Statement by the Chair of the Conservative Party

[newnamethanks]

"If they don't like barges they should fuck off back to France". 30p Lee Anderson of course, not the BNP. Not the National Front or whatever their current name is. The Chairman of the Conservative Party. Supporters must be so proud. What a statesman. So Churchillian.

'The annual number of asylum applications to the UK peaked in 2002 at 84,132. After that the number fell sharply to reach a twenty-year low point of 17,916 in 2010. It rose steadily throughout the 2010s, then sharply in 2021 and again in 2022 to reach 74,751 applications, the highest annual number since 2002.'

Just remind me how many of those 74,751 can fit on the barge ? It sounds like a drop in the ocean and is it is clearly being done purely for the optics.

Of course it is

The only reason the Tories would place an absolute moron like Anderson in a relatively prominent position is so that he can act as a sort of "shit barometer" to measure what degree of awful they have to maintain in order to keep white van man onside.

He's Deputy Chair, not a Government Minister, but it's a prominent enough position that he'll be given air-time and column inches to spout his hateful idiocy. The actual Government can sit back and take stock of the reaction, and if and when it has clearly crossed the mark even, even by Tory standards, they can dial it back a bit while claiming that it's not a Government policy or Government opinion in the first place, because LA isn't a member of the Cabinet.

He's a Stoolie, a fall-guy, a helpful idiot, but he won't care either because he's elevated to a position and prominence that he would never achieve on merit and ability alone. Some of that "celebrity" status and infamy will linger long after he loses his seat, so it's win/win as far as he's concerned. Even he knows he's a moron, so he is utterly unconcerned with outward perception. You can't ruin a good reputation that was never good to begin with.

This Tory party and Government is a sewer, in every respect. Jam-packed with some of the very worst people going. The only 'decent' Tories saw this coming a mile off and ran like hell in 2019.

You're complaining that I didn't answer within 5 minutes? Do get real.

Yeah it's just the Tories throwing red meat to the elderly racists they hope will vote in large enough quantities to keep them in power. Same with all this new anti-environment bullshit - the Tory membership will all be dead by the time it's a serious problem so they don't care if the rest of us and our kids have to live in a fucked up planet.

I think they're off the mark with all of this and will lose resoundingly in the next election. I will mark the occasion with a party. And before someone pipes up with LieBORE r just AS baD - don't bother, I'm a Labour party member anyway.

My point is that this barge is a better alternative than to where certain hotels that accommodate them are situated.

The fact that these men now don't want to go is not my problem.
And on that basis I agree with the statement.
Like I've said.. It's easy to sit on here spouting all sorts but until its in YOUR face everyday then it's easy to scoff at my remarks. Wait until YOUR 11yr Daughter is too fearful to go out. Then come back on here.

Did he say this to asylum seekers or to economic migrants?

Swearing is always unnecessary, but the point in and of itself is totally valid. If ablebodied men are so unhappy with perfectly adequate, clean and safe, if not luxurious, accommodation, they should have stayed in France. What's so mind-blowing about that? (I do agree politicians shouldn't publicly swear though)

No, it wouldn't. One reason why we are tempting is that the asylum processing system is so shit, they know that they can string things out for ages whilst living at our expense. If they knew that their asylum claims would be processed before they even reach our shores so that they would be deported back to their country of origin very quickly, it all becomes much less attractive. And much less expensive for us.

I've never yet heard a Tory explain why they won't take up the offer of facilities for processing asylum claims in France. I wish they would.

Small sections of social media and MN liked to get all outraged by this. Most people agree with the the bit about the barge being acceptable accommodation. The fact that people are refusing to go live on the barge will cause people to get annoyed. What do you expect.

Why do you think 'illegal' immigrants are France's problem? Why should France hold onto them - and pay for them - when they don't want to be there anyway?

I used to work in the oil industry. These barges are used to house men working offshore. Men of all sorts of abilities....£1000 pounds a day or £200 a day. I know 2 men who have been housed on them.

Everyone is equal in the accommodation. Sharing is normal. The accommodation is extremely safe.

What more do you want?

And frankly, refusing to board perfectly good accommodation funded by taxpayers of a country you entered illegally is extremely brazen, so thesr strong words, while inappropriate, aren't shocking

Because according to EU law they have to seek asylum in the first country they land in. So you're problem is with the EU.

That's not the law at all. I see people claiming this all the time and it simply isn't true, there's no EU law stating this at all.

They have not "entered illegally" simply because they arrived here by an unapproved route. Provided they declare themselves upon arrival and express a wish to claim asylum, they have done nothing illegal whatsoever.

Refusing to declare yourself upon arrival and continuing on into the country makes you an "illegal immigrant". These are asylum seekers, not "illegals".

horseyhorsey17, they are France’s problem because they are living in Calais. Why should we accept 74,000 illegal migrants who fancy hopping across the Channel to strain our resources when we can’t house our own young people?
Nobody is fleeing persecution from France, they were perfectly safe there - they just didn’t like living in a tented campsite and thought we would give them nice hotels. They have a brass neck complaining about the barge.

If you think this is going to empty out your local TravelLodge, you are deceiving yourself. This is gesture politics. It will barely dent the number of people whose asylum claims are waiting to be processed.

Really, why aren't you complaining that the Tories have done fuck all in over 13 years to put in place a sensible and efficient asylum processing system which would obviate the need for either hotels or barges?

That's their choice and they're extremely well paid to have their freedom curtailed by living offshore.

It's not remotely the same if you have no choice but to do it. That's when it borders on imprisonment.

Are they fleeing unsafe countries? Or are they economic migrants from Albania?

We're a small country and we barely have enough houses for the people who already live here. Where are these men supposed to eventually live?

And why aren't people more concerned about the fact that these men (because it's almost all men) are generally from countries with deeply-held views about women and gay people that are entirely at odds with UK life? As a woman, I wouldn't feel safe with a hotel/barge full of these men near me.

As two posters who have lived on that barge have already said, they lived one person to a cabin, and only ate and slept on the barge. The asylum seekers will be sharing their cabin with 1-3 other people and living there 24 hours a day.

Most people posting here live in a bubble. Most people in the real world agree with Lee Anderson. Even thought the Tories really don’t want to stop the boats. People in the real world also accept the reality that most asylum seekers are economic migrants. Anyone would game the system if they could, so the system and the people running it are the problem. But only the naive who have never stepped outside the world of Twitter still believe that most are genuine asylum seekers.

Where did the HO claim that this would be confined to men? And have you missed the many valid safety concerns that have been raised by, amongst others, the Fire Brigade?

Sigh...

They are not "Illegal migrants".

If they have broken French laws, that's a matter for the French. It does not mean that arrival in the UK makes them "illegal" here.

They're as 'illegal' in France as they are in the UK, so why do you think France is obliged to deal with them? France is probably delighted that they're heading to the UK - what's in it for them to try and stop them?

There's no legal obligation for asylum seekers to claim asylum in any safe country and they can move if they want to. These people are therefore our problem if they want to come to the UK and not France's. We might have been able to work with France on this but the Government shot themselves in the foot there by leaving the EU, creating bad relations with France, and refusing most of their offers of help anyway.