Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has warned against demonising people seeking to come to the UK after Home Secretary Suella Braverman said England faces an ‘invasion’ of migrants on the south coast (Gareth Fuller/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Immigration is back on the news agenda and it’s as raw, difficult and upsetting as ever. The petrol bombing of a migrant centre in Dover was sickening and took me right back to the murder of Jo Cox.
For all the bluster around taking back control, it feels like we have learnt very little about how to discuss immigration with decency and how to find achievable, humane solutions through consensus. The Left doesn’t want to talk about it and the Right wants to demonise migrants. Both positions are irresponsible.
We cannot have open borders. Nor can we close them and hermetically seal ourselves off from the world. We need to control numbers so we can plan and allocate resources; we need immigration to enhance our economy and society. We are crying out for more planned immigration right now, with crippling post-Brexit labour shortages. And we are clearly a destination point for many who want to come and make a life here for good reasons including family connections and language (although Germany, France, Spain and Greece are more popular than the UK).
Take away all the posturing and division and surely there’s a way to join up the dots here if there’s the political will? And there’s the rub. Do we have leaders at the Home Office with the wit, compassion and hunger to find solutions? Nope. We have Right-wing Suella Braverman, who demeans herself and her great office of state by using dog whistle, populist language like “invasion” to distract from her own failings on security breaches and ignoring legal advice to procure safe accommodation for migrants.
The tragic thing about Braverman’s increasingly desperate words is that even if you quite liked the Cruella schtick, why on earth would you believe her? Because what does recent history teach us? As the rhetoric becomes more crass, nasty and inflammatory, and the ideas become ever more cruel and absurd — from “go home” vans to the Windrush scandal to wave machines in the Channel to flights that never take off to Rwanda — all that happens is the numbers go up. So not only is all that tough talk vile and polarising, but it also costs us the taxpayer lots of money and doesn’t even act as a deterrent.
We need a complete reset. A serious conversation where both sides make some compromise. If you think we should ignore what is happening on the Kent coast, you’re wrong. It’s harrowing for those seeking refuge and the conditions at these detention centres should shame us all. The idea that Braverman and other Tory MPs think getting diphtheria and having kids sleep on the floor is akin to staying in a luxury hotel reminds me of the phrase “thick as mince”.
It’s a terrible situation for the staff at these centres where there is overcrowding, great distress and inevitable trouble. It’s a genuine concern for local residents, who may want us to help asylum seekers but are worried about local tensions and the pressure on resources — and local authorities are already on their knees because of cuts. It is not racist to point that out. But it is also highly dangerous to use these crossings to stir up hatred and thuggery.
Theresa May was right when she said, “in truth, the whole way we manage the asylum seeker system is not fit for the modern world”. You cannot stop people coming here but you can manage it better. These people are not invaders. Many are fleeing invasion, war and climate disaster. For others like my parents, it’s the age-old story of the search for a better life. That is not a crime. Let’s not forget our own “proud” history of the Empire where we happily rocked up in other countries (like India) to fill our boots back in the day.
There are no easy fixes, but there are some obvious, sensible solutions which the cross-party Home Affairs select committee made last week. Speed up the system and hire more people; stop bad mouthing France and set up a proper processing centre there; open up safe, legal routes with a humanitarian visa system for certain countries like Afghanistan, Ukraine or Syria; allow people waiting for their claims to be processed in the huge backlog to work so they can have some kind of purpose and help us fill labour shortages in areas like agriculture, HGV driving, care, construction and hospitality.
And the reports of high numbers of Albanian men do need to be properly investigated but not everyone is part of a criminal gang. Most people just want to work hard, keep their heads down and provide a better life for their kids. That’s what we immigrants do best.
