Reply to comment

"I watched an edition of Question Time not so long ago which had Robert Kilroy-Silk on. As he pointed out mass immigration has changed the character of our country, and many others in Europe, but this has been done without us being consulted and without our consent"

If cultural development requires the consent of the current generation then it simply will not happen.  It's like cryongenically freezing someone to keep them young. 

Many things have changed the character of our countries without our consent.  Have a look at good old Santa:  Coca Cola company.  Who took a vote on that?  It is quite pathetic people moaning about the erosion of our culture by immigrants when we have been culturally colonised from across the Atlantic without a murmur.  Whether you are talking about the Disnification of the likes of Mary Poppins or Winnie the Pooh, awful beer, the eclipse of the adverb or a milk shake which is thickened with cold chicken fat, it has been almost excusively negative.

By contrast the waves of European, African and Asian immigration have enhanced and added to our culture.  This applied to the Hugeunots, Russian Jews, Wind-Rush Carribeans, Ugandan Asians or the current rush of East Europeans.  All have made this country a little more interesting and a little more varied.  If the Swiss think they can ring fence their culture against dilution by  foreigners then they are sadly mistaken.  Their crude attempts to preserve cultural purity will atrophy and kill their culture, not preserve it.