Nitpicking the rest

Watching an ITV program this evening  screened From Leicester where the Referendum was being debated by a collection of local people one was struck by the make-up of the audience and their resilience to put forward arguments specifically tied to what they see as a series of inequalities which would make their parents blush with embarrassment.

The program illustrated the changing demography from what we in leafy Bishops Stortford, assume is our country  populated much as we observe it in the streets and our local Supermarkets. 
The claims made by the audience regarding people willing to work for lower wages and accept longer working hours was strangely reminiscent of the claims made in the 50s and 60s regarding their parents. They felt it unfair that workers coming from Europe had skills that they didn't have and therefore they felt they needed protection !!
What a damming indictment of this country that a person from Lithuania or Bulgaria, Poland or Estonia, countries who have really suffered the deprivations of war and who economies are far far smaller and less sophisticated than ours but have managed to produce workers more economically valuable than ours.
There seems to be something terribly wrong in the way our kids especially the white children from deprived sections of society are failing and emerge from 8 years of schooling, innumerate and illiterate.
Is it a culture thing, children from the Caribbean and certain parts of Africa also seem to under achieve whilst Asian kids from equally poor environments seem to lap up education and become the ones who flaunt their wealth when older, driving by in their huge Rolls Royce motor cars.
Leicester known as a human melting pot, now famous for its football, has many questions to ask of the Referendum. It seems strange for them to identify with the importance, in their minds the question of sovereignty, when their parents, so many years ago  had made the decision to leave their own national patch. These first generation Brits seemed to know the value of living here much more than we, the indigenous do.
Perhaps we take for granted so much of what passes for political stability here. Perhaps our police and the courts give them a reassuring sense of security. Perhaps it's our sense of fair play and support for the under-dog (dogs in general),  our general sense of tolerance and a largely free media to hear and if we can, express our opinions, these are great motivations if you come from a society where the taste of tear gas is common and the threat of homicide a regular deterrent from stepping outside at night.
Yes we take so much for granted which I suppose thankfully,  leaves lots of time to 'nitpick' the rest.