Kevin Rowan column

Apr 16 2007 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal

A little over a week ago the Daily Mirror `Hope not Hate' tour bus pulled up at Grey's Monument. The tour was all about promoting race equality in the run-up to the forthcoming elections, a message that appeared to go down well in the streets of Newcastle.

Our region is one of the least culturally diverse areas of the UK, but this is changing. The opening up of the European Union combined with the massive upturn in the number of visitors coming to the region is helping the rest of the world to see what a great place this is and it is also enabling the North-East to become much more `international' in its make-up and constitution.

Next weekend the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative will build upon this dynamic by taking the opportunity afforded by St George's Day to celebrate the international links that already exist in the region and to promote a much more inclusive and pluralistic outlook for the North-East.

We don't really have much of a choice here either; our population is ageing and shrinking. The Regional Economic Strategy sets out a challenge for the economy of the North-East to move from 80% of the UK average to 90% in 10 years.

Some people regard this as not ambitious enough, but success will mean creating somewhere in the region of an additional 70,000 to 80,000 new jobs.

This will mean attracting people to come and live and work in the region. The ambitious economic growth will quite simply not be achievable without significant inward migration.

Contrast these messages with those promoted by the National Front, who recently marched in Newcastle, and of other far right parties.

They march under the St George Cross with the message of `England for the (white) English', reflecting a bizarre and inaccurate view of Englishness that has only ever existed in their empty heads.

They have a vision which would see places like the North-East heading in the completely wrong direction, economically and socially.

I'm at a loss to understand why the National Front and other far right parties seek to make an impression in the North-East.

Their views are an absolute minority here and increasingly they appear to be swimming against the tide of what is happening.

These old fashioned views are not just politically abhorrent.

They also would hold the region back economically and socially --and should be totally rejected.