to think deporting Trenton Oldfield is just mean

[sashh]

Trenton Oldfield is the man who disrupted the boat race a couple of years ago.

He is an Australian married to a Briton with a baby daughter. He has lived in the UK for 12 years.

He has applied for a spousal visa and it has been rejected.

He did a stupid thing, for which he has paid with a prison sentence and a criminal record, why punish him more?

Exactly what good will it do to deport him?

Exactly how much harm will it do?

I have not put a link, there are loads of newspaper articles, web pages etc outlining the case.

[friday16]

Before the deportation notice arrived I was writing a long letter to our daughter explaining our concern for her and for her generation … I was essentially mapping all the social and democratic rights being taken away from her, that we have had the benefit of.

He does take himself quite seriously, doesn't he?

[AngelaDaviesHair]

It is a very bonny baby, though.

If only that were enough, my father would have been a shoe-in for his Indef Leave to Remain Visa, instead of having to jump through endless hoops and queue up at Croydon at stupid o'clock in the morning.

[AngelaDaviesHair]

Tsk! 'of which we have had the benefit', Trenton. Or have you rejected over-privileged elite emphasis on grammar?

[currentbuns]

I stand by my post. The class saboteur (or whatever he is) comes across as something of a prat, but there is an innocent child involved. I found the tone of this thread pretty spiteful, tbh.

[hareinthemoon]

I've lived here for 25 years. I have British children. I have ILTR of my own accord, not a spousal visa. I am aware that the rules on this can be changed at any time; indeed, they have changed several times since I've been here.

I love this country, much more so than my (British) husband. I feel deeply connected and committed here. But part of my love for it takes the form of trying to change what I think is wrong with it. I think that this is not only a right but a duty, to my children and to the culture I feel I belong to.

I've been completely blindsided by the response to this case. I'm really shocked to be seen as "just a visitor", and shocked by the vitriol.

And, actually, quite scared to post this.

[marfisa]

If only that were enough, my father would have been a shoe-in for his Indef Leave to Remain Visa, instead of having to jump through endless hoops and queue up at Croydon at stupid o'clock in the morning. and

Hurrah for the triumph of common sense, as StainlessSteelBegonia said. I am surprised and relieved.

And yes, friday, hurrah for due process.

[ActionA]

Fully in favour of people trying to change things that are wrong. But targeting a rowing team that may well be from comprehensive schools and have worked hard to paricipate in a sporting event is just plain stupid and self centered. Not saying the guy should be deported. I don't think he should. But he is an idiot, and it wouldn't be a loss if he wasn't here.

[marfisa]

I hear you, hareinthemoon. My position is virtually identical to yours.

On lots of issues, I find Mnetters very open-minded, so I was also surprised by the turn this thread took.

I can only speculate that Oldfield didn't do much to endear himself to the general public (the whole concept of "I will protest against societal inequality by ruining the Oxford/Cambridge boat race!" never made much sense in the first place). TBH, when I first heard that he was going to be deported, I thought, so what. But I have friends who work on these issues, and when I understood the full story, I changed my mind entirely. Not about the man, but about the principles at stake.

I do wish he would now eat humble pie and acknowledge that the Oxbridge community isn't made up purely of snobby elitists, now that so many members of it have come to his defence (the Guardian article said that the letter was signed by Cambridge academics, but that's a mistake; it was both Cambridge and Oxford ones).

[friday16]

I feel deeply connected and committed here

So why not take British citizenship?

[marfisa]

I know that question wasn't directed at me, but taking citizenship does cost a hell of a lot of money. Not everyone who is eligible for it can afford to go for it straight away.

[PleaseHelpWithSchoolChoice]

That TINAG website is a spoof, right? Intersectionality? Platforms for critical investigations into cities? The socio political history of fences and railings?? Ha ha hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa.......

[AchyFox]

Think Teresa will be choking on her coco-pops over this one.

She must have thought it was a bit of an open goal to get middle-England onside.

Now some lilly-livered wig wearer has said:

immigration tribunal judge, Kevin Moore, told Oldfield: "There is no doubt as to your character and commitment and the value you are to UK society generally.



There, there Teresa. There, there.

