The Herald 29 October 2008
The struggling economy could increase resentment of immigrants unless more is done to help disadvantaged white people, the chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission warned yesterday.
Trevor Phillips said Britons who lose their jobs and struggle to get back into work were likely to feel angry if they thought immigrants were still employed.
Using the example of a mother who tries to get back into work to increase the family income, he said: "She sees a clever, young, Latvian with three degrees doing the job she would like to do. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out how she's likely to feel.
"She then sees an overworked nursery teacher with a class of 30 with 15 languages. We know who she's going to resent."
Mr Phillips told business leaders at the CBI's migration summit in London: "We need to make sure that, as services shrink and jobs disappear, the burden is shared, not falling on the few.
"We have to recognise that, in most parts of this country, the disadvantaged won't be black or brown, they will be white.
"The name of the game today is to tackle inequality."
