The government has got off to a bad start over migration.
It sounds as if they will effectively grant an amnesty to the backlog of applicants who have already arrived illegally. They have scrapped the Rwanda plan which for all its troubles was putting some illegal migrants off coming to or staying in the U.K.
The strategy rests entirely on better enforcement. The previous government spent a lot money and effort on trying to get more collaboration from the French. They claimed a lot of boats were intercepted and gangs prosecuted, but such a lucrative trade produces more organisers. The French coast is long. Yet you would have thought they could intercept the buses that now take people to the boats. With drones and surveillance cameras they should get early sight of boats getting ready to make an illegal run.
Following the money should help as banks are charged with watching out for money laundering. How do they pay for the boats? Why not respond to more of the adverts for the trips?
They need to ask why so many want to come to England? Why is England seen as offering a much better deal than France?
They also need to understand that current levels of legal migration place far too much pressure on housing and public services. They need to tighten the qualifications further compared to the January policy changes.
July 20, 2024
Good morning.
Sir John
The government has been deliberately allowing this. It has been sending Border Farce boats out to collect these illegals immigrants, for that is what they are, and bringing them into the UK, rather than returning them back to France. If they did that then one of the incentives would be removed. The other incentive is that the government is offering these illegals more than the French do.
We do not need to ask or pay the French anything. All we had to do was monitor the Channel, intercept and return the boats to France. Should any make it to our shores then again, they should be either sent back or, located on a remote Scottish Island. I have done some research on this and, there are numerous island with both space and a airstrip. An airstrip which we could use to send them back to their own country.
As for this amnesty, I am not surprised. Alexander Johnson was very much in favour but the party knew it would be political suicide. So they deliberately, and I believe with some connivance, left it to Labour.
I know you are no longer part of the political class or the Establishment, so this does not apply to you. But we the British people have been taken the piss out of by the aforementioned.
July 20, 2024
+1. Well said.
July 20, 2024
Mark,
Adopt Trump policy: Very simple solution, no aide or trade unless the country accepts its crap back. Starmer just gave more of our taxes away! After claiming economy worse than first thought! Two lies, one he knew state of economy and had access to books, two if true why waste more of our taxes on top of ÂŁ3.5 billion to Africa! Immigrants from Iraq and Libya come from âŠâŠ. Might be another clue, stop Ukraine war! Putin is not going to be ousted. Proxy regime change war in Ukraine has failed, cost too many lives and wasted too much of our taxes!
July 20, 2024
Meanwhile UK buys Russian oil and gas via India while Red Ed stops oil and gas production in North Sea!
July 20, 2024
Indeed and the deluded Miliband zealot does this when (even in the UK) of the total energy used by humans is well over 90% fossil fuel derived. Even the small amount of electricity that comes from so called ârenewablesâ (wind, solar, wood burning at Drax, hydro) requires loads of fossil fuels to construct, maintain, connect up, back up⊠as does nuclear power stations.
July 20, 2024
Our politicians don’t work for us
July 20, 2024
Good points Mark. I’ve noted before that we have satellite technology to identify individual ISIS and Al Queda leaders on the ground. We could certainly spot a 20′ inflatable boat on the beach at Calais.
I also understand sea law requires any ship to help another in distress – all of these dinghies are at risk so need recovering at the earliest opportunity. Once people are recovered to UK border ships, sea law again says they can be taken to the nearest land, which ought to be France if the response was prompt. Problem solved.
July 20, 2024
The boats are not in danger on the French side of channel, Border Force know exactly where to collect the welfare claimants. There is no need to meet and greet in the channel, none at all. Overwhelmingly scrounging single men. If any welfare claimants have children arrest them and deport them immediately. No ID no stay.
Starmer currently lying by saying no silver bullet. It is not difficult, it is being encouraged!! We want our country back. Oust Starmer and Sunak they betray our nation.
July 20, 2024
Totally agree. It ill behoves any Tory to criticise a new government of two weeks after their utterly shameful behaviour over the last decade.
July 20, 2024
You Nigl have been on this blog for a long time.
Donât you even READ what JR writes?
Or possibly you do not understand?
He has tirelessly opposed the tories on every possible issue.
AND he has written articles and made TV appearance doing the same.
July 20, 2024
JR is indeed one of the sensible Tories – alas so few of them 10% at best. The rest are tax to death LibDims or Socialists and pushers of net zero.
July 20, 2024
Agree!
July 20, 2024
Far less of them now. Still indications that they will elect another wet One Nation Liberal to lead them. They are seriously in denial of their appalling betrayals on……everything.
July 20, 2024
I totally agree…but am sorry that I am in the position of doing so.
It looks like the Tories will get Tugendhat as leader so there will be no change whatsoever to BlueLabour.
July 20, 2024
Indeed even Steve Baker (and Damian Green) seem to supports him. The Con-socialist fraud seems set to continue. The party needs to be destroyed if they do this.
July 20, 2024
Very refreshing to hear Trump bargain with countries to have their citizens back, no aid unless they have their citizens back. Also no trade.
Instead of Little Usuper and Starmegeddon giving never ending cash to Africa, ÂŁ3.5 billion of our taxes and another ÂŁ84 million, not knowing how or what the money is spent on, why not send back the crap of the world entering our country through France!
