Incoherent, or just plain trickery?
It is unlawful for a public authority in carrying out any functions of the authority to do any act which constitutes discrimination (section 2, Amendment 19B).
does not make it unlawful for [a minister, official, or caseworker] to discriminate against another person on grounds of nationality or ethnic or national origins in carrying out immigration and nationality functions (Amendment 19D).
to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination; and … to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups (section 2(1).
An end to trickery? The Refugee Council’s proposals
The Refugee Council’s proposals for a new. fairer asylum process (Towards a National Refugee Strategy) are below. But first:
The government says that there is no need to make a dangerous journey across the English Channel to seek asylum in the UK. Instead, refugees should use the safe routes provided by the government.
The numbers game and other trickery: virtually no safe routes
When the UK government set up the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme in January 2022, it said it would resettle 20,000 people in an unspecified period of time. But it turned out that that number would include people already here before the scheme was announced, let alone set up, and who therefore had no need for protection under the scheme. By 23 February 2023, 7,609 of them had been included. This means that only 12,391 places were provided under the scheme, not 20,000.
Trickery? Of course. Here’s more:
Except for a small number of people under arrangements with the British Council and others, there is no way for an Afghan nationals to apply to be included in the scheme. This is why friends of mine were told by a legal firm that getting three vulnerable female members of their family out of Afghanistan and away from the clutches of the Taliban would be virtually impossible.
Here’s a bit more:
Another scheme (the UK Resettlement Scheme) replaced several resettlement programmes, including the scheme to rescue victims of the Syrian conflict. Good news? Not really. For this scheme, too, “has no application process”, says the Refugee Council (see Strategy, below, p. 6). So there are safe routes – but you’ll be lucky to get on one.
No wonder the English Channel is overcrowded.
Here are the Refugee Council’s proposals.
Where the NHS is going: they’ll give you a diagnosis – but no treatment
Yesterday I followed the advice of my local hospital’s Audiology Department (they fix hearing aid problems) and tried to book an appointment at the GP surgery to get my ears syringed. I wear two hearing aids. This increases the likelihood of a build-up of wax in the ears. Recently, this has made it difficult for me to use the phone and by yesterday it was impossible for me to understand the recorded voice on my local surgery’s answering system telling me to press this, that or some other key for this, that or some other service that I also, unfortunately, wouldn’t be able to decipher. But no problem: I went into the medical centre to make an appointment. They found me a slot in three weeks’ time. But the receptionist said it will be “for assessment only”. She repeated this as she booked the appointment — “it’s for assessment only, you understand, not treatment. We’ll be able to tell you where you can get treatment if it’s necessary.” In other words, at most surgeries, ear syringing is no longer available on the NHS.
I knew this already as it happens. Audiology had told me it would cost between £50 and £70. So I suppose I’ll get to choose which private outfit I fancy to do it. I suddenly had this memory of a friend of mine in the 1980s who did a pretty good impersonation of Margaret Thatcher haughtily explaining her vision for us all in the new world she was creating: “Choice — choice — we must have choice!”
So I’ve got an appointment in three weeks. Audiology said there might be an infection developing in one ear. If they do find one, I have to assume they’ll still be treating infections on the NHS then, although three weeks is a long time in politics, as the Labour prime minister Harold Wilson once told us (he didn’t actually — he said one week). Whether I’ll submit to private syringing is another matter. Perhaps it’ll be done in the little corner shop down the road that used to be a newsagent’s. Thatcher again: “We want to encourage small businesses.” It probably won’t be done there though. It’s more likely to be done by some big outfit, like a bank. Or Marks & Spencer’s. “Can I have Tesco’s Finest?”, I’ll ask.
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