An exhitbition reveals there is nothing new about stirring up hatred over strangers, writes Frank Dobson

IT'S often said there is nothing new under the sun. When it comes to stirring up hatred against strangers, that is certainly true.
Whether you believe me or not, I suggest you visit the special exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Albert Street.
Entitled Closing the Door? Immigrants to Britain 1905-2005, it details a century of anti-immigrant campaigns and law making. It sets out the arguments used by the prejudice mongers in every decade, ranging from attacks on Jews and other refugees from eastern Europe 100 years ago to asylum seekers today. And it spells out the words they have used.
Virtually every bigoted phrase, every intolerant argument has been recycled again and again. The incomers are almost always portrayed as destitute, idle, disease-ridden and a threat to the British way of life.
There is a board in the exhibition with a century of noxious quotations from newspapers, politicians and demagogues.
What they say is the same. It’s only who said it and when they said it that changes.
Today, virtually everybody accepts that it was right for Britain to take refugees from Nazi Germany. But that wasn’t the accepted view at the time. So thousands went to their deaths because they did not qualify as refugees to Britain in the 1930s.
We have to learn that it’s no good being kind and principled after the event. It’s now that counts. I don’t know any decent people who want to send the persecuted back to torture and death, even when the British National Party, and people who should know better, are ranting on about asylum seekers.
The fact is that some asylum seekers think they are entitled to refugee status and they are. Others genuinely believe they are entitled but are not. Some others are just trying to fiddle the system.
But it’s better for everybody if their applications are dealt with humanely and promptly.
It’s also right to work for a better world so far fewer need to seek refuge.
In any case, as the exhibition shows, asylum seekers are only a minority of people coming to Britain. Many others come here to study or to work. Some intend to stay while others expect to be here for only a year or two.
And, of course, many British citizens go to study or work abroad. We all benefit from the two-way flow. Indeed, we owe some very British institutions to refugees and immigrants. The first fish and chip shop was opened by a Jewish immigrant in 1860.
Meals on wheels were pioneered by an Indian doctor in Battersea. Britain’s most successful car – the Mini – was designed by a Turkish-born Greek. Britain’s most famous heart surgeon was born in Egypt. TV’s most popular newsreader was born in Trinidad.
Wherever we go and whatever we do we depend on people who were once strangers to this land or on their descendants. Just think of the buses, corner shops, restaurants, take-aways, doctors and nurses and midwives, mathematicians and scientists.
And, of course, most of us or our ancestors were strangers in our time. Nearly every group when they first arrived were the target of bigotry over religion, national origin or race. Rampant prejudice against Catholics has been followed by rampant prejudice against Muslims. Notices saying “No Irish” disappeared and for a time were replaced by “No Blacks”.
Sadly as some people begin to feel more established, they start pointing the finger at later arrivals. It doesn’t make any difference. The nasties don’t drop one hatred to make room for another, they just add the latest to the list.
Most of us find comfort in familiar surroundings and are attached to the place we call home.
So it takes a lot to make anybody uproot themselves and their family and move to another country.
Some are driven out by fear. Others are attracted to what seems to them a good place. That is a compliment to Britain’s reputation and prosperity.
In my experience of advice services over 25 years, very few people who come to Camden come ‘to sponge’.
A few do but most of them are desperate for a job. One Friday evening at Camden Town Hall, no fewer than four highly-qualified doctors came seeking my help to get them work in the NHS.
It would have cost the taxpayer £1 million to train them here. We were getting them for free.
So, I strongly recommend a visit to the Jewish Museum whatever your race, religion or national origin. It’s a reminder of the evils that flow from bigotry.
• The exhibition runs until August 21. Call 020 7284 1997 for details.
• Frank Dobson is the Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras.