There are so many areas where the UK Government is out of touch or mismanaging things that I’m spoilt for choice, but this week, I’ve picked up a couple of threads about immigration. Immigrants in the UK have been vilified for years by the right-wing as the reason for all our ills (well, to be fair, the right wing also blame anyone on benefits and anyone who is pro-European or anti-monarchy, but I won’t go into that right now). Don’t misunderstand me, they don’t say ALL immigrants are scroungers or security threats, only the ones who don’t end up running their own companies and earn enough to become Tory donors.
Priti (Useless) Patel is our current Home Secretary, and it’s astounding to hear what comes out from her department. A week or so ago she was lamenting that our immigration system is broken – this from a minister whose party has been in charge of it for over a decade. We’ve had suggestions around quote numbers, a points system based on skill shortages, and her department had once mooted the idea of a huge wave machine to propel any incoming migrant boats back to France and she’s still harping on about dumping immigrants somewhere remote rather than letting them into mainland UK.
The idea with this remote processing centre is that the immigrants are contained on an island while the UK carries out all the checks on character and background necessary to reassure ministers that an immigrant is worth allowing onto our hallowed mainland shore. A few months back the location of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean was being proposed as a processing camp. Lately, Gibraltar has been mentioned. Gibraltar is a territory that is under dispute. Spain want it back in much the same way that Argentina want the Falkland Islands back. I’m not going to delve into the thorny question around sovereignty, but it’s surely arrogance of immense proportion to talk about using such territories as dumping grounds. And what do the authorities do if the checks come back negative? Cast the miscreant would-be immigrant back into the sea from the Rock of Gibraltar?
The evidence has consistently shown that immigration has a positive impact on the economy, and I think even accepting that not everyone who comes into the country is going to be perfect, I see more benefits than downsides, but given Britain has recently slipped down the “happiness index” (a survey of the happiest countries), I wonder that anyone still wants to come here. They really should be looking at Scandinavian countries, which have always outperformed the UK when it comes to being happy, even if it does take a little longer to sail there.