I am actually begging @BBCNews to at least attempt a little thing called "journalism" when reporting on people seeking asylum, rather than just being a Home Office stenographer. At least try and include context, rather than just quoting stats. #r4today. 1/
bbc.com/news/articles/… Here's the thing, small boat crossings tend to follow the same pattern, even if numbers change, due to something called "the weather", shocking I know. Numbers change for small boats though as other policies kick in preventing people using alternative, safer, routes. #r4today 2/

Yesterday four people, including a child, died crossing channel. On Monday at least 48 people died reaching Djiboutian. At least 68,123 people died trying to reach safety in the last decade. We need cooperation to make it safer to seek asylum, not harder.
standard.co.uk/news/politics/…
People know the risks they are taking by using irregular routes. Most aren't looking at social media thinking, "I was going to stay here and face almost certain death, persecution or abuse, but now I have seen this TikTok video I'll risk my life on dangerous routes."

Setting aside the illegality of the Rwanda Policy, which Germany can't get around by just passing a law to say that an active dictatorship is "safe", and the inhumanity of it, the plan is even more unworkable for the continent than the UK. 1/ #r4today
bbc.com/news/articles/… Okay, first off, the numbers issue. Rwanda, a country of the size of Wales and the most densely populated country in continental Africa, has the capacity to take and process claims of about 200 people per year. Simple maths shows it is pointless. 2/

THREAD: Much as I personally believe Nigel Farage is a racist and revels in spreading hate, I have some issues with the way people are saying the far-right riots we are seeing right now are the #FarageRiot. It's too simplistic and ignores decades of hostile rhetoric. 1/ Last time I brought this topic up I was accused of "both siding" things, so let's quickly clarify this. Both siding would be if I was trying to say there are "good people' on the far-right. I am not. Sorry, "legitimate concerns" went out the window when violent attacks started 2/

Long thread; A lot of the violence we have seen over the last few days has been stoked by years of misinformation about migration, often from many of the politicians condemning it now. So, let's address some of that misinformation. 1/ Crime: In Britain, there is no correlation between higher levels of immigration and increased violent crime. Migrants are statistically, and proportionally, less likely to report crime though, and more likely to face hate crimes. 2/

https://x.com/jdportes/status/1819478379432722642?t=Jhe96Fclmg6XjzocvcVigA&s=19

Since I wrote this thread on @UKLabour's Asylum and Immigration policies several things have been depressingly clear. First off, things are going to get worse. Cooper's announcement of increased immigration raids, and the blinkered defence of them by some, shows this. 1/

https://twitter.com/stand_for_all/status/1813607460097364248

The second is how much harder it is going to be for organisations and individuals fighting for migrants' rights. A lot of support over the last 14 years wasn't "pro-migrants rights". It was "anti-conservative". Obviously this isn't new though. 2/

Okay, a, very, long thread on @UKLabour's asylum and border policies announced today in the #KingSpeech. The short version to start though is that they are, aside from processing applications and cancelling the Rwanda plan, overwhelmingly harmful. 1/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6697ac9c…
First off, this isn't new. Anyone remember the Clandestine Channel Threat Commander for example. Secondly, as explained in the linked thread, and as strange as this may sound, increased border security actually strengthens smuggling gangs. 2/

https://x.com/stand_for_all/status/1813129441083617695

The stories about "gangs" grab headlines, but the reality is that the majority of convictions for smuggling are of people actually making the crossing themselves. All the evidence shows that harsher border policies force more people into the hands of gangs though. 1/ Globally, most smugglers are small groups or independent operators. For example we were seeing a significant increase in "self- facilitated" crossings in the channel, by groups who arrange things themselves without relying on gangs. 2/

Strawman argument from Hodges here. No-one is pretending that immigration didn't play a part in Reform's wins, just that it was the rhetoric and misinformation about immigration they spread rather than migration itself. 1/ Look at Essex for example, where Reform won two of its five seats. It has substantially lower immigration than the UK average, yet higher than average levels of deprivation in parts. This makes people an easy target for messages which scapegoat migrants. 2/

Deep breath. Oookay then. Seeing as an earlier thread of mine has generated, shall we say some unfortunate abuse. Let's have a little deep dive into why criticism of Badenoch, Rowling etc is not misogynistic and just reality. 1/ Firstly, let's address the "oh look a man telling women what they think". No, absolutely not. There are numerous issues I will not ever try and talk about because I recognise that I do not have the knowledge or life experience to do so. 2/