[friday16]

Think Teresa will be choking on her coco-pops over this one. She must have thought it was a bit of an open goal to get middle-England onside.

Or, alternatively, next time she's expelling some asylum seeker in genuine and well-founded fear for her life, she can say "but the tribunal system works well, because it found in favour of a rich, articulate, educated man with a trivial offence against his name, so now that it has found against this poor, inarticulate, illiterate woman who may or may not have stolen a loaf of bread to feed her child, we must trust its judgement".

Oldfield's an arse. But he's a white, anglophone arse who presumably traces back to this country within a few generations (he's the right age for his parents to be ten pound poms, isn't he?). So even the hardcore racist xenophobes will see him as one of them. In their eyes, being an arse, even being an arse at the boat race, is a great deal less of an offence than being black.

So May could use him as a beard. "Look," she can say, "we follow due process and shit, so how can you say our decision to expel this Somali woman who's certain to be tortured upon her return is racist, because Mr Arse won his appeal. She can appeal, too, you know, just like he did, and due process is available to everyone with an LSE degree, money, powerful friends and a good story to spin to the newspapers."

[scottishmummy]

Frudays,got it nailed,I agree

[limitedperiodonly]

There is a judge called Kevin?

How the fuck did he get through?

Yes, Theresa May saw this as rabble-rousing. All grist to the leadership mill but not so good as whining about Al-Qaeda lieutenants when you've got your fucking dates wrong or railing against gay Bolivian cat lovers, which actually wasn't true. And she knew it.

But she also knew that most people wouldn't know it.

[AchyFox]

Friday, interesting take.

But that Our-JusticeSystem-is-Blind argument would be far more powerful if Oldfield had in fact been deported.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Has he been allowed to stay then?

[AchyFox]

Yup

[Morloth]

Lets hope everyone gets the memo about the new UK 'anchor baby' law.

Or as friday16 implies will that only be for eccentric rich white men who can do what they like?

The guy is a twat. I am glad he is staying there. Enjoy.

[womblesofwestminster]

Lets hope everyone gets the memo about the new UK 'anchor baby' law.

So true

[marfisa]

Lets hope everyone gets the memo about the new UK 'anchor baby' law.

Absolutely. Damn that article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights for presuming to declare that everyone has the right to a family life. What an outrageous idea!

And how dare Trenton Oldfield procreate when obviously he was obligated not to do so?

I guess he didn't get the memo.

Seriously, I hope this case does set a precedent, and helps to highlight the kind of deportation cases friday refers to, where the victims are less privileged and can muster fewer resources to obtain justice.

[friday16]

Damn that article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights for presuming to declare that everyone has the right to a family life.

"except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

Obvs.

[scaevola]

Perhaps the "anchor" part of the baby could be disregarded if one looked at the family that existed at the time of the offence?

The father need not have been separated from his baby, who would have been Australian by descent, and could have accompanied him. His DW would have to go through ordinary immigration procedures (just like every country requires).

As UK generally doesn't deport for offences with a sentence of under 1 year (though in theory can for any crime that has a custodial sentence), this case was dodgy. Now, he claims the baby was conceived by accident, and probably was. But if the idea of "anchor baby" does take hold, then that is not good (generally, as immigration dodge) but also in terms of pressure into pregnancy for vulnerable (controlled?) women.

[janey68]

The guy is a manipulative twat who has a ridiculously high opinion of himself; god only knows what thats based on.
Still, he's got what he wanted now. Shame he can't respect other people's hard work and aspirations.

[marfisa]

Scaevola, I see what you mean, but the term "anchor baby" doesn't even really apply here, as the mother is a citizen herself. (The term is considered an offensive and pejorative one, by the way: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_baby)

Even if mother and child could move to Australia to join him, why should the mother be deprived of living in her home country? (presuming of course that her non-citizen spouse is not a danger to the public). Why shouldn't she have the right to live in her own country with her child and spouse?

And while I agree that the possibility of women being put under pressure to conceive is a troubling one, is there any realistic alternative? I think that as a default position, we have to assume that women are agents able to make their own reproductive choices, and that if couples decide to have a child together, this choice must also be respected.