Guest post by Haydn Rushworth
Haydn Rushworth is the UKIP constituency candidate for Cardiff North.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, My Cardiff North.
One of the biggest misunderstandings about UKIP is that we hate Eastern Europeans.
I’d like to try to set the record straight. UKIP DOES NOT HATE EASTERN EUROPEANS! Let me tell you a little about myself and you’ll understand my perspective better.
My name is Haydn Rushworth (Haydn is pronounced like the composer, Franz Joseph Haydn… my father was a musician). I’m representing UKIP in the 2016 Welsh Assembly Elections in Cardiff North, and it might interest you to know that Yulia, my beautiful wife of 3 years now, is Romanian.
I’m originally from Yorkshire, and just a couple of weeks ago we gave birth to our first baby, a little Welsh girl that we’ve named Lizzie (Yulia is a big Jane Austen fan), so that makes us a fairly multinational little family.
There’s always more to tell, but that can come later. For now, back to those “racist UKIP” allegations that seem to stick to UKIP like treacle.
UKIP loves hard-working people who take personal responsibility seriously and contribute positively to their society regardless of where they come from. Every country has people to be proud of and people to be, well, frankly, ashamed of. That’s humanity for you.
Just like most other countries on earth, UKIP just wants Britain to be free to welcome ethical, responsible, hard working people from any country in the world (like my wonderful wife from Romania), but to also be free to protect itself from people who WE KNOW are coming here to cause trouble.
Terrorists, Drug dealers, thieves, credit card fraudsters, sex traffickers and villains of every variety.
UKIP wants Britain to be free to help rescue refugees who are genuinely fleeing for their lives regardless of which war-torn country they come from.
UKIP is NOT saying “Shut the borders, keep foreigners out”.
UKIP is saying, “welcome to our country fellow humans, please form an orderly queue so we can filter out the troublemakers and protect the peace and stability of the nation we are about to welcome you into”.
Let’s take a look at the current refugee crisis for a moment.
Let’s start, for arguments sake, by assuming that here in the UK, we have the ability to help 100,000 refugees per year with housing and financial help whilst they get themselves back in their feet.
If we had a choice between two options, which one would you choose…
Option 1) Survival of the fittest, anybody can come here. The first 100,000 people who can make it to our shores will get the housing and money, doesn’t matter if you’re coming here to cause trouble, where you come from and what your dodgy reasons are for coming here. If you’re an opportunist who’s ready to take on a tough challenge for a house and money in the UK, then buckle up, join the gold-rush and may the fittest and toughest ones win!
Or
Option 2) We, the British people, CHOOSE who to help, and we start with the weakest and most vulnerable. We make sure we start by helping children, mothers and the elderly along with husbands and fathers. We try to keep families together and bring those people to the UK to house and help them. After all, wouldn’t it make more sense to house 100,000 entire families instead of just 100,000 fit and able, single young men.
Of course, anybody with a heart would choose option 2, but the problem is, as long as we are a part of the EU, option 2 is simply impossible. That kind of compassionate policy, backed by the British people and aimed at helping those who need it most, is simply NOT POSSIBLE whilst we are members of the EU. I know it sounds like a broken record to keep saying this, but unless we can regain control of our borders we have no control over our ability to choose to help the weakest, most vulnerable and most needy.
Fundamentally, THIS is why UKIP wants us to leave the EU. Not to keep good people out, not to refuse to help those in need, but because frankly, whilst Britain’s compassion has no limits, unfortunately our ability to house and help people in need DOES have a limit. Housing is scarce and funds are thin on the ground, and UKIP simply wants to use those scarce resources as carefully, compassionately and responsibly as possible.
My Cardiff North 