Dining across the divide: ‘My friends expect a negative response when they say they’re British, which is a shame’
Emily, 37, Plymouth
Occupation Nurse
Voting record Generally Labour; has voted Green, and occasionally Lib Dem tactically
Amuse bouche Has been an all-year sea swimmer
Quentin, 34, Penzance
Occupation Used to be a physio, now a web designer
Voting record Labour, Green and Lib Dem
Amuse bouche Quentin once owned a cow called Jesse. He had to rehome it when he moved from Ireland to England
For starters
Emily I tried not to have too many preconceptions, but I definitely had a few. He was nothing like I expected. Really nice guy, great beard.
Quentin She seemed nice, a bit nervous and reserved. But then I’m quite chatty and outgoing. Once we got conversing, she was lovely to talk to.
Emily I had some salt-and-pepper squid with a nice side salad. And he had some bread and olives, and then we both had a sticky toffee pudding at the end.
Quentin I had the crab linguine, which was delicious.
The big beef
Emily I struggle with immigration policy as is, because it attributes financial value to people and skills. It devalues a lot of cultural roles and/or artistic ones. I think in most cases you have to be earning over £38k before you can come here, and that rules out 95% of creatives. It’s also more than my salary, which is ludicrous.
Quentin I think economic migration should be encouraged, but for particular gaps in the skills market. What I said to Emily was that I feel like the systems in place are not in line with the demands being put on them. She thought there shouldn’t be any borders and everybody should be free to move wherever they like. I understood her point of view and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with it. But in terms of economic migration, if skills are what governments and society value, those are what should be encouraged.
Emily He was looking at it entirely from the point of view of the needs of the country, the shortfalls in the workforce – with people admitted only based on those criteria, whereas I struggle with the whole notion that we can decide who comes and who doesn’t. It’s a bit not-in-my-backyard type of an attitude. We don’t own this bit of land, it’s just another bit of land.
Quentin I’m an economic migrant here. That’s what I view myself as. But a lot of people coming into a country, who are less familiar with it, need more help. That could be linked to the years of Tory government and the decimation of public services, I guess.
Sharing plate
Emily I wouldn’t mind the monarchy being abolished, and I wouldn’t mind it remaining, but if it remains, it really has to change.
Quentin I definitely think the royals are culturally important. I was talking about how I’m very proud to be Irish; I tell people that and I always get a good response. My fiancee is English and I’ve loads of English friends, and when they say they’re British, they’re expecting to get a negative response. That’s a bit of a shame.
Emily He feels the monarchy gives us cultural standing, and therefore tourism. It seems like a very large pot of money to spend on that, money that could probably be really useful in many other places.
Quentin OK – they shouldn’t get the tax breaks and all the economic benefits they get, and all the land.
For afters
Emily Should Britain apologise for its colonialist past? For me, an apology is fine, but it has to be backed up with an acknowledgment of what happened and proactive teaching about it.
Quentin Individually I don’t think people should have to apologise for a colonial past. At a higher level, the government and the monarchy and whatever, I don’t know if apologising is the correct thing, but acknowledging that wrong was done is appropriate.
Takeaways
Emily We found out that he used to live very near Plymouth so we’ve probably mixed in the same circles. I would not be surprised if our paths had already crossed. If I ran into him in the street, I’d be absolutely chuffed to see him.
Quentin We exchanged numbers. I showed her where she could go for a swim after we ate. Sure, we’d just eaten, but I like to live life on the edge – and I wasn’t the one swimming.
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake
• Emily and Quentin ate at Barbican Bistro, Penzance
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