This extract from Newsnight is deeply telling.
2 minutes on Newsnight last night to say:
The government has deliberately created a crisis as a campaign tool
They have stopped processing asylum claims, letting numbers build up, in barges or hotels, just so at the next election they can say they're the ones to fix it #r4today pic.twitter.com/6buyXFMlRm
— Zoe Gardner (@ZoeJardiniere) March 30, 2023
Zoe Gardner , who is a migration expert, makes three allegations. They are, firstly, that the government has created an asylum crisis by denying people safe-route access to the UK, forcing them into the hands of people smugglers and onto small boats.
Second, she suggested that the government has deliberately moved to putting asylum seekers into highly visible hotels to increase social tension around this issue.
And third, she suggests that the government has simply stopped asylum application processing at least at any meaningful level to increase tension.
I believe Zoe Gardner. I think that this crisis has been, if not created then greatly exacerbated by his government for deliberate reasons that can only be summarised as their gain at the expense of the misery of tens of thousands of people.
What do you think?
Has the government exacerbated the migrant crisis for its own political gain?
- Yes (97%, 609 Votes)
- I'm abstaining, but show me the results anyway (2%, 14 Votes)
- No (1%, 5 Votes)
- This question is insulting to the Tories (0%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 629
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Is the Pope a Catholic?
I have followed Zoe Gardner for some years and trust her expertise and experience in this. The Tories are using the classic far right playbook. Create a visible ‘other’, ghettoise them, use tame media to amplify the ‘threat’, light the blue touch paper then propose a (final) solution.
She is very good
Of course, if the government were to actually process these asylum claims, then a large percentage of them would be granted asylum which would go against their narrative that the people in boats are economic migrants, intent on living off the state and being a burden to society with no desire to integrate or contribute.
By not processing the claims then they guarantee that the asylum seekers will be a drain on public resources and a potential source of unrest and flashpoints. Whereas processing the claims and granting asylum when it’s due would release a lot of new talent to take up all those poorly paid vacancies that the government are fretting about and blaming the over 50’s who’ve opted out of the job market for creating.
And if they did process the claims, rightly legitimising the claimants, then they’d have to tackle all of the associated issues around housing, health and public service provision. All of which they don’t want to do. So by keeping those pesky boat beachers “illegal”, they can howl about the inordinate expense of housing them without ever having to actually tackle the problems of a lack of affordable housing or access to health care or sufficient places in schools etc etc.
So yes, this is a crisis all of the government’s making and all in an ongoing bid to remain in power.
Has anyone explained adequately why the Home Office is unable to process claims at the rate they could several years ago? Have they lost the staff? Have they changed their procedures? Or is it something else?
It is obvious that input (people arriving to claim asylum) exceeding output (competing the processing of claims) for any length of time will lead to an increasing backlog. The government’s continued failure to address that backlog over a number of years by increasing the output – and its fixation on reducing the input with little to no success so far – looks like a deliberate policy.
They downgraded the staff grade doing the work, lost the skills and have not been able to recruit replacements for very stressful work on what is, in effect, minimum wage.
Behind the issue there is the method. The Conservatives found out long ago that the best way to advance their free market, small government purpose is not through legislation; the best servant of neoliberal Government is simply to deprive the Departments of Government with the resources, the tools of manpower and money to carry out their work. Few people notice the mechanics of Government (parliamentary performance and ritual is all in this banal theatre), and huge effects are created without any political fuss in Whitehall; and money is not spent where it is most required. The justification for this abuse of office is wrapped up in terms like ‘austerity’; this is a vital deflection. Government then create a bigger deficit blowing vast amounts of money on crackpot neoliberal ideas that fail spectacularly, or lavishing all Britain’s resources on the over-priced Black Hole that is London; in which vast resources are expended cleaning up the mess after every financial crisis created, or excarbated by the City; it has become a cyclical phenomenon, repeating on an ever shortening cycle but at exponentially growing cost.
In taxation, the Conservatives cut HMRC to the bone, depriving it of resources to investigate tax avoidance or evasion sufficiently to have a real impact on Government income. On immigration spend is avoided to fix the problem; but resources increases where it is least effective, to fuel public outrage at immigrants. On welfare they spend money on pursuing benefit cheats (spending more on investigation than will doubtless be clawed back, simply because it provides politically usable publicity of the kind they seek); but not sufficient spend on poverty or major social problems that deprive communities of stability and prosperity. Most of the real money to be gained by Government is lost to the Treasury in unclaimed, unpursued tax because there are insufficient resources spent to do the job. This isunquestionably deliberate.
