, hard working or retired people that I speak to regularly, are concerned by this dramatic rise in numbers, and are somewhat bewildered by the changes in some communities, what they perceive as a lack of integration, and a fear of where all of this might lead.

But the conversations I have are held within the privacy of people’s homes, because they don’t want to be overheard expressing their views in public.

They are afraid of what they might be called, or perhaps even worse. As of 10th July, this year, 14,058 people had crossed the English Channel in small boats.

Likewise, many of the people that I talk to are concerned by the current levels of uncontrolled immigration. As small boat after small boat lands upon our shores, once again people express their fears to me.

Questions like, who are these people? where do they come from? where will they live? and do they have criminal records? abound. But again, these questions are asked quietly, behind closed doors, far from prying eyes and attentive ears, because who wants to be labelled ‘far-right’? Certain politicians, senior police officers, and many sections of the media rush to hang the ‘far-right’ label upon anyone who has these concerns, thereby stifling open and honest conversations, where views can be freely aired, tested and challenged.

This lazy and unimaginative tag is not only wrong, for a number of these people voted Labour at the recent election and would never dream of hurling a brick at the police, but it demonises honest people who are absolute pillars of their communities in every way.

I’m not stifled, I won’t be silenced, and nor should anyone else be. I will not except a label from anyone who has never met me. We need more open and honest conversations.

This is how we can learn about each other. I was talking to a Muslim taxi driver the other day and expressing my concerns to him about the rise in radical Islam.

He felt the same. He went on to explain to me at length that incurring interest is outlawed by Islam, therefore Muslims will not take out mortgages, car loans, student loans, or anything similar. They are allowed to have a credit card, so long as the balance is paid off in full every month.

This hard-working driver and under-graduate went on to explain to me how his family, which consists of his mother, father, and three brothers, pooled all their spare cash, and once they had enough, they bought a house for the eldest son.

He can now live in it, or rent it out, and the saving process has begun once again, to buy a house for son number two. As the fourth and youngest son, he laughed as he explained that his wait for a house could be a long one!

These kinds of exchanges and learning processes, need to become more commonplace, but for as long as those who should know better continue to hang lazy titles on swathes of moderate, mainstream thinking Britons, thereby killing off free speech, then nothing will improve.

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