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Population Growth (Local Government Finance)

I am delighted to have been selected to introduce this debate, which will contain some complex statistical matter, although I hope not to test your patience too far, Mr. Jones. The part of west London that I have the privilege to represent has an excellent record of harmonious community relationships. Like much of London, Hammersmith and Fulham is home to people of a wide variety of cultures and religions. Well over 60 languages are spoken, by people from all continents. We have large communities from Africa, Pakistan and India, and many people from the nations of eastern Europe, most notably from Poland. Nearly 5 per cent. of residents are of white Irish origin and the area has also become a hub for younger visitors from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, who want to spend time in London. All those communities, in all kinds of ways, contribute to the vibrancy of Hammersmith and Fulham. The proportion of non-white ethnic groups in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is 22 per cent., and several wards in the borough figure in the top 10 per cent. in London in terms of numbers of various ethnic groups. Although ethnic diversity is high as compared with the country as a whole, it is not particularly high as compared with other parts of Greater London or inner London. Crucially, however, the proportions are high in the Irish category and ““white other”” category, which includes people from eastern European, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, of which I am one. Even though I am a British subject, I was born in the United States and am therefore classified as ““white other”” for the purposes of census returns and so on, as is my wife, so I know a bit about the issue. Despite excellent relationships between communities in Hammersmith and Fulham, Government policy penalises such places for taking a huge share of recent immigrants, owing to the Government’s failure to provide proper funding for their impact on basic local government services.