To think this is why Reform will win the next election “Epping hotel asylum seeker mistakenly released”

If Starmer really has given up on decreasing crossings that decision will likely cost him the next GE.

Yes why didn’t they keep it going. At least it may have been a deterrent

I don't know what's going to happen. I'm extremely worried about what Reform would do to abortion rights, workers' rights, disability allowances, the NHS, etc. I also worry that if Reform were elected, racists would start to see themselves as the majority and feel emboldened to harass BAME people.

But I also don't see how the UK's current approach can continue. We've already reached the stage where a fun run organised by a London mosque has brazenly banned women. Young girls are being sexually harassed by asylum seekers on their way to school. The Casey Report showed decades of institutional denial about the racial aspect of grooming gangs. After the Manchester Arena bombing, a security guard testified that he was suspicious of the bomber, but he was afraid to approach him in case he got called racist.

I'm angry that this situation has been allowed to spiral out of control and create this false dichotomy. We shouldn't be in a position where we're having to choose between two extremes. I feel as though the people in charge have abdicated their responsibilities over the last few decades.

Yep. I wonder if the same posters will be selling that in for them after declaring it inhumane.

Starmer will be dusting off the Rwanda plan next. Perhaps they should have taken a breath and properly thought about things before scrapping the military camps and Rwanda plan within days of winning power just to appease their sixth form debating society standard of backers!

I agree. Part of the problem is that they've been taken to the already run down areas, such as run down seaside towns, run down ex-industrial towns, etc which were already suffering real problems of poverty, unemployment, crime, etc. They did the same with "bussing" newly released prisoners to seaside resorts such as Blackpool and Morecambe in the 90s to fill up the run down boarding houses that no one wanted to stay in - same resort, increases in crime and anti-social behaviour.

Placing large numbers of refugees in any one area is clearly going to create local controversy amongst those that support the idea and those that are against it. It also creates controversy from those tax payers who do want to fund it and those that don't. It also doesn't help with integration having a large number of refugees in one camp.

I think a far better idea is a voluntary option like they did for Ukrainian refugees of offering up your spare room in your own home to refugees perhaps with some support from the Government.

No one can object because each individual is making their own decision to house these refugees. The dispersal and family home helps with integration. And lastly it saves the taxpayer money.

https://refugeesathome.org/

The plan was meant to be smash the gangs, Starmer was sure of it.

If that’s gone and it’s 900 or so men in barracks it’s going to bite Labour again. Apart from a few who say great no matter what they do, even if it’s the same as something they said was inhumane, the increasing majority won’t buy it.

I agree absolutely @ForestBath - I cannot think of a single justification not to do so, but I am interested in whether the so-called liberal elite will maintain their generally pro-immigration stance if the use of the base is not trouble-free. My own anecdotal experience of asylum seekers being placed close to us, in a naice area, was that the family groups and children were welcomed with open arms and many people wanted to help. Their replacement by single men - as was inevitable, given the demographics of those entering the UK - was less rosy. It created lots of local complaints about anti-social behaviour and public resentment. There is very little for young unemployed men to do, whatever their background, in a small village.

I was being slightly tongue in cheek, as I suspect an element of nimby-ism will come into effect. I think the lib dems mp for skye has already declared the use of barracks in his constituency as being an "odd choice". Strange how it's perfectly fine and acceptable for asylum hotels in poorer areas, not so much when we're talking of affluent places. My point remains, wealthier areas DO need to carry some of the load - why on earth not?

Labour's spin seems to have also worked on themselves. They were always dead against using military camps etc.

Interesting. I suspect it will up the ante by fermenting more discontent in a new demographic. Typically, the wealthier have benefitted most from immigration: it means cheap services (plumbers, cleaners, childcare, etc), a great choice of cuisine and does not impact on their ability to access shared resources, as it may in a deprived community. I suspect there will be limited tolerance for any anti-social behaviour of the type that has been reported following the use of a military base in James Cleverly’s constituency in Essex iirc.

Well we'll certainly see if the liberal elite will put their money where their mouth is...

