Literally how is it possible for idiot after idiot to go unchallenged on #r4today saying that Europe's borders are somehow "open" when we can see the desperate, often deadly, measures people are forced to take to try and cross them - PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY ARE CLOSED?
These people quite literally will not be satisfied that we have locked enough refugees out of our rich countries until we replace the fucking Mediterranean Sea with a mine field and barbed wire.
Their dream is a wall around the rich world. But people will always build a ladder.
Deep breath and I'll say once more: migration is natural. Migration is life. People move. Have always & will always move.
You make that work or you make it deadly. The one thing you cannot do is make it stop.
European borders are NOT open and THAT is why migration is a problem.
Also , I should mention, its ironic, given one of the things Johnson will be trying to get out of Orban's visit today is a deal for the UK to send asylum seekers to Hungary instead.
Likely in exchange for a temporary migration opportunity for 14 Hungarians to work here. #r4today
Obviously Hungary is not a truly safe country for us to offload asylum seekers onto, but see if that stops them trying.
Hungary's govt would struggle ofc to justify any deal to shoulder the UK's asylum responsibilities to their public, but I wouldn't say it 100% can't happen.
I'd say it's very unlikely... but it could happen and would be very, very bad news.
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Anyone who's been enjoying the Cummings thing today has forgotten that this government simply doesn't take accountability and even if everything Cummings said was 100% verifiably true almost definitely eff all would come of it & the Tories will gain 12 pts in the polls.
Biggest thing that could possibly come of it is Hancock goes and honestly, who gaf about that?
Yes. I'm bloody moody today, could you tell?
On reflection, I do not deny that some of it made for some quality content. But that's as far as it goes 🤷♀️
Priti Patel will be announcing some re-hashed and possibly some new immigration policies today at an event by @BrightblueGB, nominally the progressive think tank of the Tory party.
Patel will be once again claiming overwhelming public support for her anti-migrant and anti-refugee agenda, despite extremely limited evidence of anything of the kind.
Immigration is not a top concern in the country any more, but by God she's sure trying to change that.
Thanks to those who pointed out I in fact did mean @WeAreBrightBlue who are running the event alongside @britishfuture and who have put on a very interesting-looking couple of panels to follow on from the Home Secretary's speech discussing the challenges her policies provoke.
OK. Not the slightest bit sorry, my account will now be a #Eurovision account for the next many hours.
My top five going in are probably...
- Finland
- Sweden
- Ukraine
- Italy
- Norway
Now. I've picked out a pair of sequinned fishnets, but I cannot work out what else... 😱
Help me out, guys, have a gone too serious for #Eurovision ??
Today @jameskirkup has a piece in the Times explaining where he thinks people who campaign for a less brutal immigration system go wrong
He's far from alone in taking this view from a generally liberal perspective, so without any personal antagonism to him, I'm going to respond👇
The first charge - that we want open borders.
Well, we might well see that as the end goal, yes, but it's not a fair charge. When people stand up against deportations it 1. doesn't follow that anyone should be able to come in, just that these people shouldn't be forced out
2. Is not necessarily the appropriate time for advocates to start discussing who they *would* kick out. Not talking about who it is legitimate to deport, when talking about not deporting one or other individual, does not = calling for open borders.
This is a strange straw man.
Someone asked me, and I think they have a point perhaps, whether the attempted deportation of 2 Indian men from Kenmure Street is linked to the new pact with India on migration.
It's possible. Having this deal in place will make undocumented Indians more of a target, but...
Given the feedback loop that exists in immigration enforcement "intelligence" (which is largely based on evidence collected from previous raids, and denunciations from members of the public, which they dont monitor ethnicity data for, nor publish how they control for quality...)
Due to this Indian communities are already one of the most targeted demographics.
However, this new deal may mean they are specifically seeking to pursue Indian people who they have on radar as deportation flights ought to be smoothly facilitated to India because of the deal.
Also Tuesday @BellRibeiroAddy tabled an EDM in support of @JCWI_UK's campaign #WeAreHere
It calls for a new route to regularisation for our undocumented migrant population & better routes to secure permanent status for all migrants making the UK their home edm.parliament.uk/early-day-moti…
I wrote an article for @GreenWorld_UK about how Priti Patel's Nasty New Plan for Immigration shows she has learned all the wrong lessons from the Covid pandemic, continuing to push migrant workers into precarity, exposing them to greater risk greenworld.org.uk/article/govern…