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Our government is spoiling for a culture war --- but there is more at stake here than the future of the vulnerable people on these little dinghies.
A thread. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/patel-plans-asylum-shake-up-to-send-left-into-meltdown-6zqcf7g8h
A thread. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/patel-plans-asylum-shake-up-to-send-left-into-meltdown-6zqcf7g8h
Fomenting fear about “invading foreigners” then threatening to deploy the military is a classic authoritarian tactic to rile up the "base" and divert attention from governance failures.
Unable to shake relentless criticism of its #COVID response and with its #Brexit negotiations faltering, Number 10 opted to whip up hysteria about the Channel crossings, initially in the Express & the Daily Mail. https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1305204/Priti-Patel-news-tony-blair-latest-asylum-laws-home-office-update
Its strategy depends on falsely depicting all those arriving as fraudulent asylum seekers.
Their countries of origin – Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea etc. – fly in the face of this claim, as do the scars carried by the torture survivors among them. https://twitter.com/FreefromTorture/status/1293193784059191296?s=20
Their countries of origin – Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea etc. – fly in the face of this claim, as do the scars carried by the torture survivors among them. https://twitter.com/FreefromTorture/status/1293193784059191296?s=20
So the government:
1. Ensures human stories NEVER feature in the Channel stories it briefs into news outlets
2. Spreads disinformation about refugee law
3. Launches a culture war to discredit charities & lawyers who expose the lies and defend the rights of asylum seekers.
1. Ensures human stories NEVER feature in the Channel stories it briefs into news outlets
2. Spreads disinformation about refugee law
3. Launches a culture war to discredit charities & lawyers who expose the lies and defend the rights of asylum seekers.
But it is not just the rights of asylum seekers on the line.
By dismissing en masse the merits of these asylum claims, the government is perpetuating the mindset (“liars, the lot of them”) that led to the #Windrush scandal.
By dismissing en masse the merits of these asylum claims, the government is perpetuating the mindset (“liars, the lot of them”) that led to the #Windrush scandal.
This risks derailing Patel’s own (laudable) plan to restore “compassion” to the immigration system.
All Home Office applicants - especially those of colour – will lose out. https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/21/priti-patel-says-home-office-will-compassionate-windrush-scandal-13019991/
All Home Office applicants - especially those of colour – will lose out. https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/21/priti-patel-says-home-office-will-compassionate-windrush-scandal-13019991/
And by denying the merits of these asylum claims IN ADVANCE, the government is undermining a cornerstone of Britain’s internationally renowned legal system: due process.
There are plans afoot to exploit these fears about border control to hoodwink the public into supporting new curbs on the rights of people in this country to hold our ministers to account in court.
This has been a government priority since the Supreme Court ruled against its prorogation of Parliament last year.
The blocked #Jamaica50 deportations incensed it further and gave Number 10 an idea to sell these plans to the public by scapegoating migrants and lawyers.
The blocked #Jamaica50 deportations incensed it further and gave Number 10 an idea to sell these plans to the public by scapegoating migrants and lawyers.
Sure enough, now that it has incited the right level of "moral panic" about the Channel crossings, the government has unveiled a review of judicial review. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-independent-panel-to-look-at-judicial-review
Citizens beware: What started as a crackdown at the border is likely to continue as an assault on civil liberties of everyone in this country.
This is how freedom dies.
ENDS.
This is how freedom dies.
ENDS.
