This may sound like a worn out record, but I am
becoming really concerned how are government is losing touch with reality. Two
main areas illustrate that nicely, the situation in Calais and the plans to
withhold benefits to those who are obese, suffer from drug or alcohol problems
and do not accept treatment. These both show politicians out of touch with what
is really happening.
The Calais situation shows an approach that just will
not work. First of all it is amplified out of all proportion. While it is quite
obviously a human tragedy the numbers there are comparatively low, low compared
to the number of illegal immigrants who enter the UK by other means, and low
compared to the numbers resettled in the rest of the European Community. There
is a far bigger problem at Heathrow for instance with travellers who overstay
their visas.
We have to address the core problem, the gut reaction
is to build higher fences, however the people storming the fences are already desperate
and have risked death multiple times just to reach Calais, ultimately you
cannot fence the whole of the channel coast. Also when watching the TV tonight
it seemed that the fences were just being pushed over, well just down the road
the barriers surrounding the local school playing field are more robust than
that.
There has to be a constructive dialogue first of all
with the French, after all they have what is essentially a British problem
dumped on their doorstep. It needs joint coherent action. Secondly perhaps we
should talk to the migrants themselves, would it not be better to undertake
orderly processing in France rather than play this game of cat and mouse. Then
we have to look at the root cause, failed states in the Middle East and Africa
a state of affairs for which our actions are at the very least contributory.
When we help oust regimes like Gadhafi in Libya we had no coherent policy of
reconstruction.
At the moment we are attempting a policy of isolated
prevention without addressing the root causes of the issues. Our politicians
are just looking for cheap headlines, and the losers are the migrants in Calais
living in squalid conditions and indeed the French people living there whose
daily lives must be considerably disrupted.
A brave politician would engage not mouth platitudes.
Tomorrow my rant will continue……..
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