People in small boats

[EndlessRain1]

With everything that is going on in the UK at the moment, can it really be true that one of the top 5 priorities in the country is to stop "people in small boats"?

I mean, I know a lot of people are against immigration in this form, but in the grand scheme of the shit show this country has been in the last couple of years that is in the top 5 priorities/ actions?

AIBU to think that's insane?

If they weren't dying and that wasn't making money for a lot of criminals, I'd agree with you. It probably still should not be top 5, but it a problem and we can't ignore it.

So we should allow/ignore people smuggling that takes very real risks on people’s lives?

£7 million a day spent just on hotels housing people who are in the immigration system. I think it absolutely must be a priority.

I think something needs to be done to stop people being so desperate they take such a massive risk. That means we need to look at introducing systems like we managed to do for Ukrainians to allow applications to be made before entry to the country

Watch “Years and Years” by Russell T. Davies for one of the most heart wrenching fictional portrayals of this. I hadn’t been aware of a lot of the particular issues and mechanics and this did really make me think

Years and years is a really interesting watch.

Different border but the book American Dirt is a really insightful read on people smuggling.

I'm not suggesting that it's not an issue or serious. But there are, objectively, surely much more expensive and much more awful things happening in the UK.

Also, when shipping Asylum seekers (which they are untill refused ayslum, not jsut random people in boats) off to Rwanda is the government policy I am not sure I really buy the genuine concern for vulnerable people.

you do realise its a busy shipping lane and people have died.
it needs to be stopped before more people die.

Agree OP it’s dog whistle politics again. I thought Sunak was going to clean all this up. The reason the hotel costs are high is because of the Home Office backlog and the intentional withdrawal of resources. Rwanda is the biggest money drain - inhumane, expensive and morally bankrupt.

People are dying for lots of reasons. Many more people than on the channel.

As I said, I am not suggesting it's not serious, but I just can't believe that in this country it's in the top 5 priorities. Billions will be spent sorting it, billions that could be sent elsewhere

I agree @Iwanttoslowdown it is whistle politics. It's great, you can take "hard" measures to "save" people against the evil people smugglers. Nothing to do with the home office incompetencies at all....

Agree.

dog whistle politics.

the most urgent problem facing this country is the total
failure if the political system

It's a concern for a lot of Conservative voters which is why it's a priority for Sunak. It's not because he particularly cares about the numbers of people dying, or about the money it sends to criminal gangs, or about the amounts of money spent on asylum seekers.

People wouldn't need to travel in small boats and pay people traffickers if we had safe legal routes which groups have been arguing for for years.
It's not hard.

It should be priority, it's unsafe and puts lives at risk

@HomeAGnome so it should be a priority above impending general strikes and unsustainable pay and working conditions (strikes not mentioned once), cost of living crisis, above fair taxation of energy companies, investment in public services, over and above NI protocol - really?

Yes it’s unsafe and puts lives at risk and guess what there is solution. Safe routes.

The £7 million figure is for keeping asylum seekers while there claim is being assessed.

The tories could solve that issue relatively easily by setting up safe and secure routes to claim asylum (managed to do just that for Ukrainians) and funding the asylum system properly. But they don't want to that as they'd loose a convenient scapegoat and gammon distraction by doing so.

The UK is at the centre, as a desirable final destination, for a large scale illegal activity that makes a fortune for criminals, funds organised crime, causes the death of the victims and endangers our busy shipping lanes on a daily basis. I think it's right that it's high priority, top five I guess depends what the others are.

Getting new laws passed isn't going to stop the crossings though. It might mean more people are sent to third countries or deprived of support or housing once here. But kind of law Sunak will want to pass will not actually help.

I'm against it because of the horrendous and traumatic experiences both the immigrants and cost guards are put through by criminal gangs making money off of the suffering of others. I'm not against immigration at all.

@Iwanttoslowdown , have a look at the knock on effects so yes it has to be up there

Do you live in Kent ?

Yes, I do.

I don't know why but I can't help think the people smuggler thing is a smoke screen the government are using to beef the problem up and that the people are obtaining these boats themselves and organising their own crossings. Why has this only become such a huge problem since small groups stopped stowing away on lorries at the tunnel? Where were all the so called people smugglers loading 100 people on lorries every night then?

Well it's just because he's a massive cunt

And wants to distract us from the NHS crises/train strike crises etc etc

@LaurieFairyCake beautifully put if I may say