Migrant crisis will only get worse, Suella Braverman, unless you take action now
ANOTHER week. Another Prime Minister.
And another alarming revelation about the reality and the extent of the Channel migrant crisis which needs to be right at the top of Rishi Sunak’s to-do list.
The Home Office’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, Dan O’Mahoney, told the Commons Home Affairs committee that there had been an “exponential” rise in illegal crossings from Albania, facilitated by criminal gangs.
He described the asylum system as being “overwhelmed” by the numbers trying to reach the UK, which he suggested was equivalent to “between one and two per cent” of the entire adult male population of Albania travelling to the UK in small boats.
And at a time when the country is on its knees, the Government is spending an unbelievable £7MILLION A DAY housing asylum seekers and other migrants in hotels — a cost that is only going to rise unless serious action is taken.
Other alarming facts from the committee include the fact that this year has seen a record 38,000 people make it to Britain after crossing the world’s busiest shipping lane in small boats.
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Some 12,000 Albanian nationals have arrived in Britain already since the start of 2022, up from just 50 in 2020.
And, despite France being paid £54million by Britain last year to stem the tide, the proportion of migrants being stopped by French officials has actually fallen.
The Home Office has only processed four per cent of asylum claims by migrants who crossed the Channel last year.
It takes between five and eight years to process a single claim, during which time they all need to be housed and fed, so the processing centre at Manston, Kent, is completely swamped.
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All of which underlines a stark fact: the system is not overwhelmed — it’s broken. This is a crisis.
To be clear, I have complete sympathy for genuine immigrants who are seeking asylum from a dangerous situation and who need sanctuary and help.
But these people are arriving from a safe haven, France. Many of them are not fleeing war or persecution.
There is no war in Albania. It is difficult to see how many of these people could be accurately described as refugees as we have always understood it.
They are economic migrants.
At a time when people are struggling to afford to live, this is making the country angry.
We are already struggling to get a GP appointment.
Asylum seekers are adding to the pressure and stretching our resources even further.
Making the country angry
As a country we should welcome anyone who wants to come and contribute — to give as well as take.
But it’s the illegal crossings that are causing the problem and which are out of control. I think that most people in this country want this stopped.
They want the government to take urgent and decisive action.
Here are some suggestions: get the Rwanda deportation scheme up and running — genuine deportation will be a deterrent in itself.
Find out who these callous and evil people-smugglers are, hunt them down, lock them up and find a way to stop them operating.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has made the right noises about halting this tide of human misery.
Now, Suella, I want to see you put some plans into action.
Adele’s had a novel idea and it’s an inspiration to us all
Although it’s a shame for her fans, I love the fact that Adele – one of the most talented, famous and successful singers our country has produced – is planning to put music on the back burner for a bit to study for an English Literature degree because she regrets missing out on the university experience.
“I really want to get a degree in English Literature. If I hadn’t made it in my singing, I think I would definitely be a teacher. I think I’d be an English Lit teacher,” she told an audience in Los Angeles.
“I definitely feel like I use my passion for English Lit in what I do. But even though it’s not like I’d go on to get a job from my degree, I wish I had gone to university, I wish I’d had that experience.”
Let’s face it, Adele has already made so much money that she never needs to work again.
The fact that she is choosing to spend her time putting the hours in to do an English degree is a brilliant reminder that it’s never too late.
King is my pick for COP
WE are all still in denial about the reality of climate change.
Maybe it’s because there is so little we as individuals can do about it – but also because many of us are fed up with the protesters from Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion.
However, the new UN report on climate change is a wake-up call.
The report finds there is “no credible pathway” to keep the rise in global temperatures below the key threshold of 1.5C.
Given that scientists believe that going beyond 1.5C would see dangerous impacts for the whole world, our leaders need to wake up, smell the coffee – and take action to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
I know that Rishi Sunak has a lot to do and cannot attend the Cop27 climate talks, so why not let King Charles go instead?
Rishi is following Liz Truss’s decision and blocking the King – who is apparently “champing at the bit” to attend – which seems ridiculous to me.
Our monarch understands the problem, cares about it passionately, and will have more impact on creating action from governments around the world than any member of parliament will.
Jez is joking
IT has emerged that supporters of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn provided funds to pay off a huge legal bill.
Their donations paid lawyers’ fees of around £100,000 which Corbyn ran up as he prepared to fight a libel action – even though the case was eventually settled out of court.
Ah, Mr Corbyn.
Remember him?
The Labour leader and terrorist sympathiser who liked the IRA and Hamas but didn’t like the Queen and who was suspended from Parliament over his handling of anti-Semitism in his party while he was leader.
I actually can’t think of a less worthy cause to give money to.
Spare them, Harry
I’M not surprised to hear the Royal Family are “very concerned” about Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir, which will be released on January 10.
There is a hint of the tone in the title, which is Spare (as in “heir and a spare”), and the publisher has promised “raw, unflinching honesty”.
For anyone who is unclear about his intention, the Spanish language version has the subtitle En La Sombra, or “in the shadow”.
The fact that he has been paid an advance of £18.4million as part of a three-title deal worth a staggering £36.8million hints at some explosive content.
It’s obviously too late, but I wish Harry could pull the plug on it now.
That he is risking revealing the sensitivities of his book at a time when surely – now more than ever before – he should be building bridges just beggars belief.
Still, given what’s been said by Meghan Markle and Harry already, the promise of “raw, unflinching honesty” must be sending a shiver down the spine of the royals and all of their advisors – even if, as the late Queen said, “recollections may vary”.
It strikes me that maybe a better title for the book would be Bitter.
Not so handy
OH dear. That is what I thought when I read about the man who decided to make his life easier by having the chip from his bank card surgically implanted in his hand.
It was to save him the bother of carrying a wallet.
Arnie Szoke, 40, paid £350 to have the new technology inserted into his hand and is the first-ever Brit to get an implant with his bank card details, allowing him to pay with just his hand.
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I suppose you can see his logic, up to a point.
It’s just, what on earth is he going to do when his card expires and he needs a new one?