July 20, 2024
We have been giving billions in aid to Africa for decades and nothing changes except the leaders get richer – funny that. Most of them are basically tribal and will never form what we consider to be proper cohesive nations so nothing in the way of progress ever gets done – the poor are forever poor and so it will stay with them even holding out the begging bowl to provide water to their people. It’s all a waste. Starmer says no more gimmicks – what is this then? Does he know no history and putting Lammy in charge of Foreign Affairs and Milliband in charge of green issues shows he is not fit for office. Just the usual rewards for back scratching which is why we always end up with a crisis – useless individuals promoted to jobs they cannot do. It happens every time. That’s politics in a nutshell.
July 20, 2024
Mark my words there will be one crisis or another due to Labour’s incompetence within months and ongoing. David Lammy, Angela Raynor etc. What could possibly go wrong? Said no one anywhere!!
July 21, 2024
Net Zero Zealot Ed Miliband probably an even larger danger.
July 20, 2024
Besides which experience shows that the wealthier these countries become the more of their people have the wherewithal to pay smugglers.
July 20, 2024
The liblabcon never wanted to stop the boats
Now look what’s happening in Leeds and around the country
Importing thousands of young males giving them leav to remain and then they demand their extended families be allowed in
It’s a conspiracy against the indigenous population.
In Germany there’s signs of a kickback and of course the other east European countries are having none of it.
No doubt Keith will agree some sharing arrangements to get us back in the EU.
Reform are the only party which will curtail this invasion.
July 20, 2024
@Mark B +1
July 20, 2024
There’s no need to send them up to Scotland. You could get a large number of people in a small area, housed in Nissen huts and surrounded with barbed wire, feed them porridge, and with nothing to do except notify the governor the country where they can be sent back to.
Human rights won’t be an issue, because they are only supposed to be there for a few days until transport can be arranged.
Let the word go out, if you’re a genuine asylum seeker, don’t try to enter the UK illegally because you won’t be allowed to claim. Wait until your entry is approved.
July 20, 2024
Dave A
+ another 2
July 20, 2024
That would work until you decide to put them on a aeroplane at Heathrow, Gatwick etc. Then you have the problem we have seen with ‘activists’ interfering with the lawful procedure of removing these illegals.
Away on a remote Scottish Island with its own runway this cannot happen.
July 21, 2024
The activist will prevent export to the Scottish island. We need to deal with the activist too! Surely they are obstructing justice.
July 21, 2024
MB,
We used to send the unwanted to a penal colony called Australia! A Scottish island would be fine particularly if it was near Norway in case they tried to escape.
July 20, 2024
+2
July 20, 2024
One of the reasons wthay come here is because they speak English, its a pity French isn’t the international language.
July 20, 2024
Many African countries (former colonies) speak French. They come because we give them a life our own homeless can only dream of.
July 20, 2024
As you infer, Labour will remove the problem by making illegal economic migrants legal. Effectively losing further control of our borders. This will increase the risk of terrorism and further overload our social services bill. Not long down the line wilk be an agreemenf with the EU to take quotas of newly arrived in the EU illegals thanks to the EU’s totally porous borders and free movement.
This will be Labour pressing the self destruct button in their already tenuous relationship with the UK electorate. 35% and sinking fast, just waiting the effect of the millipede’s killer blow on energy.
July 20, 2024
Sunak was dreadful on immigration, on net zero, on the net harm Covid vaccines, on the economy and much else. Starmer even worse. Only 20% of people who were allowed to vote voted Labour.
July 20, 2024
I went to a Graduation Ceremony last week at Loughborough Uni. where the Chancellor Lord Coe, in his speech, decided to âjokeâ it was great news that Truss lost her seat. Rather demeaning himself and the University. It was not Truss who wrecked the economy Lord Coe it was Sunak as Chancellor with the lockdowns, the BoE QE, the net harm vaccines, the vast government waste, open door low skilled immigration, vast tax increases and his gross general incompetence and dishonesty.
It was mainly for engineering and technical degrees with much talk about âdiversityâ etc. and the need for more women in engineering and technology. But the new graduates were still well over 80% male. If women do not want or choose to read these subjects then do they think they should be forced to do so? Do they thing they should accept people with lower grades if they are women or diverse and then have the problem that they will then struggle to cope? Do we really want bridges, aircraft, power stations, defence systems, software⊠designed by such diversity hires?
July 20, 2024
He was a half decent runner who seems to have crept his way up into a liberal elite type life on the back of this sort of pandering “joke”. Basically though, a runner.
July 20, 2024
It seems one person can press a button for a software âupgradeâ and render millions of computer systems useless, stop flights, doctorâs appointments, banking and millions of other activities. And this was not even a malign actor! Imagine what a single such person could do if he got a job in the right place.
We need far, far better protections and back up systems, instant restores etc. A cashless society when none of the machines readers work? A malign actor holding the world to ransom?
July 20, 2024
We do not want duplicate identical backup systems. We need alternative systems backing up, and alternative methods to get us the same result. We must not be so IT controlled.
I want for example to be able to go to a railway station, buy a ticket from a human being and pay with cash. I should not be forced to buy online in advance.
This attitude should be extended into many other aspects of life where humanity has been stolen from us simply so business can cut costs at our expence.
July 21, 2024
Loughborough used to be connected to sport. Labour no longer wants women sports and want to undermine women rights for trans rot.
