Godwin’s Law states that as an online argument escalates then, regardless of the subject matter, the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler increases.
Whoever does that then loses the argument.
Consequently, some think that English national treasure Gary Lineker should have had an early bath for this Tweet apropos the British Government’s proposed new law on asylum seekers.
Indeed, a survivor of the Holocaust upbraided Braverman for her use of language regarding the human beings who try to get into the UK.
The brouhaha over the pundit has created a helpful smokescreen that diverts the discussion away from what Sunak and Braverman are proposing in the Illegal Migration Bill.
It isn’t just Gary Lineker who thinks this latest move at the Dispatch Box is alarming.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said it is “profoundly concerned” by the bill.
Their statement is worth reading:
The legislation, if passed, would amount to an asylum ban – extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the United Kingdom for those who arrive irregularly, no matter how genuine and compelling their claim may be, and with no consideration of their individual circumstances.
The effect of the bill (in this form) would be to deny protection to many asylum-seekers in need of safety and protection, and even deny them the opportunity to put forward their case. This would be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention and would undermine a longstanding, humanitarian tradition of which the British people are rightly proud.
Most people fleeing war and persecution are simply unable to access the required passports and visas. There are no safe and “legal” routes available to them. Denying them access to asylum on this basis undermines the very purpose for which the Refugee Convention was established. The convention explicitly recognises that refugees may be compelled to enter a country of asylum irregularly.
Based on the Home Office’s most recently published data, the vast majority of those arriving to the UK in small boats over the Channel would be accepted as refugees were their claims to be determined. Branding refugees as undeserving based on mode of arrival distorts these fundamental facts.
We urge the government, and all MPs and peers, to reconsider the bill and instead pursue more humane and practical policy solutions.
That is rather damning from an organisation that tends to be understated and measured in its choice of words.
This three-word slogan on the lectern might help the Conservative Party hold onto some Labour seats that they won in 2019, some red meat for the Red Wall.
The decision to appoint Lee Anderson as Deputy Chairman of the party can be seen in the same light.
Here he is discussing the proposed legislation.
What a delightful fellow.
If you’re living in Britain and you are a bit baffled by the provenance of this amphibious “invasion”, as the Home Secretary styled it, then allow me to help.
The current Government has, bit by bit, closed off pretty much all of the safe and legal routes into the UK.
Moreover, by leaving the European Union, it also left the Dublin Regulation, which is there to determine which member state is responsible for that asylum claim and arrange their transfer to that state.
Those pesky facts cannot be allowed to get in the way of this sort of racist virtue signalling from the British government.
No doubt, the idea of the English Channel being a moat to keep out foreigners has been thoroughly analysed and examined in focus groups by party strategists.
This is xenophobia on stilts, Farage meets Famine Song election strategy.
Stop The Boats might work on the electorate as well as Take Back Control and Get Brexit Done.
My father from County Mayo saw the infamous signs in 1950s Britain.
The country that became the first global superpower by invading much of the planet wasn’t exactly the welcoming Shangri-La of Gammon myth.
Done’t believe me?
Two words:
Windrush Scandal.
Despite the back and forth at the Dispatch Box about this proposed law, Brexit is the factor that dares not speak its name at Westminster.
Since the UK left the EU, a business opportunity has been created for the trafficking gangs.
They are exploiting an opportunity created by lawmakers.
Just as the Volstead Act created Al Capone then, safe and legal routes would kill the business model of these horrible criminals.
Instead, it is the likes of this man who is to be criminalised regardless of what he is fleeing to protect his children.
As the son of an immigrant myself, I cannot enter the moral universe of Braverman and Sunak.
That is why these historically illiterate weapons utterly embarrass us here in Ireland.
Thankfully no one in Dáil Éireann is currently thinking of copying the Brits.
On Planet Fitba, the use of xenophobic othering has a long and shameful history.
Indeed, there is an entire subculture built around anti-Irish racism.
You will know them by their noise.
Unsurprisingly the far right finds a home at the place where they laud in song the memory of a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Ibrox klanbase benefit from a compliant Fourth estate, which knows the rules that any criticism of them must be minimised and Old Firmed wherever possible.
Any objective, erudite traveller to Fair Caledonia would know where to find the good guys.
For the avoidance of doubt, they’re across the city.
That is particularly apposite on the day that the club itself reminded the world that Celtic has roots.
Of course, nothing that Braverman or Sunak has come up with should be mentioned in the same sentence as the evil that was planned at the Wannsee conference.
Given they’re part of a political elite who buys into the Word War Two mythology, I thought they would approve of frightened, desperate people crossing the channel in small boats.
So, perhaps a yellow card for the Lineker hyperbole.
That said, he had a point, and it should be VAR checked.
Vicariously Authorising Racists.
