Yesterday the Government came under fire from the Archbishops of York and Canterbury for their sickening plan to ship asylum seekers to Rwanda. Dubbed the “Rwanda Plan“, it is a horrendous initiative that deserves nothing but contempt. But like all bullies the Conservatives do not like to be called out. Thus, the mask slipped a little yesterday when the Church of England’s leading figures called out the inhumanity. Unsurprisingly, MPs and Cabinet ministers reacted with the petulance we have come to expect from this government.
Fast forward 24 hours. Now, it seems, that this Conservative troll-farm of a Government has re-grouped around an attack line. Apparently, their plan exists solely to tackle the small boats crisis. Odd, then, that it’s targeted at the victims who have committed no crimes. The criticism that has been levied back at the Church is that they have not proposed an alternative. As if that in some way excuses the giant turd of a plan they have concocted. Not least because the “problem” is one of their own creation.
The reason for boat crossings is because this Government has made it impossible to cross normally. You want a solution? How about acting with some f**king compassion.
Conservative MPs are nailing their colours to the Rwanda Plan
As mentioned, the Government has sent it’s drones out in force. There are plenty of examples, but the one that stuck out most was the below gem from Andrew Bridgen.
To his credit, he does just about distance himself from his colleagues attempts to silence the Archbishops. But what follows is absolute drivel. All of the Conservatives tweets and press releases centre on a few easily debunkable themes. As usual, I’ve summarised them here so you don’t have to read the bile.
- They start by lamenting how refugees have to place their lives in the hands of people traffickers. At this point they always ignore the fact that this only happens because they have made it almost impossible for refugees to get here. You only need to look at the shambolic red tape stopping Ukrainians arriving to see how utterly f**ked the system is.
- Then they talk about economic migrants using illegal routes to get to the UK. This is a cynical attempt to obfuscate. The Rwanda Plan is targeted specifically at refugees claiming asylum. Asylum seekers are not “economic migrants”, and there is no illegal method for a refugee to enter the country. There are already rules in place to deport illegal immigrants.
- Then they talk about how unconscionable it is for poor people to pay to house refugees in 3 star hotels. Again, this is a situation completely of the governments making. If the Home Office wasn’t so obsessed with keeping people out. The vast majority of refugees are keen to work and have vital skills we need.
- Finally, they talk about “queue jumping” and tying up Home Office staff. Once again, this is a problem that only seems to exist in Brexit land. In 2021, the UK offered refugee status to c14.5k people. In the same year, Germany supported c135k people. That’s nearly 10 times as many; now tell me that this isn’t a problem of our own making?
Perhaps Mr. Bridgen should worry about his own reputation, rather than wading into this row.