Legislation rarely works in ways that help neoliberal Conservatism, but it doesn’t matter. Matters of law are problematic for neoliberals, so the solution is to bypass the law, simply by ensuring that government is unable effectively to apply the law. Think Grenfell and Building Regulations; it provides the gold standard test of how you destroy decent Government; and the Conservative Government has not a shred of decency.
Conservative government deflects attention from the the real machinery of neoliberalism; which is to deprive Government of the resources to prevent wanton laissez faire running amok; they defend their commitment to Law, but deprive it of any effect, largely without anyone noticing. The media isn’t interested. What is the Conservative purpose? To provide sufficient ‘freedom to cheat’ without hindrance (in economics the polite word for it is ‘permissionless innovation’); and worry about the consequences later, catch up with the law when the dreadful effects only when the immediate political effects are so egregious they can no longer be hidden or ignored, and usually far, far too late to offer real remedy; this is the real Conservative measure of the necessary latitude required for the offenders, the pirates in our midst; in order to have a free society.
Thanks John
Another ‘trick’ of Tory govts is to spend enough money on an issue so that they can say they’ve done something, but not enough money to effectively address the issue. As far as Tories are concerned it’s the spending of money that’s important, not the efficient use of it.
So agree about Grenfell as the ultimate example. I seem to remember – there used to be just the Building Research Establishment – which set all the standardsm and that was it.
Allthough the ‘BRE group’ is sitll there – in the lead up to Grenfell everyone seemed to be allowed to set their own standards . as the polar opposite of effective government you couldnt make it up.
Presumably the big building firms and others simply bought shares in teh Conservative party, as the Oil industry has done, and as the PPE supplers did – blatant and obvious corruption as George Montbiot has pointed out.
I made this point less eloquently, when talking to itv calendar during a public meeting held at my Church in Skegness.
Very helpful to learn of the job crisis at the Home Office and the reasons for it- another deliberate move no doubt.
And don’t forget the ‘left wokery’ of anyone who wants a lawful and adequate processing system to be working. Another useful weapon in the Tory armoury.
Its almost as though they dont really mind that people can see its a deliberately created crisis. Maybe it’s another version of people being happy knowing Johnson and Trump are liars – that’s part of their appeal – we know that they know that we know they are lying.
Keeping the swamping and invasion vision in the news week after week and the toxic ‘migrants’ in luxury hotels or in disgusting prison hulks helps to keep the 1930’s-type ‘jewish question’ in play until the rigged election.
David Byrne says:
We must not be afraid to refer to the worst experiences in recent history, lest we forget.
National Socialism in Germany in the 1930’s brought with it many subtle and extreme political decisions and actions that will never be forgotten. The tools and techniques require serious examination.
Yesterday we discussed propaganda; today we have (the GB invention) in prospect, concentration camps for refugees.
What next from our failing government?
I am SO depressed. Is there no way of stopping this nation destroying government?
Their “small state” bigotry has so obviously failed. Education has been destroyed, Health has been destroyed, British self-respect has been destroyed, British influence is decimated. How can the country grow without healthy, educated young people?
Sunac, presumably educated by his in-laws, cares not tuppence for the rest of us “untouchables”. He flew to Bali in a private jet (!), content to wallow in the luxury that he is happy to become used to, while burning excess carbon with not a shadow of guilt for the damage to the planet. Indeed when does he go anywhere without using the most CO2-producing transport?
Now we have them boasting (!) about the stupid Asian 0.08% trade deal – worse than we had before.
The planet is in the beginning of its death-throws, atleast for human kind, and these self-serving criminals are making no effective moves to slow global warming, even encouraging more oil drilling and coal mining. Does ther Public Schooling destroy the intelligence with which one presumes they were born?
What they are good at is lighting fires and throwing fuel on them to take attention off what is important, but not being done for British prosperity.
I am now ashamed to be English. (Can’t blame the Scots for some of this!)
I have no doubt that this is correct. Despicable gang.