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Gary Lineker OBE. Might be an idea for him to send this royal title back. Something that truly represents imperialism, crude nationalism and racism. He’s been selective in criticizing Qatar’s human rights issues. Not so vocal about England holding major tournaments after the Iraq war. That said, the guy shouldn’t be losing his job at the discredited BBC.
Stop the arms dealers! That is why these refugee-creating wars exist.
Eisenhower’s often misinterpreted “arms industry” speech probably comes down to one sentence:
“Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
An ignorant public caused by a complacent media lie machine allows these people to remain in the shadows as they prosper from other peoples misery.
Great article about the current state of the union and all who sail in her, not to her.
To be fair to Gary Lineker, I think his comment was a bit more nuanced that a simple comparison to the Nazis as they’re commonly understood by the general public. He said that the Tories’ rhetoric was redolent of that coming out of Germany in the 1930s, not at the time of the Wannsee Conference (January 1942). It took the Nazis the better part of a decade to get to that horror after they came to power in 1933; the place where they started from was actually not a million miles away from the sentiment expressed by Braverman and her merry band of little stormtroopers. Mr Lineker’s tweet, then, could be considered to be a timely reminder of where that sort of small-minded viciousness can lead if you don’t jump on it quickly. For that reason, the VAR decision (were it up to me) would be ‘no foul’.
You’re quite right HHB, the sentiment coming from many places in early 1930s Germany was of isolationism and Germany for the Germans. Actually a lot of it was a response to how the world treated them post Great War and a lot was due to the farmers and their will to promote local. The Nazi party may have taken advantage of the more “small c” conservatism of the day to appear more reasonable and mainstream. Linekar’s point is a warning from history about unintended consequences as much as it is anything else.
For my part, anyone who is willing to submit themselves to the hell and horrors of being people trafficked because their home is so dangerous and awful should be met with compassion and reassurances of safety, not guns and a plane to Rwanda.
France has always been quite pleasant, the few times I’ve been.
Thanks Martin! Ahh, the role of WW1 in the rise of the Nazis…pull up a sandbag, how much time have you got?!
Couldn’t agree more with you though; this punching down on the terrified and the desperate makes me sick to my stomach. Gotta get rid of these Tory fekkers!
Illegal migration is a world wide problem which will destroy the fabric, safety of residents, social structure and culture of both UK and your own Ireland if not controlled. South of England and many parts of Ireland are becoming unsafe places to live and the press in both countries cover this up. I watched the Irish Parliament question time today about removing the Eviction Rules which is exacerbated by the large number of immigrants given housing priority over native people. Action is required.
“Stop the boats” this week, what next “Work sets you free” ?
Sunak and the Tories disgust me, they are trying to buy votes by clamping down on desperate people.
Meanwhile, they’ve signed off on visas for 500,000 “legal” “tech” immigrants from India.
Mr Sunakes father in law just happens to own, or at least has an interest in, an Indian contracting company, so well placed to profit from those visas. What a coincidence.
The English, in the main, are decent people and will be appalled by Sunakes move but they are also sick of the immigration, the place is falling apart, schools/doctor surgeries/hospitals/roads full. People being taxed into the ground to support people who’ve never contributed.
They’re trying to convince these People they’re tough on immigration, while accelerating it and profiting from it.
Disgusting Tory scumbags of the highest order
Rishi Sunak has copied the “Stop The Boats” slogan from Tony Abbott, who used it successfully to get elected to government in Australia in 2013. Mr Abbott also talked about imaginary legal channels that asylum seekers should have used.
Of course, the “immigrants” who formed Celtic were, more accurately, moving from one part of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain & Ireland), to another.
A better example of immigration, might be the Ulster Plantation in the early 17th century, which gave us the Ulsturr Scatch; how did that one work out?
great point
Do you not know the difference between plantation and immigration. The Plantation of Ulster was a form of colonising by Britain, by removing the native people from their homes and land and replace them by Scottish and English settlers, in order to colonise that part of the British Isles with people more aligned to Protestant England and Scotland at that time in History.
The complete opposite to Asylum seeking Immigrants. The control of immigration, if needed? is only possible by opening up legal routes. Sectors of Industry and the services in Britain are short of workers, because of various reasons we need a certain amount of immigration.
The rationale behind the movement of the peoples is immaterial to this discussion. What is important is the outcome. Those who ‘moved’ to Ulster were immigrants there. When ‘enough’ people move to a new area, they make a difference to that area, as was the case in the north of Ireland, and umpteen more examples. Those of us advocating unlimited immigration should bear that in mind.
One of your best…
Racist to the core.
This is what we will get on a regular basis until the next election. It’s the Tories last chance saloon. Appealing to wannabe right wing knuckleheads because everything else is down the pan. Economy in tatters, Brexit proving a disaster, sleaze everywhere? Never mind, we’ve always got immigration to fall back on
Magic x