ABSTRACT
British society in 2019 displays divisions on immigration and race. There is a tradition of welcoming refugees and immigrants but there is also hostility from some with discrimination and exclusion based on race, ethnicity, and religion. The Brexit referendum and rise of the political right have bolstered the confidence of some espousing xenophobia. At the other end of the tolerance spectrum are communities volunteering to sponsor resettled refugees, primarily, but not exclusively from Syria. These communities could be said to be putting into action the values officially promoted by the government as ‘British Values,’ developed since the terror attacks on London in 2007. This chapter examines the relationship between values and sponsorship and asks, leaning on Michael Waltzer’s On Toleration, how tolerance might be extended in a country where immigration has happened more quickly than its core citizenry has managed to adapt to it.
