Cruella De Ville

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The phrase 'Economic Migrants' - much touted by the right-wing press and our decidedly unsavoury Home Secretary, Priti Patel, as recently as today in Parliament - fills me with righteous anger: especially now in the light of the tragedy that panned out in the dangerous waters of the Channel this week. Where on earth do these pundits get their authority to play God with people's lives? The simple fact is that if you are willing to risk your very existence, and your family's, to make your way across continents and the busiest shipping lane in the world in the heart of Winter, you will have good reason. Visiting KFC and Starbucks or hoping for Universal Credit will not be on your agenda.

Who in the Lord's name has the right to triage these human beings into random groupings whilst they're in one of the most lethal transits possible and to decide their reasons for risking life and limb in so doing? People in dire straits in war-torn countries and dictatorships have few options open to them, and the UK seems to most like a civilised and caring country that might offer opportunity and support for them in their flight.

Unfortunately, at the outset they don't yet know about the sordid undercurrent of xenophobia that runs just beneath the surface of the veneer of civilisation we so love to promote as peculiarly 'British'. For the sake of common humanity, let them in, treat them decently and then decide on individual cases; it will cost bugger-all in the larger scheme of things and it might just give these currently benighted islands a little more kudos on the human rights front. Oh, I forgot: our inglorious government wants to distance us from human rights. Shame on the lot of you...

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