Sorry JulieF - I had another squint at the form, and the question about country of birth is there after all. (The thing that got me confused is that they used to invite a more specific answer, which would have indicated county rather than just country.)

As for Cook's speech - of course like any politician in the run-up to an election, he's into scoring points and drumming up support. That's what they do for a living. The interesting thing is though that he clearly thinks that, this time round, the winning card to play is the anti-racist one - traditionally the boot is on the other foot. I find that quite encouraging.

Of course, it distracts attention from the fact that in a lot of ways the Labour government is every bit as racist as the Tories - in an ostensibly anti-racist law that permits and encourages racist discrimination by immigration officers.