Bit of a rant of a thread here, maybe. A few things I've been thinking about for our sector with all these unlikely people coming out and praising migrant's contribution and being told to be happy about it and most of all MAKE SOMETHING of it...
Look, it's great, really brilliant, that a lot of big name right-wing commentators, as well as the PM, are coming out with warm words about migrant doctors and key workers at this time. I think it will continue to help the general trend of people being less anti-immigration...
It's helping our calls for measures to protect vulnerable migrants from coronavirus and there may be wins long into the future tapping into people's greater understanding of the good migration brings us and how we are all protected from harm as a society together, or not at all..
If we can turn a moment like this into a movement, we may win some real and important change. If a lot of people's opinion shifts just a little bit, it will make our jobs and the prospects of people seeking to come here in the future a little easier, a little better...
But what I don't like is the pressure from many sides about how we MUST MAKE SOMETHING of this. The reality is for all his chat about the migrant workers who saved his life, the PM has not indicated any other course than the one we are on, bringing in his points-based system...
This system proposes no route for low paid migrant key workers to build lives in our country on fair or decent terms. It will increase the risk of trafficking & numbers of undocumented people on the edge of our society & it's still due to come through parliament next week.
Under Cameron, after the 2015 "refugee crisis" and the photo of that poor drowned child that moved the whole country we pushed for change. One limited, exceptional resettlement scheme was introduced and the system wasn't changed.
Under May, after the Windrush scandal broke, black Britons were targeted for deportation after they and their families had come and built this country's public services and NHS, we pushed for change. One limited compensation scheme was introduced and the system wasn't changed.
It isn't over. We are working to push the recommendations from the Windrush Review to get bigger changes, and we are trying to see how we can capitalise on the good-will being shown in this crisis to improve the situation. But we are few and we are fighting against the tide.
There is too much pressure on our sector right now, from well-meaning folks on the outside, and from our own desire to win change from within. We need to be ready to forgive ourselves if we don't manage to reverse the course of Johnson's restrictive approach to migration.
We need to be strategic and to take opportunities to help people understand the value of a fair migration system. But we need an inch of realism too, and while we will win in the end, these warm words don't represent a victory for us yet. Don't expect it to.
And this is a perfect illustration (among countless one I could show you). The PM can stand up and say he's grateful to the foreign doctors who cured him & we're told to shut up and be grateful, while this is still policy under his damn government
