As Guy Wade said immigration is a wicked problem, but all of government is a wicked problem with the best you can hope for being the least worst solution. How do you square the circle that the UK in common with most of western Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan and even China have declining populations with low birth rates? Like it or not immigration will be needed but how that is done whilst maintaining social cohesion is down to the politicians/media.
The external problems are beyond the ability of any one state to control. Conflict, social upheaval, climate will be drivers of people seeking to immigrate. The OCG's have an advantage over any government. They are quick to innovate and adopt new tactics and technology and dump anything and anyone that doesn't work.
I have some sympathy with a French official who was dealing with the migrant villages in Calais, he said that the UK was in many ways the author of its own misfortunes, the lack of an official ID card system was a big driver as was the ability to get work in the hidden economy. As an example my local 'village' high street now boasts a couple of nail bars, a 'bubble tea' shop, a Vietnamese take away, a Turkish take away and a couple of Turkish barbers, none of which seem to be doing much business. I forget where I read it but an economist said that a proliferation of hand car washes, barbers, nail bars etc is a sign a lot of money is being laundered and of a sizeable hidden workforce.
This problem will not be sorted to the satisfaction of all. I would also say resist the calls of left and right wing populists. Populism rarely works and remember the populists don't have your interests at heart.
I don’t think this government (or many of the political class) want to tackle immigration at all, legal or otherwise, because it’s at the heart of their shangri-la worldview and they see it as a fundamentally ‘good’ thing. But they have to go through the motions because the people it most affects, the bulk of the working population, are most exercised by it.
It might be a vote loser, but you may never get to vote. Over four years before the next election is due and the country could be so changed by then it will be beyond repair. And elections might be considered racist by then and Two Tier might have abolished them in favour of some sort of glorious union with his friends in Brussels who will make the rules.
Actually, I think it's beyond repair already. If we had a Trumpian politician there would be a chance, but we don't, and we haven't.
Great article. Immigration is a wicked problem, misunderstood by the general public, and abused by politicians who seek to avoid bad press. It's set across too many disciplines and is impossible to "solve". Successive governments have messed up big time, and Keir, the champion of BS will fail here. Definitely, unreservedly.
As an aside, the job of Commissioner is now impossible to succeed. No matter who, and how good they are, they cannot succeed in this political landscape. Policing is amid a moral panic, with the police unfairly seen as the folk devils. One result is that the lowest morale in several generations now pervades.
Every LEA in every country has pledged to smash drug smuggling/dealing gangs since drugs became illegal - why would People smuggling groups be any more susceptible to being smashed? Clearly not going to happen (as they're fundamentally probably the same people).
I was going to make a comparison with drugs policy, because of course there are similarities. The difference is the commodity and demand (nobody is phoning their dealer for illegal immigrants). They are so different I decided not to make it, but yes, your point is well-made on a number of levels. And, of course, if we find a tonne of cocaine in the UK we can seize it. People? We can only put them in hotels and wait.
Because the alternative, the truth, is impossible. Like all progressives they delude themselves. They are utterly incapable of accepting that others don't behave according to their ideals. So they make it up. Avoidance. Classic avoidance. Then when Trump comes along they can't understand why people flock to him.
Trump has the required clarity of vision and his appointee, Tom Homan, had the directness of purpose to effect immediate change. Within hours of the inauguration they were kicking down doors 24hrs a day, militarising their border, declaring the gangs to be terrorists, repurposing Gitmo and strong arming their foreign counterparts to cooperate or suffer real consequences. Illegal immigrants over there are self-deporting because the options are worse; they can always apply for legal reentry as opposed to those leaving in handcuffs on military aircraft who will be permanently excluded.
We have Starmer and Hewitt. I also remember the latter but as good as he was, he is no Tom Homan. It’s like comparing the Untouchables in Capone-era America with Juliet Bravo. (I know you appreciate antediluvian references)
And even if Hewitt was as good, he's on a very, very tight leash. It's all bullshit. The problem is, for Starmer, the public's bullshit tolerance has diminished to near-zero.
