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Introducing the Participants

First Participant: Peter, 34, London

Occupation Ex- government employee, currently a student focusing on public health

Voting record Supported Green recently (and a member of the party); formerly Labour Party. Identifies as “progressive, and globalist rather than nationalist”

Interesting fact A drawing of a teacup he created as a child was once hung in the National Gallery of Ireland

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Other Participant: Akshat, 43, from Harrow

Profession Risk analyst in the infrastructure industry

Political history Originally from India, he has lived in the UK for five years, and voted Conservative. Describes himself as “somewhat right of centre”

Interesting fact Akshat self-learned to understand Urdu. “It has no practical use for me, I simply found it intriguing”

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Initial impressions

The first participant During the past two decades, I have resided and been employed in the Middle East, South Korea, the United States. The topics we talked about are focused on Britain, but they are also universal, because human life largely evolve similarly across the world. I was expecting a staunch liberal, but Peter wasn’t all gung ho – we had a good, rational discussion. I drank beer, Peter had mojitos.

The second participant We shared starters – seafood rolls, steamed buns, daikon cakes with beansprouts, which were superb. I was a little nervous, as I think he was too. Was he going to attack me for my sensitivity? We’re both immigrants. My childhood was in Dublin; I’ve lived in the United States and Spain. We connected through our affection for the capital.

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Key disagreements

The first participant I look at migration like adding salt to a meal. With a small amount, the dish is delicious. Use too little or too much and the meal is insipid or overly seasoned.

The second participant He used an analogy regarding seasoning. It would be a funny place to be if the state was choosing some preferred demographic of the nation.

Akshat There are, unfortunately, individuals escaping oppression, but many migrants arriving in the UK are economic migrants who may not contribute much and can burden the welfare system. No one compels you to move to a different nation for opportunity, so you ought to relocate if you are able to support your own needs and your family.

Peter We became confused with certain details. In my view it is the case that you arrive and are employed and then following a half-decade you get permanent citizenship. Nothing is automatic. The climate has been unwelcoming for some time, application costs are quite expensive, there is an healthcare levy, access to benefits is restricted. The red carpet isn’t rolled out for anybody. And regarding the new policies, whereby you can’t bring your family over, it is astonishing to state: we desire your labor, but we reject you as a person. I believe we have to have a degree of humanity.

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Common ground

Akshat Peter questions unregulated markets. I am, too, but at the same time, wealth creation benefits society and ought to be promoted.

The second participant We each have global outlooks. And we agreed that some parts of society – government, the media – benefit from creating conflict. We discovered common ground in fundamentals and ethics.

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For afters

Akshat Peter is of the opinion that because the UK benefitted from the colonial era, it ought to provide compensation to those countries. My view is simply: you cannot judge the past with contemporary ethics; eras vary, current society had no control of what happened decades or a century ago. Suppose the Britain had to compensate India, it would be a significant sum of funds. Is the UK in a position to manage that? No.

Peter Until recently, I believe there was much reckoning with colonial history. As an instance, when I first moved to the UK, people had little knowledge of the Great Famine and the role that imperial rule played in it. My view is decolonisation is not merely about issuing payments, it should be about examining what went wrong and our current responsibilities.

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Takeaways

The first participant It won’t change the way I think, but I appreciate his worries. I talk to people regularly with opinions are contrary to my own. The goal is bringing everyone to the common understanding, in order that all of us can work towards the betterment of the community.

Peter We remained for two and a half hours. Akshat had dessert and I had a Japanese dessert wine. I didn’t persuade him of any point, but we each liked dinner, so we might become more open to engaging in dialogues with others in future.