Apologies that this weeks blog is slightly late but never the less, last week the two stories or headlines I’d like to focus on are: immigration and the elderly.
Immigration
Sky News this week, and of course for the past few months, immigration has been high on the agenda. Much of the public is worried about the level of immigration, the pressure this is putting on the local services in their area and the standard of care this results to.
As a daughter of an immigrant, I feel that sometimes this debate goes down the wrong path. Most immigrants come to this country to try and better their lives not abuse our system. Most immigrants work very hard whether that's in their studies, in the workplace or as volunteers and majority of them contribute to the country the exact same way another person would.
I firmly believe that the immigration debate is debated on the wrong stereotypes and assumptions. Having listened to Sky News' Immigration week programme I felt that many of the pubic had a misconception in their minds that if someone looked different or has a different accent then they are not British.
Lets take examples I know:
My mum - she was born and raised up in Bradford yet many people will assume she is an immigrant because of the colour of her skin
Myself - I was born and brought up in the UK yet when canvassing, most individuals still mistake me for an immigrant.
In my opinion, I think that if patriotism is brought back in this country, a lot of these misconceptions will be dealt with and the public look upon each other as British rather than define others by the colour of their skin.
As Theresa May rightly said at the Conservative Party conference ‘whatever the race, religion or colour’ of the person ‘this is Britain - we are British’ and I think we all need to remember this.
Care for the Elderly
The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, gave a speech on Friday on the failure of elderly care in this country. He spoke about a 'change of culture' was needed to ensure each individual get a high quality of care in their last years. I agreed with Mr Hunt that in the Indian and Asian culture, there is a respect for our elders that doesn't hold true in British culture and this is what I'd like to focus on.
As a Sikh, I believe it is my duty to look after my parents as they grow old and if that means giving up certain things in my life to fulfil this duty, then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make. My parents gave up a lot to bring me up and allow me the opportunities that I've had so as they grow old, I will thank them by looking after them and ensuring they are comfortable and given everything they need in old age.
A core Conservative value is ‘social responsibility’ and to me this starts at home. It starts with the way we raise our children; the words we teach them, the food we let them eat, the movies and TV programmes we let them watch, the rules we set for them to live by - these children are our future and if we don’t instill some basic morals into them, when they grow older they won’t learn those values.
Something my Dad always said to me when I was growing up was ‘family is everything’ and even to this day I will still ring my parents everyday - I make sure my brother knows that I’m here for him if needed and more importantly, I teach him the things my parents taught me. Family is everything - they are the people that unconditionally support you, help you, listen to you rant and cry, but also cover you when you make a mistake and teach you.
For me - Jeremy Hunt hit the nail on the head. We do need a change of culture on how we care for our elderly.
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