July 20, 2024
@Lifelogic – both extreme socialists that believe their job is to spend, spend, uncontrolled spending, give it away, it doesn’t matter they can contrive more and more taxes to fund the money confetti and when that doesn’t work they can just borrow. peas from the same pod.
Then when someone says shouldn’t we try and earn more to fund the spending, they resort to calling those people the far right for suggesting any such thing. In the meantime society has to balance its books work harder, cut back, do without and live hand to mouth just so those that have stolen the country can live their dreams. You would have thought the majority of the UK is whom they should be serving, not resorting to name calling when they are challenged
July 20, 2024
Indeed.
July 20, 2024
100 Party Conferences, 9 General Elections, 9 Prime Ministers my life in politics by Mathew Parris in the Times today. But even after all this vast experience Parris has still learned nothing and still gets almost everything back to front, inside out and totally wrong! Occasionally amusing I suppose but not remotely a real Conservative.
Then again is it this experience mixing with deluded politicians and lack of contact with the real world that makes him so wrong headed? After all we know they all (95%+) love net zero, HS2, lockdowns, covering up the vast Covid Vaccine net harms, the disastrous EU⊠Then again he was a LibDem and read Law at Clare, so prob. he was always rather suspect.
July 20, 2024
The previous Government was clearing the backlog of asylum applications as fast as it could on Sunak’s instructions so he could claim to have delivered one of his objectives. Since none were deported, he too was effectively operating an amnesty, moving them from one list of asylum applicants to another list of asylum granted …. with no questions asked.
Once they are in the country or even our territorial waters, thanks to the ECHR and the HRA which the Not-a-Conservative-Party refused to repeal/amend, they are here for life.
The only difference will be that instead of Sunak pretending to want to stop the boats and stop the invasion and Macron pretending he is trying, Labour will do a deal with the EU to accept a quota set by them. Which is why, despite being given ÂŁbillions to enforce border controls, Macron has made a half-hearted pretence of it and refused to accept the criminal migrants back. It’s all about making the UK do a deal with the EU.
Our best hope for the future is Blair’s warning to Starmer that he has to control immigration for fear of Reform UK. He knows that Labour’s majority was a fluke caused by the electoral system and disgust with the Treacherous Tories. Reform is the real Opposition in around 100 Labour-held constituencies.
July 20, 2024
Indeed Reform are the only UK party who want to limit immigration to sensible levels (and high skilled immigrants who pay their own way), want to ditch the net zero lunacy and have noticed that the statistics show the Covid Vaccinations did huge net harm. Trump has these sensible views too.
Who will be the first Minister to go I wonder? Lammy when Trump is elected, Ed Miliband when his net zero energy lunacy fails, Cooper-Balls when the riots get out of control or Reeves when she finds out her attempted tax grabs just push people and their money overseas. Or perhaps Wes Streeting at health. As he is the only one saying anything sensible as âsensibleâ does not do well in the Labour Party. Perhaps the blob will get him for bullying or sending emails to them at weekends!
July 20, 2024
LL,
Trump policy, No aid or trade unless countries accept their crap back.
July 20, 2024
Our imported who have no intention of becoming like us are now rioting in the streets to get their ways.
And they will because our leaders at all levels are either ignorant, or co-operative and naive, or cowards.
We will pay with our property and our lives and way of life when those can don’t speak up to defend us.
July 20, 2024
Donna,
Amnesty 68,000 French criminals last year the highest on record!
3.5 million low paid universal credit welfare claiming migrants brought in by Tories against their manifesto because left wing OBR told them to because they said it is growth! Little Usurper needs extra maths lessons, he also let ÂŁ12 billion be wasted to âschool boy errorâ fraud but did not want it investigated because it would look bad on him!
Now we see Usurper and Starmer very cosy and buddy buddy, now that they have a joint enterprise to reverse Brexit by lock step and close alignment vassal state status!
July 20, 2024
Seems so.
July 20, 2024
After this new regime it won’t be long before Reform are in office. Tory Party are a toxic brand and all the woke rhetoric about the Leeds riot doesn’t fool the public one jot who experience the problems, quality of life, lack of health care created without any mandate by the Uni Party. Only Reform state the truth.
July 20, 2024
Well, to stop the migrants you need to have some deterrents. This government have instead decided on inducements. This will of course eventually mean that many tens of millions will arrive and the place will eventually then become as unattractive as the places they are coming from. So which deterrent do we want to go for? A population of perhaps 200 million + or might some earlier deterrents be preferable. There must after all be billions of people who would prefer the UK to their current country.
The Government seem to think more legal routes and paying money to other countries to make them less unattractive will work (how on earth could this every work to any real degree?). Clearly neither will work as if you cannot come legally you can just come illegally.
You have to take the Australian approach so that anyone trying to come illegally will be turned back and will never be allowed to stay. Then they will stop trying to come. Any country that refuses to take their people back should receive no aid or other assistance from the UK or the international community as Trump suggests.
July 20, 2024
The dire Sunak government gave us over one million arrivals both legal and illegal PA net 700k. So what is Starmerâs plan 20 million+ PA perhaps? Until eventually it gets so bad that no more will wish to come I assume. They clearly offer no other deterrents.
July 20, 2024
The political and cultural weapon of mass immigration is now in the hands of the true believers. I am certain they will use it to impose irreversible change.
