New immigration figures raise questions about government rhetoric
This morning the government released new figures showing refugees crossing the Channel in small boats accounted for just 3.8 per cent of immigration to the UK. That’s a tiny figure. So why do they talk of a “migrant crisis”? Today, the government will fan the flames of hate and division by saying all immigration is unwelcome. But immigration is not a problem for the UK. It helps to grow the economy. It enriches all of us. And it offers protection to people who have experienced some of the worst things imaginable. But they will pay particular attention to the boat …
Government U Turn on Albanian Asylum Seekers
At the end of August Priti Patel, the former Home Secretary, announced new plans for Albanian asylum seekers who cross the English Channel to seek safety in the UK. She said that their asylum claims would be ‘fast tracked’ with the aim of immediate removal, and suggested that these asylum claims were ‘spurious ’. It was brutal, lacking in compassion and unfair. Worse, it was potentially illegal. Recent figures show that 53 per cent of asylum claims made by Albanians in the UK are accepted, meaning they most definitely are genuine, and in any case asylum claims must be …