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Introducing the Participants

Stephen, 64, Canvey Island

Occupation: Retired insurance professional

Political history: Typically Conservative, except when he lived in “the socialist republic of south Hackney” and voted for the SDP

Interesting fact: His focus in insurance was kidnap and ransom: “Everyone always says that insurance is dull, but it’s not when you’re discussing rescuing people from South Korea because the North Koreans have opened the missile silos”

Eva, 25, London

Occupation: Psychology graduate

Political history: In her home country, New Zealand, she supported both Labour and Green

Amuse bouche: Eva has been employed as a singer on ocean liners; her most extended voyage was six months, which is a significant duration to be at sea

For starters

She: Steve appeared there to have a nice time, to be receptive

Steve: She came across as a very bright, well-spoken, pleasant person

Eva: I had a caprese salad, mushroom pasta, and a rich sweet treat, it was delicious

The big beef

Eva: He was definitely on the side of immigration being reduced. He believes that British people who are native to the area, not just white British, face limited access to the essential services, because increasing numbers are entering. Whereas I just disagree that the figures are so problematic

Steve: I’m for skilled immigration, I have no desire to reside in a homogeneous, WASP country with tepid ale. But I believe that governments have exploited immigration to occupy positions they struggle to staff without raising wages. Pay are suppressed, so taxes have to be minimized, so we are unable to improve services – spend more money on child support, on schooling, on technology

She: I am not deeply informed of Brexit, because I was sixteen and abroad when it occurred. He clarified it to me in a different perspective. He informed me about EU labor migrants – people could come here and receive solely the salary of the country they came from

He: The French president spent two years getting the EU to abolish the scheme; it was revised in two thousand eighteen. Previously, posted workers coming in were undermining British workers. Under the former PM, it was oil workers that were brought in; since then it’s been hospitality, farms. She understood that, because she’d worked on a cruise ship and said she was earning significantly higher than workers from other countries

Sharing plate

Steve: It would be ideal to have a alternative power, transition from fossil fuels. I disapprove of environmental harm, I love the clean air, I appreciate rural areas. We agreed on a lot of that. But I said, “What do you think of Norway?” Their oil and gas profits soared after Ukraine started, they used that money to build eco-friendly systems

Eva: So we’re dependent on their petroleum. You can see that’s an unfavorable approach to proceed. He was supportive of maintaining domestic drilling for the limited quantity we’ll require in the coming years. I kind of agree with him. We’re still going to use planes. We both think we should be advancing to greener solutions, turbine fields and hydro

Dessert topics

Eva: We touched on Islamophobia, though we didn’t call it that. He seemed worried by radical ideologies entering – he did mention that a lot of the people in the Arab world were radical, which I felt was not accurate. I think it’s discriminatory to form opinions based on religion

Steve: I hail from the eastern part of London. I asked her if she’d been to Whitechapel, and she said it had been gentrified. Obviously, I would say that: full of yuppies. But when I go down Chrisp Street market, I look like a foreigner. People gaze at me because it’s become very Muslim. She gave a slight glance at me about that. I used the word “ghetto”. Eva’s got Polish-Jewish ancestry – she doesn’t like that word, to her it implies poverty. I said, “No, it’s an area that becomes theirs.” I consented to substitute a different word – maybe enclave?

Eva: I believe that followers of Islam are really overrepresented in the media as doing things wrong. It seems a somewhat racist, or xenophobic

Takeaway

Steve: I think we separated amicably. We had a embrace at the station

Eva: We both said that we’d had a lovely time