July 20, 2024
Dom,
Spot on. It is to rid us of nation state, culture and values. Ensure silence by equality terrorism so people fear to speak out. More black equality terrorism in Kingâs speech, more power to regional mayors no objections from local people will be tolerated! Will bending of knee be made a legal obligation? Balkanise by regionalisation to conquer and divide to bring about EU socialism.
This is why the forced two choice Uni party monopoly needs to be smashed. We want our country back!
July 20, 2024
Seems so and virtually nothing can be done to stop this disaster prob. for at least 5 years. Thanks very much to Cameron, May, Boris & Sunak for delivering Starmer his huge and totally undeserved majority by delivering the almost complete reverse of what the Tories promised in four manifestos.
The idiotic Sunak, who still seems to think (or lies) that the Covid Vaccines are âunequivocally safeâ even kindly delivered the Starmer, Lammy, Miliband⊠gift to the nation six months early! Why on earth did he go six months early.
Why do so many people still think Sunak is clever and decent? He took public borrowing from about 60% of GDP to about 100% (more really if you use honest accounting) and wasted this money on net harms – lockdowns, Covid support, test and trace, loans for worthless degrees, dangerous Covid vaccines, net zero lunacies⊠and he took inflation from 2% to 11% with QE and all this waste. He was even worse than Gordon Brown!
July 21, 2024
They’ll give the green light across europe …the gates are open
July 20, 2024
Unfortunately too many British people didn’t think too hard at election time, or swallowed the blob’s propaganda. So they voted for the uniparties, that were pretty clearly going to allow more mass illegal immigration, not less.
Immigration affected the working class immediately after Blair’s early access to EU citizens, and ever since. I worked shopfloor in a factory back then and my wages instantly stagnated as labour supply outstripped demand. In reply to a request to raise wages a few pence above the minimum wage, the boss screamed “there’s 10 immigrants outside the door for each of your jobs, get back to work!”.
Its taking the middle class far more time to realise immigration affects them too, as legals and illegals compete for housing and services. Too many in the middle class still haven’t cottoned on, and some never will. Meanwhile we are all being royally sold down the river by whatever Uniparty is running the government.
July 20, 2024
Net stupid destroys UK jobs and manufacturing, where are the unions to protest against Starmer and his Red Ed policy to force manufacturing east, farming and fish to EU! Stop union subs until they represent your job security.
July 21, 2024
+1. Unions usually act in the interests of the unions & not their members. Politicians the interests of politicians and the state sector and not the people.
July 20, 2024
Why are they coming here, so bloody simple, because they can, and tens of thousands of people have phoned them and said it is worth it in the end.
Why does the Government not listen to the Mayor of Calais who is also fed up with his Town being trashed, overrun, and used as a temporary stop over by thousands of immigrants all wanting to come to the UK.
He say’s remove the pull factor, stop helping them when they get halfway, stop the Benefits, Stop housing them, Stop the free medical services, Stop the free food. Stop accepting people who deliberately throw away any form of identity, refuse to accept them when they do eventually arrive.
Yes the People smugglers are a vile crime gang, but in reality all they are doing is providing a service to individuals who are willingly requesting, and seeking out their help, and in all probability are virtually guaranteed success.
All an amnesty will do is to encourage even more to try.
Most of these illegals are not being press ganged, and being forced into boats, they are actually seeking out the people smugglers, who will help them to get to the UK.
You now do not need to cross the Channel,l you only need to get halfway, and then job done.
July 20, 2024
Spot on Alan. Our politicians deem it safer to critic the “evil” people smugglers, rather than condone their customers. I perfectly understand why people from failed countries with grim propsects would like to come here and on an individual basis would almost certainly sympathise with many of them. However, the reality is that there are many millions of poor people around the world that we cannot accomodate here.
The harsh reality is that we have to accept that if we wish to maintain the quality of our lives and public services that we currently enjoy, we cannot continue to import vast numbers of poor, relatively unskilled people into this country. To do so will just accelerate the further decline of our own standards of living, which is what has been happening (declining GDP per capita)
Is this selfish? It might be seen in some circles as such but I’m afraid my family and community have to come first. We can barely solve our own problems, let alone the rest of the worlds. So let’s be more honest about this and put our own interests to the forefront. I want my Grandchildren to have good education, healthcare, careers and homes – that’s my priority. Family First!
July 20, 2024
@Berkshire Alan – “deliberately throw away any form of identity” care4calais their legal people on the front line, UK paid legal profession, advise the lose of ID. The UK Taxpayer is forced to pay ‘care4calais’ in 2023 they received ÂŁ550,000 of our Money. Then as and addition their legal teams that touted for business in France that the UK Taxpayer funds go on to receive more taxpayer funded in fighting their claims to stay.
If a UK Citizen abroad gets into difficulty, yes the UK’s embassies etc help, but it is that citizen that has to pay. Why isn’t this reciprocated and all fees cost charged back to the criminals home countries?
July 20, 2024
Oh wellâŠ
At the point where here is no different from there they probably wonât even want to come!
What would be the point?
And weâre getting thereâŠ.quite quickly.