The majority of the public doesn’t have access to £12,000, but we are supposed to believe that people from the poorest regions on earth do,
The country is green lit by global finance, thats paying for it, replacement is deliberate
As Guy Wade said immigration is a wicked problem, but all of government is a wicked problem with the best you can hope for being the least worst solution. How do you square the circle that the UK in common with most of western Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan and even China have declining populations with low birth rates? Like it or not immigration will be needed but how that is done whilst maintaining social cohesion is down to the politicians/media.
The external problems are beyond the ability of any one state to control. Conflict, social upheaval, climate will be drivers of people seeking to immigrate. The OCG's have an advantage over any government. They are quick to innovate and adopt new tactics and technology and dump anything and anyone that doesn't work.
I have some sympathy with a French official who was dealing with the migrant villages in Calais, he said that the UK was in many ways the author of its own misfortunes, the lack of an official ID card system was a big driver as was the ability to get work in the hidden economy. As an example my local 'village' high street now boasts a couple of nail bars, a 'bubble tea' shop, a Vietnamese take away, a Turkish take away and a couple of Turkish barbers, none of which seem to be doing much business. I forget where I read it but an economist said that a proliferation of hand car washes, barbers, nail bars etc is a sign a lot of money is being laundered and of a sizeable hidden workforce.
This problem will not be sorted to the satisfaction of all. I would also say resist the calls of left and right wing populists. Populism rarely works and remember the populists don't have your interests at heart.
Forensic as ever. Thanks Dom.
I don’t think this government (or many of the political class) want to tackle immigration at all, legal or otherwise, because it’s at the heart of their shangri-la worldview and they see it as a fundamentally ‘good’ thing. But they have to go through the motions because the people it most affects, the bulk of the working population, are most exercised by it.
It might be a vote loser, but you may never get to vote. Over four years before the next election is due and the country could be so changed by then it will be beyond repair. And elections might be considered racist by then and Two Tier might have abolished them in favour of some sort of glorious union with his friends in Brussels who will make the rules.
Actually, I think it's beyond repair already. If we had a Trumpian politician there would be a chance, but we don't, and we haven't.
Great article. Immigration is a wicked problem, misunderstood by the general public, and abused by politicians who seek to avoid bad press. It's set across too many disciplines and is impossible to "solve". Successive governments have messed up big time, and Keir, the champion of BS will fail here. Definitely, unreservedly.
As an aside, the job of Commissioner is now impossible to succeed. No matter who, and how good they are, they cannot succeed in this political landscape. Policing is amid a moral panic, with the police unfairly seen as the folk devils. One result is that the lowest morale in several generations now pervades.
Every LEA in every country has pledged to smash drug smuggling/dealing gangs since drugs became illegal - why would People smuggling groups be any more susceptible to being smashed? Clearly not going to happen (as they're fundamentally probably the same people).
I was going to make a comparison with drugs policy, because of course there are similarities. The difference is the commodity and demand (nobody is phoning their dealer for illegal immigrants). They are so different I decided not to make it, but yes, your point is well-made on a number of levels. And, of course, if we find a tonne of cocaine in the UK we can seize it. People? We can only put them in hotels and wait.
If it’s not Vranyo, it’s Taqquiya.
Because the alternative, the truth, is impossible. Like all progressives they delude themselves. They are utterly incapable of accepting that others don't behave according to their ideals. So they make it up. Avoidance. Classic avoidance. Then when Trump comes along they can't understand why people flock to him.
Trump has the required clarity of vision and his appointee, Tom Homan, had the directness of purpose to effect immediate change. Within hours of the inauguration they were kicking down doors 24hrs a day, militarising their border, declaring the gangs to be terrorists, repurposing Gitmo and strong arming their foreign counterparts to cooperate or suffer real consequences. Illegal immigrants over there are self-deporting because the options are worse; they can always apply for legal reentry as opposed to those leaving in handcuffs on military aircraft who will be permanently excluded.
We have Starmer and Hewitt. I also remember the latter but as good as he was, he is no Tom Homan. It’s like comparing the Untouchables in Capone-era America with Juliet Bravo. (I know you appreciate antediluvian references)
And even if Hewitt was as good, he's on a very, very tight leash. It's all bullshit. The problem is, for Starmer, the public's bullshit tolerance has diminished to near-zero.
Starmer couldn't smash a boiled spud. He refuses to see the truth. Like so many self proclaimed progressives.