I think the fear of immigration amongst the working class is often more acute, Sqad, because of the fear that they will be a source of competition for those manual and low-skilled jobs, together with other perceptions that colour opinion - depress wages, increase the competition for housing - all of that. So it is seen as a real threat, and indeed from an economic perspective it can hardly bee seen as anything else.
Prejudice based upon race is not confined to the working class though - witness the "white flight" from the suburbs, fuelled in part by the view that such immigrants would bring down house prices.
And the casual almost unthinking racism and unthinking assumed superiority of the white upper- middle or upper class male is pretty sickening to see.
What I object to is perception, prejudice and personal recollection fuelling the debate, rather than facts, as well as the confirmation and selection bias of many when seeking those "facts".
There is no question in my mind, for instance, that big business was rubbing its hands with glee whilst new labour were in power at the influx of cheap labour from eastern europe, which helped to drive down the wage demands of the indigenous workforce and create a climate of fear and uncertainty. Pronouncements from every head of the CBI on this issue all through that decade are evidence of that.
But the global movement of people,in search of a new or better life, or better prospects, or opportunity cannot be denied. The USA was formed on such principles. We cannot turn back the clock, we cannot stuff the genie back in the bottle, unless you wish to turn the UK into some kind of insular authoritarian nightmare of a place like North Korea.
Colour of ones skin should not be an issue for anyone, nor what colour we might all be in 50,100 or 500 years time - its an irrelevance. What is important is to determine which cultural values are core to our identity, that are worth fighting for and keeping.