The Lib Dems have the talent, knowledge, and electoral experience to win even bigger at the next General Election (GE) – even to help govern the country – thanks once again to the incompetence of another incumbent party in power.
What could prevent us from succeeding? In a nutshell, the Reform party, whose leader is using Donald Trump’s copybook to whip up emotions. Of course, the next GE should be a long way away and Farage’s popularity could fade. On the other hand, the growing mis-steps of Starmer and internal dissent could induce him to call an early election which would likely decimate his party, as happened with the Tories under Rishi Sunak.
Is the Party prepared for an early election?
It would be a challenge to combat the growing divide in our country. Yet the hottest issue of all, – immigration – does not even appear on the agenda at the Bournemouth Conference.
The party’s position, per the last manifesto on irregular migration, may have been politically correct and acceptable to most people when it was published. But the situation has now changed radically and requires some hard decisions.
The issue of uncontrolled immigration has implications for other burning issues of the day. The desperate shortage of housing in the country has made it near impossible for young people to buy or even rent a property. Consequently, they are forced to remain longer with their parents and are delaying marriage and having children. As a result, hundreds of schools have closed throughout the country and demographics are changing alarmingly.
As pressure mounts to remove migrants from hotels, the only other option currently is to move them into private accommodation in communities around the country. As the government will guarantee the rental payments, many landlords will be happy to accept them, no matter how this will impact the community. A consequence will be even less accommodation available to our own population. Homelessness also impacts law and order. I am surprised by how many defendants in local criminal cases are now quoted as having ‘no fixed abode.’
What about the European Convention on Human Rights?
Our membership of the ECHR means that people arriving irregularly but who are claiming asylum are entitled to due process. Their rights are strictly protected and further reinforced by British laws. It is unlikely that anyone would have imagined that as many as a thousand could be arriving in one day, as happened just a few days ago. The ECHR is now under attack by Farage and is on the radar of other political parties. We should not withdraw from it however as it covers a whole range of principles and issues, including the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement. We should press however for changes to reflect the new realities of the day, while declaring a national emergency to justify urgent and immediate actions which might appear in conflict with the existing laws.
No such rights for 450,000 British pensioners!
To illustrate the absurdity of the present situation, take the case of nearly half a million British pensioners who live in most parts of the world apart from Europe or the USA. Due to laws that were passed over 75 years ago, their pensions have been frozen from the date they left the UK, or on retirement if already living abroad. Should they visit the UK, they will no longer have free access to the NHS, even if they had paid their NI contributions in full throughout their working lives. They will get no help in finding accommodation. You may wonder why the nearly half a million frozen pensioners have not taken their case to the ECHR. But they did so, in 2010! The Court ruled against them, stating that the British Government had the right to make its own economic decisions.
The bottom line is that irregular migrants, who can get enough money together enough to pay a couple of thousand pounds to smugglers, have more rights than many British citizens who have paid taxes all their lives. It is a strange world and little surprise that voters are flocking to the one party that promises a quick solution.
Is it too late to prevent falling into the same abyss as the heavily-divided US? Will someone let the elephant into the room for us to debate what needs to change?
* Colin Bloodworth is a member of the Lib Dems Overseas Executive .
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17 Comments
This should never have been published here, its Reform-Light.
It is an inconvenient truth that what the nation is talking about is not what we are talking about. Therefore we are irrelevant. It seems we would have to say something outrageous to be noticed. SirEd was on news night the other night responding to his spat with Elon Musk. His answer was so incomprehensible I concluded he was asked questions he would rather not wished he had been asked.
Well said Paul. Tim – I fully understood what Ed said and I couldn’t agree more with Ed.
@Paul: If you disagree with the article, wouldn’t it be better to say what points in it you disagree with and why? ‘This should never have been published here, its Reform-Light.‘, rather comes across as to me, ‘The author shouldn’t be allowed to express his opinions because I don’t agree with them‘. I hope that’s not the spirit you were writing in.
It is dismaying to read arguments from my fellow Liberal Democrats that are based on misinformation. Asylum seekers are not allocated council housing, and if they become homeless after being granted refugee status they are accommodated in the same way as British born homeless people. It is true that people may be housed in privately owned properties but it does not follow that if asylum seekers were not present then other homeless individuals would be able to rent those properties. Asylum seekers are not permitted to work and have no choice in where they are placed, and instead have to subsist on a pittance while they wait for their cases to be processed. It is absurd and factually incorrect to claim that they have more rights than citizens and legal residents.
Previous Liberal Democrat manifesto positions on the matter were not merely “politically correct” as a matter of convenience; they reflect ethical and moral considerations based on the values in our party constitution. It is alarming to hear people who should know better suggesting that we abandon those values for political expediency.
Amanda ; The state moves heaven and earth in placing undocumented asylum seekers arriving on our coasts in hotels across the country – all their dietary and medical needs are met + a weekly allowance…
If you’re a British homeless single male – you don’t get that luxury , it’s a cardboard box for you.
The UK does not have uncontrolled immigration. Immigration is very much controlled.
