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This week, the Prime Minister delivered a much-anticipated speech on the state of the nation, outlining the challenges ahead and how his government plans to address them. At Migration Watch our focus has always been on immigration policy and its impact. So, while there is a great deal on which we may as individuals have strong views, as MW we will confine ourselves to commenting on what the Prime Minister said (or didn’t say) about immigration.
Dubbed “Fixing the Foundations,” the speech itself was notable—not for new policy announcements or rhetorical flair but for what he didn’t say and how vague he was on certain issues.
Take this passage, for example:
“But before the election, I also gave a warning. I said change would not happen overnight. When there is a deep rot in the heart of a structure, you can’t just cover it up. You can’t tinker or rely on quick fixes. You have to overhaul the entire thing. Tackle it at root. Even if it’s harder work and takes more time. Because otherwise, what happens? The rot returns. In all the same places.”
Most people would go along with the sentiment of this statement. Tinkering is a luxury only afforded to governments when everything is going swimmingly – when productivity is high, borders are under control, and public services are functioning well. In such cases, piecemeal reform may be the right approach. As the saying goes, “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!” But that luxury isn’t available when the system is malfunctioning and ineffective, and those dominating the institutions meant to implement policy are actively hostile to the very policies they are there to effect.
Thus far, our new government has broken speed records in abandoning policies and measures in place or about to be implemented. It seems clear there was little thought given to whether the polices were appropriate, necessary or effective. Our impression is that policies have been ditched for no other reason than they were Tory ones.
Let’s take illegal immigration and asylum. The asylum system is broken, legal immigration way too high, the Home Office is in a mess; illegal crossings are at 2022 levels as migrants make their way here with alacrity; no sooner are asylum cases cleared than new applications enter the system; responsibility for and the cost of housing and caring for those granted asylum is passed on to local authorities around the country – so that everyone gets their “fair share”. The post-Brexit points-based system has failed spectacularly – perhaps it was meant to fail; that’s the only logical explanation for why an absurdly loose and weak system was put in place the consequences of which were only too predictable.
Tinkering with these problems won’t cut it. Radical change is an absolute necessity if the flow of illegal immigration is to be halted and legal migration is to be brought under control. How radical? Regarding illegal immigration (irregular if you prefer but we’d rather call it what it is): repealing or amending the Human Rights Act; detaining and processing quickly those who have made their way here illegally and returning them whence they came; working with likeminded states to negotiate agreements with safe third countries willing to take asylum seekers. These are the sort of polices and measures we wanted to hear about from the Prime Minister. Sadly, he didn’t oblige.
This is a preview of Migration Watch’s free weekly newsletter. Please consider signing up to the newsletter directly, you can do so here and will receive an email copy of the newsletter every week as soon as it is released.