Friends, neighbours, migrants

Well done Caroline Lucas. The Green Party's only MP always talks sense and her contribution to the European debate says something no other politician has dared to say: the free movement of people is a good thing. 
'No case for the EU is complete without making clear just how much we value the contributions of our fellow Europeans to our country. They are our doctors, our nurses, our shopkeepers, our plumbers, our teachers, our professors, our builders. They are our friends, our neighbours.'
All we have heard so far is: immigrants = bad; free movement = terrorism.
Lucas counters this: 'The warped myth-making on migration won't be beaten by winning this referendum alone; it will be beaten when politicians are bave enough to stand up to the myths and lies and promote fair, alternative solutions.'
She is right. Immigrants are people like us who want to live somewhere where bombs don't fall, or regimes oppress. Or they simply want to achieve more than they can where they are.
When I was a young lad, I gave up the job I had in the city where I grew up and sought fame and fortune 300 miles away. How does that differ from a lad in Bulgaria wanting to see if he can make it in Germany, or Britain? That's what freedom of movement does. It gives people opportunities.
People from other countries may not look like us; they may not speak like us; they may be more keen on religion than us. Does that make them people to be feared, or interesting people from whom we may learn something? Do we still think we are best and all other people are inferior?
In American Donald Trump is gaining votes by telling people foreigners are the cause of all their troubles. I recall another demagogue telling the people of his country that all their troubles were caused by Jews. 
In Britain, we have Jeremy Corbyn challenging the status quo with a vision of the 1940s. And we have the Green Party, shaking things up with common sense on immigration and a basic state wage.
I like to think our radicals are more sensible than the Americans, but whether their voices are heard or drowned out by the bile will only become clear on June 24.