July 20, 2024
The Left simply does not see illegal immigration as a problem. Ministers are London centric and are unconcerned about the problems that the droves of young men arriving via the Channel bring, including the (under reported) assaults on young women and even school girls. Angela Rayner has said that every local authority will take its fair share of asylum seekers. So even you and yours may be affected Mr Redwood. You have been relatively unconcerned about this, merely stating that, in terms of numbers, legal immigration is the real problem.
Reply I have not been unconcerned with illegals. I put many ideas to Home Secretaries when an MP and spent hours with them and other colleagues discussing how they could get Border Force to do its job
July 20, 2024
I saw a vid of a very high up Labour woman being chased to her car ( literally) when she was electioneering door to door. ( A week or so ago)
A woman in the âwrongâ area and probably job too, in some opinions.
But the Left is made up of terminator types.
Nothing stops them.
They are dedicated to the project/agenda.
A blind faith situation.
Even when their daughters end up dead.
July 20, 2024
We have been crossing the Channel to go to France for a holiday for the last 20 years, (using both the tunnel and the Ferry) during that time we have seen first hand the building of miles of security fencing around Calais Port, the Tunnel, and the motorways feeding them, all Financed by the UK we are told.
We have seen an increase in armed police at the customs check points. we have driven through both joint French and UK customs, and passport control, situated on both sides.
We have seen and driven past the building of the illegal Jungle of tents and shanty shacks outside the Port.
We have seen the methods used by the illegals to stop traffic, (very simple) let a dog loose on the fenced in part of motorway, so the traffic stops, then jump into or crawl under stationary trucks/caravans etc etc.
We have seen people waiting at service station areas tens of miles inland, waiting for their chance to jump into a lorry.
Now we have the boats which is a rather more paid for, organised, and managed group effort.
We have paid the French it is suggested ÂŁ500, 000,000 to stop smuggling activities, but do we know how successful such efforts really are ?
We have seen films of boats leaving the beaches with the French police doing nothing if the boat actually sets off into the water, we have film of the French sea patrols helping them navigate out of French waters to the UK Limits, where they are met by the UK border force which is waiting for them.
How many politicians have actually made an effort to see first hand what is actually going on.
Just one, Farage, all the others have had a pre scripted, organised, managed and sanitised tour, none have got down to the nitty gritty. So is it any wonder they are failing.
Start to Understand Human Nature and you start to understand the problem, and then then come up with some sensible solutions.
Reply Not so. Conservative MPs led by the MP for Dover in the last Parliament went into huge detail with Ministers who were battling to get the various authorities involved to up their game in stopping or returning illegals.
July 20, 2024
Reply to reply,
JR,
Oh please, return illegals! Stop that nonsense. Belgium turn boats around from their own beaches! How the hell do you think those massive dinghyâs go unnoticed on their way to beaches ? Where are they bought?
ECHR and not withstanding clauses required, advocated by Cash ignored by Sunak. In March last year Sunak was to introduce Legislation, introduced in August last year of no use pointed out by head of HO Rycroft by his replies to Laughton in select committee questions. There was NO intention to stop the boats or return the criminals to country of origin or France. The legislation introduced was always going to be overturned by ECHR! Sunak knew it but wanted to deceive the public for election purposes! Get real.
If Cash, Braverman and Jenrick knew the legislation was of no use all it is reasonable to conclude all of you Tory MPs knew it!
Reply Yes, and I backed those amendments
July 20, 2024
Reply -reply
I am sure the Mp for Dover tried very hard, but the result was what ?
So easy just spend more money, and pretend because you have, you have done something ?
You actually have to get into the Criminal mind and understand Human Nature to fully understand how these people think, and do what they do.
The French Authorities do not like illegal immigrants either it would seem, given how it is alleged they are often treated, so if the people they do not like or want, choose to try and leave and go elsewhere, are they really going to try and stop them ?
Did any Ministers actually speak directly to the Mayor of Calais, or make a real effort to see for themselves what is going on.
Did any of them actually visit the Jungle and speak to those who want to come here, and ask them why.
No thought not !
July 20, 2024
NOBODY has ever tried to STOP the boats. Meeting them halfway and transferring people to a Border Force ship is the opposite of stopping the boats.
Politicians SAY they want to target the people smugglers. Thatâs easy. Turn a few boats around and watch their business evaporate.
July 20, 2024
The people who want and have lobbied for mass migration are not the politicians. Last month the CBI claimed that attempting to crack down on migration would ‘increase inflation’. They’ll try every argument to get the cheap migrant labour they want.
July 20, 2024
@Hat man – a living wage is not for the indigenous all the time someone will do it for less.
It should be noted that despite the name the CBI has nothing to do with the actual British, it is a cabal of foreign enterprises that have outlets in the UK. British Industry, the real thing has nothing to do with the CBI they deserted in their droves because of their anti-British stance
July 20, 2024
The Rwanda plan was a disaster from start and was never going to work – what will work is to build closer relationships with our nearest neighbours and am sure Starmers government is on the right track – the smugglers have to be stopped on the shorelines of France Belgium etc and this can be done by allowing only boats with special licence to approach within five miles of the shore all other boats found inside this zone get slashed/ destroyed, no if’s no but’s.
July 20, 2024
I have a bridge for sale. I think youâll be interested.
July 20, 2024
Is it a one way bridge Mike ?
July 20, 2024
Natch!
