There’s a narrative in creative business that there’s nowhere in the UK that could ever match London. It’s a narrative that helps maintain London’s power, but it’s one that is ultimately false, damaging, and restrictive.

It’s an argument I’ve heard raised again in the debate over Channel 4 developing a regional headquarters and two satellite hubs outside its base in the capital.

All too often I have seen this plan presented by commentators as if it is a sop to the rest of the country – a patronising pat on the head from a broadcaster that is part publicly owned and therefore feels a reluctant requirement to develop its presence across the rest of the nation.

It is an argument led by those who clearly have never lived outside the capital, and have never witnessed the wealth of creative talent that exists beyond the boundaries of the M25.

Take my home city of Stoke-on-Trent, one of those which has made it through the first round of bidding to become a regional hub for Channel 4. Within a 45 minute commute we have Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, any number of cities and towns. When it comes to available talent, the reach of this area is vast.

We’re even commutable from London in an hour and 25 minutes.

But the naysayers are out in force. I hear it said that people in London, possibly existing C4 staff, or new recruits from wherever, would never want to come and live in North Staffordshire.

But anyone who thinks top level staff cannot be attracted to Stoke-on-Trent need only look at bet365. They have thousands of people from around the world who have come to live in Stoke-on-Trent. If a specialist and highly respected company like that can do it, why not Channel 4?

OK, London cannot be beaten for the entertainment and cultural offer it has. But young people cannot afford to live there. Young professionals in London end up sharing, seven to a house, like they are students. The quality of life is poor. They are on the limit of their earnings just to pay the rent. Without parental support they have no chance of buying a house because even a flat costs upwards of half a million. Many live on the outskirts, or in satellite towns, often in neighbourhoods that are far from pleasant.

Those above 35 will be looking for green space, good education, an area to raise a family. Look outside London and the options are endless. And unlike London, the housing is affordable. That same money that will buy a shoebox in London will buy a four-bed house with an acre of land around Stoke-on-Trent, a place not subject also to the pollution, the urban smog, that sits over London now. That’s before we’ve even talked about crime. London is a great city but would I want to live there? No.

At present, in the ‘regions’ we have a four-yearly bunfight for City of Culture. It is seen as the main opportunity to attract the multi-millions of investment and highlight the creative talent of an area. It is also, however, a lottery. Stoke-on-Trent, again, was shortlisted for the 2021 prize, but in the end lost out to Coventry.

That may yet prove a blessing in disguise. Make no mistake, City of Culture would have been great for Stoke-on-Trent, but Channel 4 offers far more opportunities. A hub would be permanent, bringing hundreds of jobs, a place on the map, exposure on TV.

The key to winning the bid, and again this applies to all the shortlisted cities – Sheffield, Belfast, Brighton, Nottingham, Newcastle-Gateshead, and Stoke-on-Trent – is to sell themselves to Channel 4, not in wishy-washy non-specific terms, but in a highly focused, sharp, business-like and factual manner.

They have to understand Channel 4’s criteria. What do they want? What do they need? What are they looking for that will persuade them to move? Once they know those details, a tailor-made proposition can be put together, presented by the right team – and by the right team I mean one not drawn solely from the public sector.

Let’s make one thing clear, this is not a job for councillors. If cities are to give themselves the very best chance of making the dream become reality and not just so much bluster, then the public sector cannot take this task on alone. The way to succeed is a city council chief executive backed up by a handful of key business, education, creative, and non-political figures. They are the people who can truly showcase what their city is all about – in Stoke-on-Trent’s case a great place to live, work, and play. A great place to invest, expand, and do business. A place of initiative and creativity. A place that delivers.

Cities such as Stoke-on-Trent could be the making of Channel 4, not the other way round.

Read more:
Shortlisted cities must use every asset to win Channel4 Hub bid

I am a living example of the positives of immigration. – I have 500 people working under my banner, with ambitions to grow that number to 1,000 in the next five years. I, the son of an immigrant, am making a contribution. I haven’t taken, I’ve given. I’ve invested in this country. The UK is my home, and I am proud to say that.

And yet, day after day, we are presented with the same old headlines telling us that immigration is the cause of the country’s woes. ‘These people’ are flooding in and giving nothing back. ‘These people’ are taking our jobs, our homes. ‘These people’ are driving the country to the point of collapse. ‘These people’ have stolen the ‘Great’ from Great Britain.

It’s a dialogue that is as ignorant as it is dangerous. A dialogue that fuels prejudice and tension. And a dialogue that causes nothing but damage to our country.

I am a lover of history. It is an abiding passion. But the history lesson of positive immigration is sadly, for various reasons, rarely told. Instead the same old lies are spread around like muck on a farmer’s field. The stench of self-preservation and power-mongering has the sick rising in my throat.

Shall we, for once, present an honest assessment of immigration, one that is untainted by political posturing and angry ill-will. OK, here goes. Yes, we are an island race. But we are an island race of migrants, be it Anglo Saxons, Vikings, Romans, Protestants, Asians, West Indians, or Jews.

