Where's Britain's Gandhi?

For decades politicians have been saying they will reduce immigration. But they don't do it. So it's no wonder some Britons get exasperated! Thomas Mair was sent to prison yesterday for life for killing Jo Cox MP. My guess is it's not by chance that Thomas Mair's a man and Jo Cox a woman. Also yesterday 7 Iraqis (all male) landed by boat at Folkestone. Everybody knows that asylum seekers should claim asylum at the first safe country. But the Iraqis were not returned to France.... Thomas Mair did nothing to further his cause. He should have used non-violence, like Gandhi, who, I suggest, would have supported him. If a British Gandhi emerges he can expect much derision and no help from the law. In addition to 30,000 people deported from the UK every year, another 30,000 are turned back at the borders. (Chris Huhne's figures during the run-up to the 2010 General Election.) It's thought that those who are turned back at the borders will lose themselves and seek work if they are allowed to enter the UK. But so can those who claim asylum and they are not turned back despite not having any papers! Welcome to the Asylum! P.S. I may have been the last British boy attached to the military to leave India at the end of August 1947. I was living with my W.V.S. Mum in Deolali, a transit camp near Bombay. We lived at 19 Plymouth Street. I don't know if it's still there, but a few years ago I was told Barnes High School is still there.

Mud-dle

Other countries have medical ID cards to prevent foreigners using health services for free. England (today's News) is trying out ID proof in certain areas (e.g. Peterborough). If these procedures aren't done properly and comprehensively they can easily be circumvented. The present scheme will mean that natives are inconvenienced, and hospital staff waste valuable time checking. Britain is not just a puddle (hit by heavy rains last night), but a muddle.

She Turned

A main reason Mrs. Thatcher was elected with a large majority in May 1979 was she said she would control immigration. But within days she allowed thousands of Vietnamese who had gone to Hong Kong to settle in the UK. And a couple of months later she allowed tens of thousands of Iranians to settle in the UK. She didn't keep her election promise to stop foreign men using marriage to live here. The result is hundreds of thousands of men are living in these islands. Mrs. Thatcher won the 1983 election on the back of the Falklands Conflict. Her most famous words were "The lady is not for turning. She was given what amounted to a state funeral. Now immigration has taken the UK out of the EU. And Spain cooperates with Argentina over the Falklands....

British Sovereign Territory (Remembrance Sunday)

On 12 May 1982 the European Commission of Human Rights determined in favour of three women whose husbands weren't allowed to live in the UK. While that was happening British servicemen were fighting for the Falklands. 255 died and, we're told, a similar number have since committed suicide. They died for British sovereign territory. The Falklands memorial is at Pangbourne College which used to be the Nautical College Pangbourne and where, as a teenager, I was a Cadet. At least 300,000 foreign and Commonwealth men have taken advantage of the "human rights" decision that enables them to live in these islands.

"Stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK."

My epetition with the above title closes today. It reads: "Marriage is a loophole in visa constraints. Abolishing the spouse visa would be for the common good because England is over-crowded and the UK has more young men than young women. It would not prevent women from marrying foreign men because they can live in the husband's country, as is normal. This loophole for foreign men was closed in 1969 but was re-opened by the next Labour Home Secretary. The Conservatives promised to close the loophole again in their 1979 election manifesto, but did not keep their promise." This epetition achieved 735 signatures. (4 Signed this afternoon! - GREAT!) I would like to thank everyone - particularly the women - who signed, and who Liked, Retweeted and expressed favourable comments. Many thanks!

The Heart of the Matter

The European Commission of Human Rights was set up after the Second World War in response to its atrocities. Surely, therefore, the last thing it should do is facilitate people from outside Europe to take up permanent residence in Europe. Instead it should support a complaint to prevent that from happening. In 1977 (10 June) I complained to the ECHR that the UK allows foreign and Commonwealth men to live in the UK through marriage even though I (and other British men) cannot live in their countries through marriage. I wrote (26 August): "the 1971 Census revealed that in Great Britain there were 1,660,690 unmarried men in their 20s as compared with 973,425 unmarried women in their 20s. This shows there was a surplus of 687,265 single men in that age group." The ECHR wouldn't investigate my complaint on the grounds I had not been the victim of a Government decision. The Government's official figure at that time for the number of men allowed to live in the UK through marriage was about 10,000 a year. About a dozen years ago I read in the Press the number was over 15,000 a year.

Rights #Trump Democracy

In 1977 I read in the Press that the Conservatives' policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK wouldn't succeed because there would be an appeal to the European Commission of Human Rights. So on 10 June I complained to the ECHR that foreign men could live in the UK through marriage even though I (and other British men) couldn't live in their countries through marriage. The ECHR's response was that I hadn't been the victim of a Government decision. So I put my complaint to the Equal Opportunities Commission, which I knew was campaigning vigorously against the Tory policy. The EOC response was that my complaint was "outside our ambit". So I complained to the ECHR about the EOC. The ECHR's response was that I should challenge the EOC in the UK courts. To this end I sought Legal Aid. But the Law Society denied me the requisite Green Certificate (though I was getting Legal Aid for the divorce I was going through at the time). On 12 May 1982 the ECHR determined in favour of 3 women whose husbands weren't allowed to live in the UK. This was part of a process, while British servicemen were fighting for "British sovereign territory", the Falklands, that has enabled some 300,000 men to live in these islands! On 7 July 1983 the House of Lords determined that the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act did not apply to immigration control Therefore the EOC spent public money illegally.

Power to Judges (not Parliament)!

In 1979 the Conservative manifesto promised to end the concession by which foreign men can use marriage to live in the UK. But Mrs. Thatcher's Government didn't keep its promise despite having a large majority. Therefore it's up to the judiciary to end this concession. It's clearly unjust that foreign men can deprive Britons of work and promotion through finding someone to marry. Moreover, the Equal Opportunities Commission led a vigorous campaign to defeat the Tories' policy. But the House of Lords determined on 7 July 1983 that the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act didn't apply to immigration control. Therefore the EOC spent public money illegally. Either British men can live in other countries through marriage or they can't. If they can then people in such a transnational marriage are privileged compared to couples in other marriages, because they have the great choice of being able to live in 2 countries. If British men cannot live in their countries then it is clearly unequal that foreign husbands can live in the UK.

Power to Parliament (not Judges)!

The Conservatives' election manifesto in 1979 promised to end the concession whereby foreign men can use marriage in order to live in the UK. But Mrs. Thatcher's Government didn't keep its promise. This issue was challenged in the European Commission of Human Rights which decided in favour of 3 women whose husbands weren't allowed to live in the UK. ("The Times" 29 May 1985, page 1.) The UK has many immigration lawyers and many immigration cases are decided in courts and not by immigration officials. Now 3 judges in the High Court have controversially determined that triggering Article 50 to enable the UK leave the European Union should be a matter for Parliament and not the Government. In 1914 and 1939 Britain declared war on Germany (I'm sorry to say - please see this blog, 3 September 2016). There was no parliamentary vote in either case and no judges to say there should be! Strange that judges determine power resides in Parliament when they themselves override it! How have judges acquired these powers? And who pays them?

"Some (foreign) Students may be Genuine" !

"100,000 foreign students now crowding the capital...clearly push up property prices. While some students may be genuine, for many London is a fun finishing school, with the added attraction of a student visa and possibly never having to leave." Simon Jenkins, "London Evening Standard", 1 November 2016, page 14. I agree with foreigners who say the British have only themselves to blame. My epetition "Stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK" at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129594 is running out of time. It has 695 signatures. I'm grateful to those who signed, particularly the women. But it is far short of the 10,000 needed to make any difference.