July 20, 2024
My prediction is that the UK will agree with the EU to take a quota of illegal migrants. The Tories would have done sooner or later. Dreadful as the prospect is, one has to admit that flying them in at taxpayers’ expense rather than the illegals having to pay for their fare would stop the boats. The recent return of a boat load to France is intended to encourage the Labour government to accept that some may be returned in exchange for a quota deal. The quota deal is what France and the EU really want because in that way they could potentially shift more than tyhree times as many off to the UK.
The calculation is as follows:
1.265 million illegals in the EU in 2023. Combined population 515.3 million, UK population 67.7 Million. So a quota would be 13%, ie, 166,000 illegals.
In 2023 illegal boat arrivals amounted to 52,530. So the EU quota would more than treble that number. The UK would still have to accommodate them so all those follow-on costs would also treble.
And of course, the EU would choose the least desirable (from UK’s point of view) to send to the UK.
Reply And if you do that more come
July 20, 2024
To reply:- Indeed you need to deter or you merely get more and more and more. Plus who will decided which migrants we will get in any quota – the EU I assume. So the EU will probably ensure that we get the very worst – the most violent, criminal and needy of them? The ones least likely to ever fund themselves or contribute positively.
July 20, 2024
Your government did nothing EFFECTIVE to stop illegal immigration – effectively encouraging it. All dwarfed by the legal migration in numbers that beggar belief.
Your party got less than half the votes it got in 2019 – and now we have a gebernment that is even worse. Trebles all round.
July 21, 2024
and thats why they lost the election
July 20, 2024
We are a nuclear Nation, but we cannot stop an illegal rubber dinghy, with who knows who on board, from entering our Country.
So far over 4 years it is over 100,000 people, and increasing by the day.
What an absolute farce.
July 20, 2024
@Berkshire Alan – its strange that Greece and Italy countries seemingly that have a front line to the invasion have no problem
July 20, 2024
Even Belgium manages to stop them leaving their shores for the UK
July 20, 2024
Not can we even stop bus burning, looting and riots in parts of Leeds. They did not even try to.
July 20, 2024
A taste of things to come.
July 20, 2024
The Welfare State has caused all this.
When the lower classes no longer needed the help/political guidance of the upper classes (because the govt. used tax money to support them anonymously in a sense) the rich, (old and new money), had to find new avenues for virtue signalling and condescension. And no doubt exploitation.
A whole wide world of needy folk out there, eager to have their share of Treasure Island.
StillâŠthe âtreasureâ is rapidly vanishing out of the door!
So what will âpoor Robinâ do then?
July 20, 2024
Everhopeful.
Your first line says it all really. Its the Pull Factor.
July 20, 2024
Did the incredibly bright folk of these island not see all this coming?
Scattered from their home towns by ridiculous âuniâ degrees.
Pixie led into horrible jobs. And ticky tacky mortgaged houses.
Chanting the mantra âOh thatâs waaaaycistâ ( They STILL do it!!)
Basically neglecting what mattersâŠhome, hearth and children ( lots of them).
Now we donât even have burial grounds.
July 20, 2024
The last government ran scared of the ‘human rights/woke/lefty lawyers’ gang and tied themselves in knots over illegal channel crossings.
The new government has admitted defeat already by offering an amnesty.
The very idea that Starmer’s new ‘border security command’ is going to “smash the gangs” is comedy that should have been written by Spike Milligan.
What are they going to do? Invade France. The French might have something to say about that.
France wants the crossings to continue. Every illegal that gets to England is one less for France to worry about. They facilitate the crossings and were doing so even when the Conservative government was paying France to stop them.
The first poster here today (Mark B) nailed it. Intercept the boats drop them back to the beaches. Any that get through off to a remote Scottish island.
Starmer will fail as did Sunak. Because no PM has the guts to do the necessary.
July 20, 2024
The bigger question is why politcians are going against the will of the people
July 20, 2024
Because our voting system lets them. The only sane voice – Reform – 4.1 million votes, 5 seats.
Lib Dems, 3.5 million, 72 seats
Tories, 6.8 million, 121 seats
Labour, 9.7 million, 411
And most in here support this insanity.
July 20, 2024
@Mike Wilson – all reform has to do is get the majority in each Constituency to want the person standing to be the one to represent them, then job done. If the had over time like the ‘limp dems’ had been active in the communities they wish to serve they would have smashed it. Although Sunak wanted it to be voting for a President, we weren’t we were voting for someone to stand up for our constituency – that of course is the flaw CCHQ etc fight the idea that someone standing should be loyal to their constituents and Country, your only loyalty is for the party boss no one in the party voted.
I am sure reform will be the force to challenge, after-all the Conservative Party (and are seeking to do it more so) has disenfranchised those people of the centre the conservatives, the main rump of the country
July 20, 2024
@Ian B In what practical way does an MP âstand up for their constituencyâ? Few pieces of legislation are constituency specific – only things that leap to mind are infrastructure projects like HS2 or a power station. Most legislation is general and affects everyone – and most MPs vote exactly the way the whips tell them.
