The Abuse of Power

The Prime Minister said (BBC Radio 4 "Today") about immigration that we need to close loopholes. She has been in charge of UK immigration since 2010! So why hasn't she already closed them? One of the most obvious loopholes is marriage. Mrs. May ended by saying that what makes her angry is "the powerful abusing their position". Patricia Hewitt, Tony Blair's Equality Minister, wrote of her campaign opposing Mrs. Thatcher's 1979 election policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK in her 1982 book "The Abuse of Power". Hewitt subsequently was in a position of power. Her successful campaign against the Conservatives' 1979 policy was contrary to the democratic vote....

Peace brings War (as Thucydides observed in 5th c. B.C)

The Roman Empire had Peace & Prosperity. The Goths were pushed out of their lands by the Huns. In 376 A.D. the Goths appeared on the banks of the Danube and asked the Romans to be allowed to live within the Empire. The Romans agreed on condition the Goths surrender their weapons and children. The Romans had weapons inspectors! But some Goths kept their weapons by allowing the inspectors to sleep with their wives or daughters. Following a skirmish started by the Romans there was a battle at Adrianople. The Goths won. On New Years Day 407 the Vandals crossed the Rhine which was frozen over. In 410 the Goths sacked Rome. Some things were better: because of Christianity gladiator fights were stopped. Were "human rights" partly responsible for the misery of the Romans? Thucydides wrote "The Peloponnesian War" in the belief it would be a model for future wars.

Poor Britons

Mrs May said at the United Nations we should distinguish between refugees and economic migrants. Mrs Thatcher was saying that in the 1980s. It's pointless saying it and not doing anything about it. Nobody persecutes children. Workers in the flourishing refugee industry (which, unlike other successful British industries, has - alas - yet to be sold off) have 2 strings to their bow: the Law and Morality. While poor Britons who want good immigration control only have one: the Vote. Where has it got us? Disunity and discord with our fellow Europeans. This is an appeal for a judge to take affirmative action against foreign men using marriage to live in the UK.

"Deja Vu" again

Historians will dispute everything under the sun. But there's one thing, I believe, they all agree: History doesn't repeat itself. Conditions and personalities are always different. However, there's deja vu. In 1962 the implementation of the Commonwealth Immigration Act was deliberately delayed to allow Commonwealth people to settle in the UK. The result was a rush of young men. Now the illegals coming to live in Europe are likewise mostly young men. "History is past politics. Politics is future history."

No wonder they Head here

The senior rabii has written to the Prime Minister asking that more refugees be admitted to Britain. The rabbi said (Radio 4 "Today") she was one of 90,000 Jewish children who came to Britain from Germany and Austria in the 1930s. But I have heard the argument - I expect everyone has - that Britain should accept more refugees because Britain turned away Jews in the 1930s (i.e. we should learn from past mistakes and atone for guilt).

Selfish Interests

President Charles de Gaulle (means "of France"!") said France doesn't have policies, only interests. When an Englishman on the radio recently said Britain shouldn't take any more refugees he was told by Mahmood that he was selfish. But Mahmood too was being selfish. Immigration increases his political clout, and it is obviously more fun to occupy than to be occupied. And maybe he wants revenge for Britain's past imperial endeavours. De Gaulle emphatically said "Non!" when the UK applied to join the Common Market. That may have been for selfish reasons. But he didn't like the British. (Strange that he liked the Americans even less.) Now that the UK has voted to leave the European Union it would be a surprise if any Frenchman likes us.

15 Years On... The UK leaves the EU

"Welcome to the Asylum", Centre for Policy Studies 2001, page 10: "The Home Office Control of Immigration Statistics are equally suspect.... As very few illegal immigrants are ever forced to leave this country, most would have stayed on anyway, invisible, at least statistically."