SO the battle over the Home Office’s flagship plan to send asylum seekers illegally crossing the channel to Rwanda rages on.
To much surprise, the Home Office yesterday won round one — but the noisy alliance of lawyers, left-wing campaigners and unions who are desperate to wreck the scheme won’t give in.
So the battle over Priti Patel and the Home Office’s flagship plan to send asylum seekers illegally crossing the channel to Rwanda rages on[/caption]
To much surprise, the Home Office yesterday won round one — but the noisy alliance of lawyers, left-wing campaigners and unions who are desperate to wreck the scheme won’t give in[/caption]
They’ll be back in the Court of Appeal on Monday, demanding the first flight — due to take off the following day — never leaves the tarmac.
And who would bet against the critics winning round two, given the long list of shattering human rights defeats suffered by this Government?
When the policy was first announced, I wrote that it was “a stroke of genius”. The beleaguered Government could deal with the illegal immigration problem and regain its reputation — all without having to do anything that hadn’t been tried and tested before. A masterstroke.
But leftie legal agents, Labour politicians and unelected bureaucrats have other ideas — and have since mounted a noisy campaign against it on the BBC and elsewhere.
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They say it is racist, inhumane, and puts “people’s lives at risk”. In reality, migrants will be sent to a resort hotel with a swimming pool, free wifi and a tennis court. It’s hardly Guantanamo Bay, and much better than the dilapidated, disused Army barracks and dingy B&Bs the Home Office has resorted to throwing asylum seekers into.
Endeavours to foil the Rwanda plan feel like little more than attempts to stick it to the Tories. Those sadists who revel in Tory party pain are of the same ilk as those who sought to obstruct the Brexit vote at every turn.
They’re the sort who pat themselves and their liberal do-gooder mates on the back at dinner parties for defending foreign criminals from deportation, going on anti-Brexit marches, or supporting the latest diversity and inclusion fad.
Among the group bringing this action are Detention Action and Care4Calais. The former is run by a failed Labour candidate who was beaten by the Tory counterpart in the last election by 26,000 votes.
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The latter is founded by Clare Moseley, who has done the media rounds this week professing to be fighting for migrants who are “overwhelmed by total shock and despair”.
Imagine my total shock when I realised that this is the same Clare Moseley who left a £700,000, five-bedroom house and husband to go off and have an affair with a conman asylum seeker while helping refugees at a Calais camp.
Breaking, in the process, her own charity’s sacred command to volunteers: Don’t ever get sexually involved with the clients.
Why she thinks she’s in a position to lecture those living in resource-thin communities being threatened with a sudden influx of asylum seekers about morals and sound judgment is beyond me.
But those frustrating the process are certainly not limited to middle-class Oxbridge lawyers, well-paid charity bosses living in suburbia and unelected officials.
It wouldn’t be a proper lefty outrage-fest if a filthy rich international corporate firm claiming to be a paragon of morality was not at the party.
Cue Ben & Jerry’s — the US-based company which has said that the Rwanda Plan is “morally bankrupt”, “dangerous” and “puts lives at risk”.
If I were a multi-billion dollar company selling ice cream tubs loaded with nearly 100 grams of fat and 26 teaspoons of sugar, which had the same number of calories as ten cans of Coke, I would probably keep quiet about what’s best for people’s health and wellbeing.
If these well-to-do execs and organisations who claim the Rwanda plan is so depraved and immoral want to pick up the tab for our bloated asylum system, they can be my guest. I’m sure the taxpayer wouldn’t mind being over a billion pounds richer a year.
If it were their local council being crippled by a stream of asylum seekers, if their children’s class sizes were exploding because of uncontrolled migration, or their close-knit community was soon to see an influx of bored young men whose identity was in question, I’m certain they would change their tune.
The Rwanda plan is far from perfect. It is ill-equipped to deal with the scale of illegal migration. It is vulnerable to attack from all sorts of pesky international laws and the Government has almost overpromised and under-delivered.
But at least it’s a plan — and it’s a plan more than those foiling it have to offer.
It might be distasteful, but what I find more nauseating is a bunch of smug, unelected liberal cronies frustrating the agenda of a democratically elected Conservative Government.
Will and Kate are simply the vest
William this week proved yet again what a man of the people he is when he went undercover in a red vest and cap selling the Big Issue to passers-by in London[/caption]
WHAT Harry and Meghan lack in likeability, Kate and Wills more than make up for in sheer relatability.
One couple has their head in the clouds, the other couldn’t be more down to earth.
One couple are so terrified of mixing with us regular folk that they sued the Home Office for refusing to provide them with British bobbies as bodyguards.
One couple quietly go about their duties unperturbed by the public.
William this week proved yet again what a man of the people he is when he went undercover in a red vest and cap selling the Big Issue to passers-by in London.
He spoke to and took selfies with stunned members of the public to support the homelessness charity.
I can’t think of any other royal more fit to take the reins from the Queen.
WHO IS HE TO JUDGE?
WHEN Doctor Who was revived in 2005 after its long-term hiatus, Christopher Eccleston played a blinder as the ninth Doctor.
I became besotted with Eccleston as I religiously followed the series that spring as a nine-year-old. I was so heartbroken when his stint as the Doctor ended that I vowed to never watch the show again.
So imagine my excitement when I saw Eccleston in the papers this week.
Could the dreams of my nine-year-old self finally come true?
Sadly not. He was back in the news for saying that it was right that opportunities were shrinking for white, middle-aged, straight male actors like him, who have “lived off the fat of the land”.
RIP to my childhood adoration of Eccleston, which has been fatally infected with wokeosis.
My advice to Eccleston and others is this: If you find yourself saying someone should have fewer opportunities because of the colour of their skin or the sex they happen to be born in, you might want to reconsider whether you are really one of the good guys.
Stand up for values
BRITISH values: The five fundamental pillars of our society which the Left has turned into a dirty word.
These are democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.
But it seems our leaders are all too happy to abandon the first four in order to appease religious radicals.
Over the past week, a group of Muslim demonstrators has successfully intimidated cinema chains into cancelling showings of the film The Lady Of Heaven.
They say it is “blasphemous” for its depiction of the Prophet and other Islamic figures. One video of a protester even threatened “repercussions” if the film was not pulled.
And yet, despite the actions of this mob of ideologues going against ALL British values at once, the silence from our political leaders is deafening.
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The firmest response yet has been from Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who said he was *checks notes* “concerned” – hardly the condemnation of the century.
If our politicians really care about defending British values in the face of radical bullies, they need to take firm, decisive actions, not issue half-hearted rebukes.
A BRIT CRAZY
Britney Spears wedded her beau Sam Asghari this week.
The road to happiness took one hell of a detour.
There was the 2004 marriage lasting 55 hours, the hit-and-run charges, a breakdown, the snakes, the lesbian action on stage, the car-crash performances, the almost-dropped babies, the lost custody of her sons, the conservator-ship which saw her father legally govern all her affairs – to name a few.
The world was reminded that where Britney is, drama follows, when her ex gatecrashed her wedding, which her family failed to attend.
If you ever feel like you need to get out more, just remember: It could be worse. You could be Britney Spears.