Colin Bloodworth urges “declaring a national emergency to justify urgent and immediate actions which might appear in conflict with the existing laws.” I am not sure what this means. It sounds a bit sinister.
The government does not guarantee refugee rent payments to private sector landlords. That sounds like something you might get on a Facebook post from a Tommy Robinson supporter.
The article talks about the ECHR, but not the 1951 Refugee Convention. Why not?
Just to say that it is rich for an exec member of Lib Dems Overseas (by definition then an immigrant to a different country) to be so hostile to those fleeing hostile shores…
I guessed there might be the odd hostile response to my article when I brought up an issue that many people would prefer not to discuss. Fortunately we belong to a party that encourages free speech, although Paul Barker might prefer otherwise.
The fact is, we have a serious issue that needs to be debated so that a policy emerges that is fair, legal, workable and above all wins the hearts of the majority of the country’s population.
At the moment, the UK’s perceived ‘soft’ approach to immigration has made us a magnet not only to the oppressed people’s of the world, but also people who simply want a better life than they have in their home countries. In fact, the ability of thousands of migrants to raise a significant amount of cash to pay smugglers has invariably resulted in the inability of many genuine asylum seekers to have their cases heard.
The issue has also resulted in other anomalies. By law, asylum seekers have a right to full and free access to our NHS. Yet British nationals living abroad, including several million pensioners, unless they live in countries with reciprocal arrangements, are limited to emergency treatment only. Once they leave the A&E Department they have to foot their own bills.
The issue is not going to go away, especially if free speech is denied. If we bury our heads in the sand and cannot come up with a firm policy and plan of action, I have a pretty good idea where votes will be headed in the next election.
By the way, I am not offering solutions. The issues are extremely complex. But we ignore them at our peril. What we need is thoughtful study and DEBATE!
Pensions and public services are paid from taxes levied on the the current working population. It’s far from obvious that people who have chosen to make their homes abroad should retain the same indefinite claims on the public purse as residents. Personally I don’t see anything wrong or unfair about the current system but liberals will have different points of view on this issue.
However, there is no logical connection between this debate and our commitments under the Refugee Convention. To write
“The bottom line is that irregular migrants … have more rights than many British citizens who have paid taxes all their lives”
Just regurgitates and reinforces the politics of grievance and division peddled by Reform. You can’t defend liberal democracy by aping it’s enemies.
I understand that LDV has a duty to publish a range of liberal opinion. But the Reform point of view with all it’s muddle, mendacity and spite is well represented by regular posters on this forum. I don’t see that it helps the cause of liberalism to also have that view represented above the line.
“If you’re a British homeless single male – you don’t get that luxury , it’s a cardboard box for you.”
Having been a volunteer working with the homeless (mostly single men) over the last 13 years, I have seen at first hand, certainly in the small town I live in, the enormous resources and care which are given to the homeless, both by the local council, local charities and individuals in the community. There’s free hostel accommodation, free hotel/B&B accommodation and, worse case, free tents and camping equipment. There are a number of outreach workers supporting homeless people back into homes. Often the biggest impediment to getting a person back into accommodation are the complex needs of that person. It can take months, in some cases years, to work through a person’s needs to gradually persuade them to go into hostel or other accommodation.
All this doesn’t lend itself to a throw away remark online, but it happens to be the true reality that I have encountered.
As a British pensioner, the worst thing that could happen to me would be to have my human rights diminished.
A large number of applications for asylum that are refused are then accepted on appeal.
Asylum accommodation and living expenses are not generous. Don’t fall for the fascist trap of blaming those least able to defend themselves for the poor governance that we have endured over the last decades.
Why would the Labour Party with such a large majority go to the polls early .No they would just encourage Starmer to resign on some pretense and replace him with a new leader perhaps from the ranks of the wanna be deputy leadership contenders . Talking up an early general election just plays into Farage and Reforms play book . We do need to nail the governing party to a coherent migration policy preferable before the next polls in May .
Hostel accommodation locally opens at 7pm closes at 7am – all the residents need to be out by 7am – no meals are served , no medical assistance, no nothing – just dormitory accommodation for single men. Hotel rooms are only offered when there is a significant temperature drop in winter if hostel places are unavailable. No homeless single male has ever been offered a hotel room with catering delivered for three meals a day + all medical
needs met. If no hostel place available – it’s rough sleeping for you …That’s the reality.
If asylum seekers were allowed to work whilst their applications are processed they would be able to pay their way and indeed pay taxes. No hotels, no cost to the taxpayer.
As the son of an asylum seeker in the 1930s, I want the UK to retain its proud tradition as a safe haven. Reform are a disgrace to our country and must be defeated
@greg
That’s the reality where you are. I have told you the reality where I am.
Of course the picture varies across the country.
But often an improved outlook for the homeless is brought about by local people volunteering and donating for the homeless, and lobbying their local councillors to change things.
In the event, Colin, I can reassure you. The subject of immigration is being thoroughly discussed at conference both in the main hall and fringe meetings. Yesterday there was a 45 minute home affairs meeting with Lisa Smart MP and Lord German and they spoke and answered questions virtually exclusively on immigration for an hour.