Presumably you subscribe to the notion that we live in a democracy. Leaving aside the question of how wide a cross section of public opinion you have "collected" working in a local authority, I have always understood that the principles of democracy involved listening to all voices, not just those of what may appear to be the majority.

I am not in the least surprised by what you say about ethnic minority groups, having worked at the Commission for Racial Equality for seven years - those safely and legally present in the UK are just as inclined to "pull the ladder up" thinking as any other group.