Walking home from the railway station last week my walk took me along one of the busiest streets in Hull of which I take in about a mile. Before turning off the road I realised that, in all the voices and conversations I overheard on the way, I only heard one sentence in English. I have lived in Hull for 22 years. When I first arrived, this was a street full of local and long-standing shops and business. There were grocers, tradesmen, newspaper shops, second-hand shops and workmen’s cafes. A series of recessions and an emphasis—aided and abetted by our Labour council—on out-of-town shopping centres and DIY centres and a massive 24-hour chain supermarket in the centre of the city, means that these small businesses have folded. After a few years, the road was almost deserted of local shops, many were boarded up. It became uncomfortable to walk down as there were few people around except drug dealers and drug users.
Government policies at local and national level have transpired to empty many city centre streets of indigenous businesses along with which go jobs, earnings and the security that goes with them. In a city like mine there are not a great many other opportunities and there is a concomitant increase in claiming social security and the myriad problems associated with poverty and loss of self-esteem. There is a knock-on effect on our health services. In a city like Hull, where jobs are scarce and expectations are low, a common ticket to housing and social security for young girls is to get pregnant as early as they can and to exist thereafter on benefits as single mothers creating a vicious cycle of dependency.
Also, at the behest of our government, a flood of East European and other refugees and legitimate migrants into Hull has filled the vacuum and transformed this street. Initially a few ethnically diverse shops opened and in the past few years it is hard to find a business that is owned by a traditional Hull resident. The street is now lined with a series of relatively new shops and restaurants. The most prominently represented minority is Azerbaijanis followed by Poles. But there are also Chinese, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Afro-Caribbean minorities. You are much more likely to hear ‘asalam o alikum’ than ‘ey-up’.
I am merely commenting here and not criticising those who have opened these businesses. I have previously paid tribute to my local ethnic shops. On my walk home last week, the street was lively; crowded even. I felt safe and it is noticeable how Roman Catholic Poles co-exist peacefully with a range of Islamic minorities. The shops spill out on to the street with their fruit and vegetable stands. It is colourful and some wonderful sounds and aromas emerge from the restaurants. I am sometimes reminded of the back streets, off the tourist trail in Bahrain. There is absolutely no trouble, and everyone is polite. I know from the local police that, on the whole, these are law-abiding communities. If, for example, the Islamic communities are incubating extremists there is no evidence and it is clearly in their own interests to suppress this kind of activity. But the change to our city, especially to some of the areas where local shops have long ago closed is palpable.
The ethnic minorities that have come to Hull are comprised of hard-working people with strong family values who are willing to open their shops before I am awake and to keep them open long after I am asleep. Provided they are here legitimately and operating their businesses within the law and contributing to the wealth of the nation then it would be churlish to complain. But I strongly suspect that there is not a ‘level playing field’ operating here. The number of immigrant owned shops is increasing; these are now the local businesses. However, the number of immigrants is also increasing visibly, and it is hard not to conclude that once a foothold is established a steady stream of cheap labour into these incredibly self-sufficient communities means that traditional, local—and largely white—residents simply do not stand a chance of setting up businesses.
I salute these dedicated people who have brought life to our streets; if I were one of them, I would probably come here too. I think we have a great deal to learn from them. But it seems to have escaped the notice of central government that, for many years, they have created economic conditions that have forced the closure of small traditional businesses. Now, in the wake of COVID-19 they have really finished the job with over 500,000 job losses since the start of the pandemic. This is absolutely crystal clear in Hull where the numbers of boarded up businesses is increasing again, and it takes me back about a decade. Not that I would wish it upon them, but it is noticeable that no local ethnic minority shops have closed, in fact they have thrived and grown in number.
I mentioned that I did understand one sentence in English; it emanated from a young Hull man sitting on the pavement who asked me if I could ‘spare some change?’
Opinions from the Unity News Network (UNN) editorial team & various contributors. | UNN always clearly distinguishes between news and opinion pieces and as an open minded outlet we publish views from a variety of people and organisation that do not necessarily reflect the views of UNN or its writers. Articles published under UNN Opinions are always opinion pieces and if published on behalf of a contributor will contain that authors name at the start of the piece.
