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Cruel, stupid and pointless. That phrase perfectly sums up Boris Johnson’s regime. He has presided over a government that seeks to do nothing but maintain power. A government that doesn’t even have the moral fortitude of a dogmatic ideology. It exists only to keep on existing and offers nothing of substance. But even still, I was shocked to read about his latest headline grabber. It seems that Priti Patel and Boris Johnson are planning to send refugees to Rwanda for “processing”. This Rwanda Plan could have been torn straight from the pages of Mein Kampf.
But is he really planning to do this? Or is this just yet another ploy to divert attention. The cynic in me finds the timing remarkable. A dead cat to distract from his criminality.
What does the Rwanda Plan actually entail?
This isn’t particularly clear. There’s been conflicting stories, but what I can piece together is:
- Priti Patel has signed a contract with Rwanda for a “pilot scheme”
- It seems that when refugees arrive in the UK, men will be segregated and flown to Rwanda
- There they will be “processed” – which appears to mean that they will be interviewed to determine if they are “economic migrants”
- If they are, it seems they will then be denied entry to the UK and told to settle in Rwanda
Even writing it I cannot quite believe that this is Britain. I can tolerate political differences, but this is beyond the pale. This policy perfectly typifies the banality of evil and I will go one step further. Anyone who has any part in implementing this policy is guilty. Any MP that votes for it, any civil servant that helps write it, any Home Office staff that enforce it. The Nuremberg defence will not stand. It is dismal and depressing and anyone who enables this carries the weight of guilt.
How much will this cost?
Having written the above, it is difficult for me to consider anything beyond the human factor. But there is another side to this. It’s not just cruel, it’s also stupid and pointless. There are lots of figures being thrown around about how much this will cost, with £120m being the most quoted figure. But that’s just the “sign up fee” before a single plan has taken off. A charity has calculated that the true cost will be in the region of £1.4bn per year, and rising.
Just think about that. We are taking people that are fit to work. People that could do jobs that would add tremendous value to our economy at a time when the economy is in dire straits. And we are paying £1.4bn to fly them across the world. This, from a government, that has done nothing to lift a finger to help with the cost of living crisis in the UK. A government that has actually raised taxes. This is where your NI increase is going.
So will they actually do it?
My guess is probably not. Everything about this seems designed to distract. By throwing this out there he achieves two things. First, the headlines move away from his law breaking. Second, it whips his erstwhile supporters up into a frenzy. In fact, there is a lot to say that he gains more from this scheme being blocked in the courts than he does from it going ahead.
Johnson has already stated that he expects a court battle to challenge the scheme. No doubt he is banking on it being found as a flagrant abuse of Human Rights. My bet is that this is part of the plan. The Express has already started railing against “do-gooder lawyers”. As a tactic to whip up support before local elections it is a good one. It will bring the culture war firmly back onto the table. Expect the word “woke” to be bandied about a lot in the near future.
Also, by having it blocked, he doesn’t run the risk of it failing. He achieves his polling boost. The people who already hate him still hate him. The papers stop talking about how he broke the law. And he doesn’t have to send a single plane to Rwanda. I’m not saying that I don’t think he’s callous enough to do it. I just don’t think he has to.