The Jews, in particular, have been on the end of political vitriol for years. Why? Because it suits certain people to present them as greedy and avaricious. History tells us that in fact, their religion, as opposed to others, allowed them to lend money – money which those of other faiths both wanted and needed.

Rather than leeches, as they have been repeatedly portrayed, they were facilitators. They are a benefit to our country, not a drain. They provided an essential service – finance. They provided the money to finance wars, expeditions. Put simply, there would be no Great Britain without the Jews.

However, when those in power then couldn’t pay that money back, they demonised the Jews to try to get rid of them. It was the same old story – ‘the outsider is always bad’.

But the outsider isn’t always bad. Often they are the pioneers, the instigators, the creators of something long-lasting and special.

Look at Arighi Bianchi down the road in Macclesfield. The story of this high-class furniture store began in 1854 with a young Italian man, of modest upbringing, setting out ON FOOT to find a better life.

Antonio Arighi walked from the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy, over the Alps and across central Europe, to the little silk town. And there he began a business still revered to this day. Arighi Bianchi is a fantastic brand, and without immigration it wouldn’t exist.

That most quintessentially British of stores, Marks & Spencer, meanwhile, was formed in 1884 when Michael Marks, a Polish refugee, opened a market stall in Leeds. Tesco? It began when Jack Cohen, the son of Jewish migrants from Poland, began to sell war surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London.

Anwar Pervez, who owns the Bestway chain of businesses including pharmacies, stores, and cash and carries, grew up in a village in the Punjab. He would walk eight miles to school and back every day. Moving to England, he undertook a remarkable journey from Bradford bus conductor to founder of a conglomerate which has made him a £1.3billion fortune.

And yet there’s a perception that allowing a foreigner into our country is a bad thing. The truth is the complete opposite. The economy is bigger with migrants working in it and that leads to more taxes and more public services. I hear people saying there aren’t enough schools. Well, let’s build more – the economy is getting bigger, the country is getting bigger, so let’s service it properly.

Too often immigration is misconstrued as people ‘coming over here’ taking their jobs. It’s nonsense. Look at taxi drivers, why are so many of them Asian? Because they have created and taken those opportunities, where others haven’t. They made the effort where others wouldn’t get off their backsides.

Those who blame others for their misfortune should sometimes look closer to home. Often the blame lies no further than their own front door. They have the wrong mindset and the wrong approach. A get up and go mentality, which has been shared by immigrants down the years, is what drives personal betterment and success. It is all too easy to sit back and blame others. It’s a victim mentality, a negative approach.

Take responsibility for your own actions and change your life.

The irony is that Britons are perhaps the biggest immigrants of all. Britain created its empire by colonising other parts of the world. A lot of immigrants from those countries who’ve come here in the last 70 years, did so precisely because of that link. They came here because they were asked to fill manpower gaps in our economy. My dad came to England because there were agencies on streets in Pakistan recruiting people to come to work here.

I’m not saying we should have an open door policy. I’m just asking people to look further than the story constantly fed to us by certain elements of the media and politicians to gain advantage for themselves. They are telling us lies.

Boris Johnson gambled the whole country on Brexit for his own personal career advancement. He did that by telling two huge lies, on the NHS and immigration.

Politicians have been doing this since time immemorial. They breed misunderstanding and mistrust and then sit back and watch the people turn against each other. All to build their own power base. Politicians should prevent the illness of misinformation and prejudice. Instead all too often they are the source of the disease.

The problems we have in this world are not racial, they are political. The Middle East has been destroyed through regime change, instigated by Britain and America to satisfy their own agendas, leading to huge rifts in those societies and civil wars resulting in waves of political refugees. People have latched on to that, but they should be blaming the cause – the politicians – not the effect – the displacement of millions of people, some of whom, understandably, would like to make their homes here.

Don’t blame the immigrants. Blame those who tell you immigration is bad. They are selling you a twisted and damaging vision.

They are selling you, and our country, short.

They should stop telling lies.

And that in itself came from a decision to stage a referendum to settle an internal argument in the Conservative Party.

Samw There are thousands of foreign restaurants because people desire them. They add variety. We live in a capitalist system, one of demand and supply. We’re not in a racist system, we’re in a capitalist system.

Brexit should never have happened because it is based on lies based on the NHS and equally so immigration. This fear factor was all wrong.

Sir Francis Drake, knighted. He was a buccaneer; he made his money by nicking a Spanish galleon and sharing the bounty with Elizabeth 1. That gave the Treasury money to grow.

Immigration re-enegrises a country, it gives it growth, purpose.

M&S, Tesco, B&M Bestway Cash & Carry was set up by a chap who came here as a bus conductor. He now employs thousands of people, is a billionaire, and has been knighted. There are plenty of other examples of people who had done that.

Bloody Foreigners – A Thousand Years of History Of Migration to Britain.

Fact is, we have for 2,000 years not been a one-race society. We are a multi-race society, and the 21st century is a demonstration of that.

– it’s a great thing, and not enough people shout about it.

There are some incredible success stories.

Read more:
Why immigration is good for Britain