Starmer thinks I am an enemy of the state

[Bumblebee72]

So we have it Starmer has declared at conference because I support Reform I am now an enemy of his Government.

Who would have thought it, a middle class British worker, now an enemy in the country I was born. And they say Reform is the party of Fascists. Yet we also now have the Home Secretary saying "In solving this crisis, you may not always like what I do. We will have to question some of the assumptions and legal constraints that have lasted for a generation and more". Maybe the Home Secretary too will be deemed an enemy of the state.

Am I being unreasonable to think this should be seen as a rallying cry to get this Government out at the first opportunity.

The ‘Farage boats’ . Labour are doing well.

Reform are a huge threat to Britain. I'm glad Starmer is tackling it head on.

Why do you support Reform? What do you like in their policies? That's a very relevant question which might help inform your perceived view of being victimised.

I didn't say the number of asylum claims had increased, I said net immigration, the asylum backlog and small boat crossings had increased. The numbers we were returning weren't miniscule and reduced massively after 2020.

In 2014 - the backlog of asylum claims was under 20,000 (and had been for years). It started to increase gradually and by 2020 it had more than doubled. By 2023 it was close to 140,000 - a 600% increase. We didn't need asylum hotels until recently!

At the start of 2015 net migration was just over 300,000 a year. It had increased between 1999 and 2003, but had remained relatively stable since. Brexit caused EU migration into Britain and British migration to the EU to fall, but non-EU migration increased right up until the Covid drop off. From 2021 onwards, it sky rocketed month on month to well over 800,000 most of which was due to non-EU migrants, while EU migrants continued to leave.

In 2019, small boat crossings were virtually zero and always had been. After the Tories shut down all other routes to seek asylum in 2020, they skyrocketed month on month before hitting a peak of almost 50,000 in 2022.

Before 2014 over 46,000 people who failed asylum or whose visa expired were returned in a combination of enforced, facilitated voluntary or independent voluntary. Between 2010 an 2014 well over 25,000 a year were returned forcefully or facilitated voluntary. By 2019 (i.e. before Covid) returns had fallen to 20,000. Returns have started to increase again, but are still only at 35k and up until last year, that was mostly due to an increase in voluntary returns. Monitored returns have increased since Labour got in to levels just higher than those in 2010, but enforced returns remain below 10,000 - but should start to increase with the new return deals Starmer has signed.

Graphs attached

Sources (all official government / migration watch figures):

Applications and Backlog
Small Boat Crossings
Net Migration and Here
Returns

Why didn’t Starmer refer to them as Farage boats during electioneering last year?

Why didn’t he blame Farage then?

Starmer simply promised to ‘smash the gangs’ ad nauseum.

In calling it the Farage boats? Lib Dem's coined the phrase first

Definitely could catch on.

Small boats just replaced lorry crossings. There weren’t any in the early 2000s because people would jump in a lorry not a boat.

Maybe you can explain how Farage plans to tackle them?

If you are a female of any colour, why on earth would you even consider Reform? I suggest you do some research and I don’t mean their racist stance on migration, look at ILR, you do realise these are people who are working and contributing taxes to the country! Then look at how services like the NHS will struggle without internationally educated doctors and nurse!

Now look at how Reform controlled Kent County Council voted against stronger support to protect women and young girls from violent/sexual abuse! Now look at Trump and MAGA and how decisive that has been, remember is Nasty Nige’s vision for the UK! Finally it is beyond me how anyone with an ounce of intelligence would even consider voting for such a racist party unless they have racist tendencies

Why don’t the figures reflect that? It’s pure supposition - unless, of course you can find some evidence?

I heard it earlier, it’s made it to mn.

He doesn't know you at all and who you support is up to you. He made some comments about reform's policies, I'm sure he's made plenty about Tory policies too.

I imagine Reform is unstoppable now after the latest public panic flap from Starmer.

So they don't get given phones and more by charities ?

You probably need to look at the figures for different classes of the returnees - they aren't all "illegals" who have been returned

In case you haven’t noticed so has Farage but he doesn’t have a plan! I suggest you read the Dublin agreement if you have the intelligence, that will explain to you why it’s so hard to return asylum seekers! There’s jackshit the ugly b—————— can do about it unless he renegotiates the whole treaty with the EU! And for reference we accept far less starkers than France, Germany and Turkey!

If they are anyone's boats, they really are Farage's Boats.

BBC Verify explores the mechanics:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87yqp7eyqdo

And yes, it's not as straightforward as 'we are where we are because of Brexit'. But if you had to pin the small boats crisis to any single factor, in the way that Reform and Reform supporters like to doggedly simplify complicated issues to simple binaries so why not join them, being outside of the EU has made us even more attractive to small boats than we already were.

So yeah. Farage's Boats. Has a ring to it.

I think the kindest politest for the asylum accomodation would be "variable" but common issues include black mould, no hot water, no locks on doors, broken toilets, common areas repurposed, no access to outside space. Just like the worst homeless hostels. They cost the government an extraordinary amount of money but they are not luxurious. As I said, I am cynical having seen first hand how the same sorts of people can mobilise against homeless accomodation. And in America, Trump (who ran on getting rid of immigrants) announced that he wanted to clear DC of all the homeless (incl US) and you had Fox TV hosts saying homeless people should get lethal injections. I really don't think that Farage and co want to improve things for British homeless men. As I said the "deserving poor" narrative goes directly against that

Plus, Reforms actual plan, the one people are criticising, is to end permanent residency for people in this country who already have it as well as new applicants. These arent criminals. These are people living and paying taxes in the UK who followed all the rules. So I really don't see how anger at perceived unfairness in the asylum process would make someone support that. All Farage does is create continually shapeshifting target for people to project their dissatisfaction on.

I agree with this entirely.
If you are not going around telling the Chinese takeaway owner to "go home" or the like then plainly that speech isn't about you. But interesting that the OPs first reaction was to take offence.

Incidentally I love your name. Even if I may now never sing the correct lyrics again!

It was high in 2002 just by lorry instead.

In 2002, a peak of about 84,132 asylum applications were made in the UK, a number that was higher than the 2002 peak until 2024, according to UK Parliament and GOV.UK. In the early 2000s, the primary method for people to reach the UK and claim asylum was hidden in the back of lorries.

It’ll be interesting to see the impact. And how votes go next year in various elections.

What is your professional status and highest level of education? Because exactly who are you supporting? Where are all the Reform MPs going to come from? This is what puzzles most of us. Who are they exactly? I get it if it is going to be a whole lot of ex Tories, but if not, who are they exactly? So how can anyone be supporting the notion of Reform right now?

I'm sure you're very important, OP.

Is Farage proposing to deport millions of people residing legally here because they are foreigners?

I am a lifelong Labour voter (although I am regretting it now after the shambles of this last year) but I could not believe the audacity of the man,making this sweeping statement. According to him,several million people in the UK are racists.

I mean supporting the notion of burn the house down and start afresh, means what exactly with the right people to implement it? In Britain, we vote for MPs and people to implement stuff. Not big ideas and a man with a microphone spinning plates and ideals and a whole lot of words/slogans without an actual plan to implement, nor the people to do it.
So I just do not get it.
Same as Brexit really to me. Some “idea” that some people backed, but with no plan. And we all saw how that one went down.
This is not even about right and left wing ideology really.