The Conservative government of the United Kingdom on Wednesday started a big public drive to defend its controversial immigration bill, which has received widespread criticism. Former footballer Gary Lineker, now a star BBC presenter who has frequently been critical of the government's tough policies (both domestic and foreign), likened the Conservative fixation on illegal migrants to fanatics in 1930s Germany.
With this bill, the British government is aiming to clamp down on illegal migrants arriving across the Channel on small boats, one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s key promises that he hopes will present him as a strong leader to the hard-right factions of the Conservative Party.
It provides a framework for the swift deportation of migrants who arrive in this way and prohibits them from seeking asylum, settling in the UK or applying for British nationality. It also makes it easier to detain migrants until they are deported to a third country.
“Britons have had enough (…) It is not racist to say we have too many illegal immigrants abusing our asylum system,” insisted Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Wednesday in an op-ed published in the Daily Mail – one of the most-read papers in the UK.
Braverman, who has made a name for herself with overblown and unfounded statements, made the assertion that "There are 100 million people displaced around the world, and likely billions more eager to come here if possible." Her piece has been sharply criticised by refugee aid groups as being contrary to international law. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has accused the government of wanting to “end the right to asylum” in the country.
Just stick to sport
But it was former England international Gary Lineker that became the target of right-wing news outlets for a Tweet he published in response to the policy: “My God, it’s beyond horrible. There is no mass influx (of illegal migrants)... It’s just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s.”
Tory MPs have called for BBC sanctions against the former England international, accusing him of going too far.
Related News
- Belgium in Brief: The reception crisis relocated, not resolved
- Hundreds demonstrate in Brussels demanding regularisation of undocumented migrants
Questioned on the BBC, Braverman said that she was “obviously disappointed that he would compare our measures to Germany in the 1930s”.
Speaking on Sky News, she insisted that “We are not breaking the law. We are confident that the measures we announced yesterday (Tuesday) meet our international legal obligations."
