Member

Talk of “strangers”, “invasions” and “swarms of migrants” is despicable. The implication that not just refugees but diaspora communities here in the UK are somehow lesser citizens, not really British, is utterly shameful language and I condemn it. Politicians and commentators who use such language are guilty, frankly, of spending too much time online and too little time on the doorstep, in market squares, in churches, in communities and even in the pubs. The reason the Rwanda scheme was so unpopular was not—shockingly—because every Brit is a bleeding-heart liberal, but because the scheme was unfair and ineffective. The British people just want fairness and competence, so I urge the Government not to fall into the Tory trap of making ludicrous promises they cannot keep and I counsel other Opposition parties not to make ludicrous promises that they would not be able to keep either, because one day they may find themselves in power and face the wrath of an electorate for their failure to deliver.