July 21, 2024
@Mike Wilson – everything in parliament affects constituents. Are MP’s there to support their voters or a Gang leader they a Country doesn’t vote for? If the answer were to be a gang leader would appoint your MP as their representative in your area, what would be the point in elections? Daniel Hannan summed it up when he stood to be an MEP, he said he didn’t have to canvas he was the MEP, he was the chosen one – the only way to get rid of him was to reject the whole party completely – then he posed the question how do you get rid of bad MEP’s? only by rejecting all MEP’s in that Party
July 20, 2024
Leaving aside the fact that Margaret Thatcher would never have trusted the French to do anything to stop the invasion, she would most likely have withdrawn the hotels/benefits/ferries package immediately – after all, it was only ever meant to kick in on an infrequent basis if Manston was temporarily full – and she would have ensured that the illegals were taken to secured barracks on land such as Salisbury Plain once fingerprinted, DNA swabbed and tagged, with no scope for free movement among UK residents. She would never have allowed the UK to engage busily in heaping up its own funeral pyre.
July 20, 2024
Comment is no longer enough, Sir John. Hasn’t been for a long long time…Does no one no good no more. All ‘thinking people’ (..there are plenty who are not: not their fault) are sick and tired of being sick and tired of the situation. It seems to me there is only one man who is brave enough not only to comment but to do something about it. And he aint a Tory member. He aint Labour. Now you have it. Increasingly people are knowing it’s the case…and they are getting behind him and his people. I wonder why you don’t do the same…He needs people of your calibre and experience and commitment to people. Changing one’s mind is no sin. We’re all called upon to see ‘ a new Light’ at times. (not just Saul into Paul). It happens in all our lives. There are no points gathered for supporting a cause which no longer is viable. Madness. There are ‘regular people’ who need you via your 100% supporting a Party which is increasingly their Party. Politics: ‘The Art of the Possible’, Rab Butler once said. Help wake the UK up, Sir John. Comments you’re good at. However, now a certain political party and regular people need you..
Reply I am offering better solutions to any party or Leader to adopt as they wish.They can get in touch through this site or by other means their staff will know. It is by no means clear who is able and willing to tackle the main underlying problems.
July 20, 2024
âHow many migrants will the government allow?â
As many as it takes for the troubles to begin and to turn the country into a failed third world state.
July 20, 2024
It’s already begun in some cities.
July 20, 2024
âThey also need to understand that current levels of legal migration place far too much pressure on housing and public services.â
Itâs not housing we will need but police, army and prisons.
July 20, 2024
As many as they can get. With rewards promised they will be life-long Socialist voters. Labour is ensuring the UniParty open-arms fund the World approach at the expense of those that empower and pay them of the previous 14 years is maintained. The election didn’t cause a change in direction it is the same leadership ideology, punishment and retribution of those forced to fund these personal dreams.
It is noted that Green and Steve Baker have hit the media today wishing to ensure in any election for a new leader is their preferred leader, a ‘One Nation’ Socialist that wishes to stop the Conservatives becoming the supporter of the centre, instead to keep to the UniParty discipline of maximum uncontrolled spending, reinforced with high taxation and borrowing, then return to the folds of EU Control as soon as possible.
Isn’t that just the same as Labours contribution to society?
They have learned nothing, the name calling of those that believe in ‘good-house-keeping’, earning to fund a future is the centre ground were the bulk of the country stands. Continuity Socialist is just more of the same the enforced decline of a people against their wishes.
July 20, 2024
Everything is possible now that the adults are back in charge
July 20, 2024
England is a safe haven for illegals and an easy target thanks to the treaties signed by May to give immigrants special status. They know they will be treated with kid gloves, made welcome and be able to live in better conditions than our homeless.
To trust a labour government to resolve the whole issue of illegals coming to this country is akin to blowing in the wind.
Why would labour want to restrict immigrants after they have done so well in elections thanks to them swelling the number of voters supporting them.
How long will it be before the UK is totally lost, before there are more foreigners than naturally born? At this rate of movement it will be a toss up whether netzero or immigration will be the final straw in the destruction of our society.
July 20, 2024
BH : “Why would labour want to restrict immigrants after they have done so well in elections thanks to them swelling the number of voters supporting them.”
When their numbers are so large that they start forming their own parties, which is already starting to happen. Unintended consequnces can also easily happen as Labour found to their cost when the devolution of Scotland led to the SNP ruining the country instead of Labour.
July 20, 2024
We urgently need to make the UK a far less welcoming place for illegal economic migrants.
No more hotel rooms, just basic old army barracks, poorly heated, and with minimal financial benefits.
After all, these young men have been perfectly happy to live in tents on their journey to the promised land.
It was obvious throughout the run up to the election that Yvette Cooper has no answers whatsoever : without the Rwanda plan, nothing else has any chance of stopping the flow.
July 20, 2024
Your party didnât even get rid of the illegals they could have easily deported. The Albanians were welcomed by Teresa May when no other European country classed them as valid asylum seekers. We now have Albanian criminal gangs established in our country. We could also have deported foreign criminals but the bleeding-heart judges and liberals put a stop to it.
I fear for future generations in this country, which is all down to politicians. They have destroyed our once beautiful country and there is no going back.
July 20, 2024
We must recognise that 60% of the votes at the general election were cast for parties, and 80% of seats in Parliament are now held by MPs who effectively favour no controls at all over immigration, and who tacitly want to unwind Brexit. We must therefore expect a cave in to the EU over illegal migrants to be one of many concessions which the Starmer govt will make as part of its âresetâ of relations with the eu. The others will be unquestioning acceptance of eu laws and regs, now and in the future, relating to any sector where the govt wants to âimprove accessâ to eu markets.
