A hope in hell

Any self-respecting independent island nation ought to be able to secure its own borders, right? Well, patently not if that nation happens to be the UK under a clapped-out, morally bankrupt Conservative government.

When you've just wilfully severed almost fifty years of co-operative links with your nearest continental neighbours and totally fucked up your immigration system, no wonder thousands of desperate migrants are willing to risk the dangerous Channel crossing in small boats from the French coast to gain access. They cannot and will not wait forever in unsafe and insanitary encampments,  within sight of the White Cliffs of Dover on a clear day, without chancing their luck. No wonder, either, that the French authorities for their part seem unable or unwilling to do much to prevent them. Short of blasting these boats out of the water (something I suspect many xenophobic Brexiteers, including Tory MPs, would enthusiastically welcome) the only realistic response from the UK is to provide a functioning immigration system and safe routes to enter the country.

Increasingly hollow threats of deportation to Rwanda (and now Ascension Island), strident rhetoric about 'illegal' immigration, overcrowded ex-military detention camps and unsafe floating accommodation barges are clearly not acting as a deterrent. The small boats keep coming, creating misery for would-be settlers and resident coastal populations alike, to say nothing of further tarnishing our already damaged international reputation and exposing our supposedly 'hardline' politicians for the feeble, incompetent nincompoops they are.

One thing is clear, and must be even to the most purblind xenophobe: the refugee/asylum seeker/migrant issue is not going away and can only, given the deteriorating state of the world's climate (both meteorological and political), become more and more acute. It can, however, be managed. Yes, that will inevitably mean admitting more migrants - and if xenophobic bigots find that a bitter pill to swallow I hope they choke on it - but it will also require a concerted global effort to tackle climate change, environmental degradation and regional conflict; and the mass migration, famine and disease that inevitably arise from those - the so-called 'push factors'. Dealing with the causes requires a much bigger effort than coping with the effects but the two must go hand-in-hand if we are to have a hope of surviving these burgeoning global crises.

Because, make no mistake about it, all these issues are global in nature and inextricably linked. A Fortess Europe or Little England mentality will not save us from their effects and neither will further punishing the victims. We in the UK may be an offshore island on the northern fringes of Europe but this metaphorical global tide already lapping our shores could rapidly become a tsunami if we fail to act decisively, and trying to turn it back, like a latterday King Cnut, will never succeed. What is needed now is urgent international action, which the UK could be taking the lead in rather than acting out its current pathetic post-Brexit charade of sovereignty and self-determination.

What it could, and should, be doing right now is to exercise its supposed new-found freedoms by establishing a humane, ethical immigration system and, in so doing, also serve its national self-interest. The UK does not currently take its international fair share of refugees and asylum seekers when it has a clear moral, if not legal, obligation to do so. Its selfish attitude may appear pragmatic but it is ultimately self-defeating, especially after Brexit, when we desperately need migrant workers. Rather than squandering billions of pounds keeping people who are already in the country and will probably never be deported (or not without great trouble and expense) sitting idly in expensive temporary accommodation for years, we should accept their presence as a fait accompli and immediately set them to work rebuilding our flatlining economy. 

They could start by building their own accommodation, along with that required by the 1.2 million households in England currently stuck on waiting lists for a social home, a rise of 5% in the last two years. Not all immigrants will have the necessary skills, of course, but many will and more could be trained. It would be interesting to know exactly how many trained carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, plumbers, plasterers, painters, tilers, glaziers, roofers, civil engineers and architects are languishing right now in hotels and other temporary accommodation while waiting for their asylum and visa claims to be processed, during which time they cannot work and have no money to contribute to the local economy. Sadly, I fear these are not the statistical priorities of Suella Braverman, our abject apology for a Home Secretary.

There must also be doctors, nurses, teachers, academics and a plethora of other professionals who could be drafted into our depleted public services with a minimum of retraining and some ongoing language coaching. And many unskilled migrants, most of whom are young and fit, would probably jump at the chance of working as agricultural or construction labourers and care workers given the opportunity (because, let's face it, our own native-born youngsters won't). 

I simply refuse to believe that most, or even many, of these young migrants, who have shown such tenacity and faced such hardships to get here, have done so just to skive and play the system. I suspect the vast majority are willing and eager to work, pay their taxes and become fully-fledged citizens of the UK.

Giving them the chance may be our last best hope of survival.

Popular posts from this blog

Looking to Africa - long read

As I sit here on an island just off the coast of North-West Africa I can't help pondering the future of that vast and seemingly unknowable continent, so near and yet so far. I'm writing this in Tenerife, one of the eight Canary Islands forming an archipelago off the coast of Morocco and Western Sahara - tantilisingly close and yet a world away from the 'mainland' of continental Africa. As an Autonomous Community of Spain, the Canaries form an outpost of the European Union (EU). Yet, despite their proximity to Africa, their outlook, politically, culturally and economically, is resolutely European. Africa may as well be Mars, though only a narrow gulf of the Atlantic Ocean separates these offshore islands from their continent. I say resolutely European but that resolve may, little by little, be weakening. There is a growing sentiment, especially, though not exclusively, amongst young Canarians, that they have been sold a pup. True, the economy is superficially buoyant, du
Read more

On old age

"The fact is that when I come to think it over, I find that there are four reasons for old age being thought unhappy: First, that it withdraws us from active employments; second, that it enfeebles the body; third, that it deprives us of nearly all physical pleasures; fourth, that it is the next step to death."  Writing his essay,  De Senectute (On Old Age), in 44 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero went on to refute these four supposed reasons in characteristically robust and forthright manner. Cicero wasn't one to sit about moping in his own old age; he remained actively engaged in the political life of the Republic whose survival, in the face of tyranny, he championed so fiercely.  Cicero was nine years younger than I am now when he met his untimely end yet he considered himself already an old man; or, rather, his society judged him to be so. His second point about age enfeebling is more germane. Physical decline had not yet impacted him but, six years on from my retirement, I
Read more

Born to rule

When, ten days ago, I posted my piece about the manipulated image of Catherine, Princess of Wales, and her children (see Snap Judgment) I didn't know of her cancer treatment. Had I known, I would have adopted a gentler, though I hope no less critical, tone. But I didn't know, and nor did any of us outside the immediate royal circle, which rather goes to strengthen the case against the monarchy. For Kate and her family the diagnosis of cancer (as yet unspecified) will have been a devastating blow, as will the chemotherapy she is currently undergoing. On a human level, of course I sympathise and extend my best wishes for a full recovery as, indeed, I did at the time of her father-in-law's diagnosis. It is particularly cruel, then, that on top of all this she has been obliged to record a video statement to reassure the public. As if she didn't have enough to contend with already. But such is the unpalatable obligation placed upon any royal personage - noblesse oblige. Whic
Read more