It's #WorldRefugeeDay, so, let's have some facts about those seeking asylum, not more divisive hatemongering. Firstly, most of those seeking asylum in the UK do so because they have existing ties here. That's why arguments such as "France is a safe country" are meaningless. 1/ If you have fled from war or persecution your concept of "safety" is going to be very different from someone going on holiday. You want to be somewhere you know people, have a community, and speak the language. That's why no amount of "deterrents" will stop people coming. 2/

Okay, deep dive into Reform's "contract" and what it says about immigration. Not a great start when the opening gambit is such a clearly misleading statement. Crucially here they are including arrivals, and ignoring people who left, this obviously changes the figures. 1/

You cannot accurately predict immigration trends over this period of time. They are too susceptible to change. Figures like this are used frequently to scaremonger about immigration, but the reality is that picking numbers out of a hat would be as accurate. 2/

THREAD: The thing about asylum policies is they do need to be practical. No-one who is serious about this disagrees. There's a lot of posturing and grand standing, by all parties, but at the end of the day people do want to see channel crossings reduced and sensible policies. 1/ 58% of people polled agree that we should allow either current numbers of people seeking asylum or more. The number of people who want to see fewer though has been increasing, and that needs dealing with. 2/

I have, technically, been on annual leave this week, which just means being stuck in my own head and worrying about work ahead of going back next week. So let's have a little dive into being #ActuallyAutistic and being unable to switch off, along with a couple of other things. 1/ First and foremost, the next person to tell me I should "just switch off" will likely cop some harsh words. Why do people say that? Do they think that they are suggesting something which no-one ever thought of before? 2/

I'm begging @UKLabour to shelve the rhetoric of "our cruelty will be more competent" on asylum. Anyone who knows enough about this subject to comment knows returns just create a cycle of exploitation and harsher border policies force more people into irregular routes. 1/ #r4today Instead of criticising @Conservatives for incompetence, @UKLabour should be focused on their inhumanity. All the evidence shows that if you want to reduce people using irregular routes, and thereby tackle gangs, you need to make it safer and simpler for people to seek asylum. 2/

This government has been warned repeatedly about this. More than a year ago we were seeing children being actively mis-aged by the Home Office. They know they're putting chicken at risk. You have to be supremely twisted to support that. #r4today. 1/
theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/j…
Do some adults try and pretend to be children? Yes, some do. There's no denying that, but they form a minority. When people quote "age discrepancy" statistics etc, what they tend to miss out is that children are far more likely to be treated as adults than the other way round. 2/

A lot of people struggle at this time of year, I know I can, so hopefully this thread may help some either to get the assistance they need, or to support charities so others can. It is far from an exhaustive list. There are so many great charities providing much needed help. 1/ First up, if you need to talk then the @samaritans are there to help. They are open every day, all day, and always there to listen. They have been an absolute rock at times, and are for so many people. 2/
samaritans.org

For those following along at home we are in the position whereby, due to Rwanda breaking international law the UK put forward a bill to allow it to break international law, so it could do a deal with Rwanda, but Rwanda doesn't want the deal if the UK breaks international law. 1/ In the meantime, because this isn't heading into the realms of farcical enough, the Minister for Immigration who championed the first deal which would break international law has now quit because the deal to allow the first to happen didn't break enough international laws. 2/

The principle of non-refoulement is at the heart of more than just the Refugee Convention. It is perhaps one of the simplest principles in international law. All it means is that you don't send people to a country where their lives are at risk. 1/ When you say that you want to "axe" the principle of non-refoulement, you are, deliberately or otherwise, saying that you have no issues with innocent people being persecuted, tortured or killed. You know, so long as it is somewhere else and you don't have to watch. 2/

I see it took less time than usual, actually it didn't, for client journalists to back the idea that human rights need to be destroyed to be defended. The options listed here are clearly false, and still don't include the options needed. 1/ #r4today

thetimes.co.uk/article/c9f6e0…
I am begging journalists to stop claiming the Australian system is:
1) effective
2) lawful
It's not. It has been demonstrated to be a failure which cost lives. The last thing any country should do is see Australia as a role model on this. 2/ #r4today
theguardian.com/australia-news…

All this talk about how "Sunak is waiting for the verdict on the Rwanda policy" before sacking Braverman isn't quite the politically astute move some seem to think. Long thread on the pointlessness of the Rwanda policy and why Sunak's best option is to fire Braverman before. 1/ First off, fairly obviously, it means this drags on until Wednesday. That's a long time in politics at the best of times. From a political perspective there are two main ways this plays out at this stage. 2/