It seems to me that we are becoming a nation of xenophobes. Community cohesion is breaking down along ethnic lines. We all heard, I am sure, about the two men booted off a plane on Tuesday, and I strongly suspect it was simply because of their skin tone and age – they looked like stereotypical terrorists. This is, to be sure, a rather scary time, but the moment we start questioning multiculturalism is the moment we lose our own cultural identity.

I blame David Cameron. His attempt to make xenophobia seem reasonable acted to increase interethnic tension in this country, for by calling for a debate on immigration would have made members of ethnic minorities feel unwelcome. It was like saying ‘we do not want any more of you lot coming here.” This would have made such people feel isolated, acting against community cohesion. In other words, by framing a debate along arbitrary divisions, he acted to increase those divisions. I think this is partly responsible for the incident on the plane.

When did we become a nation of xenophobes?