July 20, 2024
English people will be a minority in their own country by 2060, according to a report that I heard.
I don’t suppose I’ll be here to see that, but I’m glad that it’s the young who will be that minority, because they voted for it with their “immigrants welcome” attitudes. Serves them right.
July 20, 2024
I definitely won’t be here then, I’m delighted to say. The once proud English nation is being reduced to a mish-mash of creeds, cultures, religions and ethnicities.
July 20, 2024
Sorry to have to say this, Sir John. But your opinions, like mine and those of other commentators here, are just wasted words when our prime minister invites a foreign citizen whose term as president has expired, to take part in a British government Cabinet meeting. Like his meeting at Blenheim earlier this week, Starmer makes clear once again that the people that matter to him are not from this country.
July 20, 2024
I see one of the first people George Robertson has met in his new role as leader of the new strategic defence review is the chief of staff of the Azov regiment.These people seem to be permanently in London.Why?
July 20, 2024
Birds of a feather flock together.
July 20, 2024
With a shortage of housing, GPs, Hospitals, Schools and space on our Island, why do MPs not have the sense to say enough is enough. If net Immigration last year was just over 600k, then 150,000 new houses a year is simply not enough.Neither Conservative or Labour MPs listen to their voters.
Immigration, legal and illegal, needs to be completely stopped for at least three years, to clear the backlog and stop the flood of people coming. Then have a strict limit and criteria of who can come.
If that means voting Reform in by elections and the next GE lets do it.
No sign so far the conservatives have a clue as to why they lost so heavily!
July 20, 2024
The Tory party is entirely responsible for the huge backlog of asylum claims. They failed to change the law in any effective way to remove the existence of prima facie legitimisation of economic migrants posing as asylum seekers. No English law should give any alien any prospective rights pertaining to residence in the UK. International ‘laws’ on migration should be ignored especially when they have been concocted by white-haters who had infested international bodies to that purpose.
How many legitimate migrants do we need? As many as when we were a great country: zilch. Wage rates have to respond to supply and demand in this country. That is how it used to work in the past.
Meanwhile its time to stop deluding ourselves that we are still a world power, concerned about the rise of China which is right on the other side of the globe. The problem is the liblabcon which simply refuses to focus on our own pressing interests at home which affect the daily lives of all of us.
July 20, 2024
Labour are doing no worse than the Conservatives so any complaints from supporters of the latter are somewhat hypocritical. All those given the Starmer amnesty would have stayed anyway so no difference in practice.
Reply. Sone of us have been critical of both
July 20, 2024
Why not fund a rescue organisation to patrol the middle of the Channel which is based and registered in France? They would always have vessels on station so would always be closest for any emergency. By the ‘Laws of the Sea’ that migrationists are fond of citing any individuals picked up would have to be taken to the vessel’s home port, in France. Border Farce could be ordered not to go mid-Channel on pain of instant dismissal and I understand that RNLI crews don’t really want to be migrant taxis.
July 20, 2024
The Government should be made to understand that although they have the power they do not have the mandate when receiving just 20% of the available electorate votes to unilaterally decide how many immigrants to bring into the country. We need a referendum.
July 20, 2024
You won’t get a referendum.
Not a hope.
July 21, 2024
Remove the draw. Personally I would deport anyone arriving to a super camp in Africa for slow processing. Pay an African nation to maintain the camp. Anyone unsuccessful can then be removed or deported by that nation.
That is not going to happen under “progressive, caring” Labour or Conservatives so what else can be done to remove the draw.
Immediate new legislation is required that prevents anyone arriving illegally from ever becoming a British citizen, they must only be granted temporary visas which require review every three years. That means they need a passport from another country (to which they can be removed) and if they leave the country they should not be allowed back in. They will also be granted a work permit which again can be reviewed every three years to make sure they are contributing. As a non-citizen the level of benefits available to them should be well below those available to British citizens and housing should not be part of the deal. Can’t pay for yourself, can’t stay.
July 21, 2024
Migration Observatory has a number of charts that illustrate the explosion in gross and net immigration under Sunak
https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/long-term-international-migration-flows-to-and-from-the-uk/
We were previously struggling to accommodate ~250,000 a year but the present levels are quite unsustainable for housing, welfare, health care, education and social cohesion, never mind the extra infrastructure required.
July 23, 2024
This new government has said it’s doing away with hotels for immigrants and getting rid of the Bibby vessel, Rwanda. So where are they going to put everyone? Just who is getting the new low-cost and social housing in England now?
July 23, 2024
This is a belated comment, several days late, but BBC R4 had a Monday evening programme on the work of some of these smugglers. Bizarrely, by all accounts they seem to run very effective ‘businesses’ and try to give the customer broadly what s/he wants, consistent with their own ‘market forces’. The gross revenue quoted for one crossing of the Channel was staggering, i.e. in the ÂŁ100,000s. The dinghies are England. It was implied that to some extent the smugglers are selling ‘England’ as *the* destination which all people should aspire to, i.e. why settle for France when for XÂŁ1,000 we’ll get you to the Kent coast? Let’s face it, for someone with no family ties France should be as satisfactory a destination as England and if you stay in France there’s no risk of death if a small boat sinks and tips you into the Channel. Also south of Paris the weather’s *far* better than England.
July 24, 2024
How do UK benefits differ to those on offer in France?