It is right that migrants who have no legal basis to remain in this country should be removed. It is utterly wrong for those doing the removing to make disgusting racist jokes about them.
People who have endured long, painful and sometimes hazardous journeys to our shores will be bitterly disappointed when they are sent home again.
But they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect at every point in that process. And it will add insult to perceived injury to discover they have also been the butt of racist WhatsApp posts.
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So it is only right that the Home Office is investigating these messages and that Mitie, the firm responsible for repatriation flights and detention centres, has suspended staff.
Some of the abuse was even aimed at Diane Abbott and Priti Patel. That, too, is totally unacceptable. But Ms Patel does need to get a grip of her department and the outsourced companies working for it.
The Tories are too keen to put business in the way of private firms they are friendly with rather than employ in-house staff whose direct line manager would be the Government.
After the Home Secretary’s disastrous handling of cross-Channel boat crossings, this is yet another example of her lack of control.
Ms Patel should now put this investigation into the hands of the independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.
In an appalling case such as this, nothing less than full transparency will do. And if Mitie management failure is held to blame for the atrocious behaviour of its staff there should be only one option open. To terminate Mitie’s contract with immediate effect.
Perilous game
The stand-off over Ukraine now resembles a game of chicken – pitting Russia and NATO on a course to collision. And what is even more scary is that neither side shows any sign of swerving to avoid it.
If Vladimir Putin does not invade his neighbour – which he says he won’t – he will have the satisfaction of making Joe Biden and Boris Johnson look like fools for saying that he will.
If the Russian president does break his word and moves his troops across the border, Europe could be plunged into years of bloodshed.
Either way we should know the outcome this week. But peace is too precious a commodity to play power games over. And if Mr Putin chooses not to invade he could simply leave his forces in place and allow stalemate to drag on.
At the Munich Security Summit today, Mr Johnson said he is willing to work with Mr Putin to prove that NATO is not an aggressive alliance but a defensive one.
That was a welcome olive branch after all the PM’s bellicose war-like talk.
Mr Putin should grasp it. Better for world leaders to get their heads together than bang their heads together.