It likely won’t tbf, it’ll probably up the temperature. People are not keen on hundreds of men housed nearby.

Why not? It’s barracks and could be bunks or whatever. 900 men is a lot anywhere. You’ll get similar issues with contagious illness, boredom and no work leading to substandard behaviour.

It’s interesting that Labour can get your support for this and something as cramped was inhumane. Just shows how spin works.

I think this is excellent news. I've long argued that the problem with housing asylum seekers is that the load hasn't been spread evenly. The poorest areas with the poorest resources have been leaned on heavily; it was always going to lead to discontent. More affluent areas MUST take their fair share. This will help turn the temperature down on the whole debate.

While the way immigration in the country is handled is an issue I always hope people don't vote on a single issue and look at the range of policies and direction of travel indicated by the party. In the case of Reform Nigel Farage has indicated that he is "open to anything" when it comes to the NHS including US style private health insurance. This would be a catastrophe for the people of the UK.

Firstly, I don't know if they've confirmed the numbers for the Crowborough site, but it's very big and won't be anywhere near as cramped as living on a ship.
Google Earth shows loads of space between the existing buildings, so it would be easy to have more put up if necessary.

I think having people living on boats for what are likely to be long periods is unacceptable, inhumane and unhealthy. Any contagious illness spreads like wildfire on a ship and it can't be good for asylum seekers' mental health, either, especially since they may have already experienced trauma.

As for "wealthy" properties, I suspect that most of the properties on that part of the forest are protected by alarms etc, as is common for £1m-plus detached properties in rural areas, especially those as close to open countryside as these are. The current residents are unlikely to be coming home on foot late at night after working a shift at a care home.

Wow - we agree on something 😀

An articulate reasoned excellent post.

However you will probably be written off as racist by many for making it.

No. I think its causing a little flurry of outrage at present, but that memories are short and by the time the election rolls round this one incident won't be at the forefront of people's minds. Depending on when the election is, Reform may well have peaked too early, bringing the immigration issues to a climax with no election date looming. The public are fickle and well known for obsessing about an issue then moving on to another. Reform may have done better to keep this as a quietly simmering issue then pulled put the big guns at the last minute, so the timing of this event is probably not the best.

One of the party complained that she didn’t like seeing black faces in adverts, I’m horrified, is this their true M.O?

I think what she was (very clumsily) trying to say was that the number of POC - and specifically mixed families - in advertisements seemed disproportionate in a population that is 83% white British, and that these families didn’t accurately represent many people’s lives outside the M25.

We are a mixed race family living quite a considerable distance from the M25 so the advertising probably goes over my head a little. But our rural area is apparently 95% white British and so the demographic is wildly different to (say) Newham, Islington or even most of Birmingham, and it might well seem incongruous in that context. I have also noticed that every old dear wheeled out to advertise funerals, stairlifts or life insurance is white, almost without exception.

I do think it’s important to be able to discuss these issues and make observations respectfully without defaulting to either invective or accusations of racism. If everything is racist, then nothing is racist - this is sadly not a lesson that Labour seems willing or able to learn.

@Pharazon We also spent ours on setting up the NHS. Other countries used theirs to build up industry and wealth. We nationalized our businesses. Other countries got better bang for the bucks.

Reform: polls don’t always translate into votes in FPTP voting systems. Plus the government didn’t lose the prisoner. The prison service did. They probably don’t employ the brightest or have foolproof systems for prisoner handovers. They lose several hundred every year.

Just marking this for later reference.

Garage is a mini Trump, can’t even stand to look at his ugly face, and that mouth, yuk.

One of the party complained that she didn’t like seeing black faces in adverts, I’m horrified, is this their true M.O?

Whilst visiting hubbys cousins last year, they’re in Portugal applying for citizenship, they said the exact same thing. Ironic really when they’re foreigners in another country of olive skinned locals and they’re as white as fuck, talk about double standards, really shitty. Do they think they’re elitist because they’re white? I’m baffled with this attitude 🤷‍♀️