Difficult to know where to begin with this obscene clip, a day after a young woman died of extreme poverty after claiming asylum and being unable to work. But let’s try. /1
Current regulations are ‘open to abuse’. What ‘abuse’? For an immigration-obsessed government in power for 10 years you might have expected to have solved this if it is such a big issue. /2
Attack on ‘activist lawyers’. Lawyers act on behalf of their clients and use the means allowed *in law* to get the best result for their clients. But aim here is to cast the blame wider than migrants themselves. /3
Correct that EU regs will no longer apply. But, as @StevePeers and others have pointed out repeatedly, the lack of this EU law framework will make returns much harder not easier. /4
And if the UK simply expects other EU states to take back returnees - then good luck with that. Take back control means removing cooperation frameworks. And for a gov that likes passing ever more immigration law, this shouldn’t be a surprise. /5
And for other return agreements, the UK gov is going to have to think about what it is going to offer in return to conclude an agreement - these won’t come easy (or cheap). /6
And as for crossings being ‘totally unnecessary’ - right, no-one should be in this position to make a dangerous. But with no safe route to get to the UK, refugees and asylum seekers will be pushed furthermore into using ever more dangerous routes. /7
At the heart of this are *people*. Human beings. Who are vulnerable and desperate. What does it say of our society (let alone ‘Global Britain’) when a gov department directs such hatred towards such individuals? /end
