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This has to stop — before it’s too late
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow was unable to stop Boris Johnson’s inflammatory language on the day, confining his “advice” on restraint to “all colleagues”. It wasn’t “all colleagues” that needed a lecture. It was the prime minister. And the Attorney-General. A double act to end all double acts, promoting division and hatred and provoking violence. Apparently the rules on appropriate parliamentary language allow this. I wrote the following to my Labour MP:
“I watched Boris Johnson’s performance in parliament yesterday with growing horror. His language and, when challenged, his insistence on continuing to use it (and even make it worse) is becoming more frightening. The “Surrender Act” is used to provoke anger and it will in the end provoke violence. From the time of Enoch Powell (and before, of course, but I’m talking about within my memory) whenever provocative language is used the result is an outbreak of violence. The parallel with Powell seems to me appropriate, given their shared racism. When challenged, Johnson simply repeats the insult (in this case going from “the Surrender Act” to “the Intimidation Act” to “the Capitulation Act”. Both Johnson and Geoffrey Cox set up a “Parliament versus the People” narrative, which is really a fascist narrative. I realise that we shouldn’t use that word carelessly, but I agree with the Labour MP (I can’t remember who it was) who did use it yesterday. As people said yesterday, another horror like the murder of Jo Cox could happen as a result of all this.
What can be done? Bercow’s semi-rebukes to Johnson (conveyed through admonitions “to all colleagues”) have no effect. A friend of mine has written to his Tory MP to protest, which seems an excellent idea, particularly if the practice spreads. Can you and others who share the disgust at Johnson’s language and attitude use Urgent Questions to keep up the pressure on Johnson, debates, quoting from constituents’ concerns (you’re welcome to use anything in this email that might be useful) …”
If you have a Tory MP, please write to them. Another friend of mine has signed a petition to his Tory MP. But write to your Labour or LibDem MP too. If you can, start a petition, organise a protest.
Good luck to Bercow’s meeting. But it must point the finger where it has to be pointed—at Johnson.
The things they say (6)
“I have no emotional attachment to the backstop. But I made clear that I do have an intimate commitment to its objectives.” – Jean-Claude Juncker
It’s a soap opera I tell you. And ever so slightly kinky!
EU citizens, present and future: what to do to prepare for Brexit
Here is a link to the government’s latest policy document on immigration arrangements after a no-deal Brexit on 31 October. I comment here on some aspects of these arrangements. The first point to make is that if you are an EU citizen who lives here now but you haven’t yet applied for Settled Status you need to do so now. The best way to do this is through a solicitor. You can do it without one, but I don’t advise it. The Home Office has always operated with a mixture of hostility and incompetence. Under Johnson and the new Home Secretary, Priti Patel, the incompetence levels remain the same but the hostility levels are higher. Don’t take any risks. This warning also applies to people coming here after Brexit. The following are my comments and quotes from the document:
- Anyone moving to the UK from the EU after Brexit “will be able to move to the UK and live, study, work and access benefits and services as they do now” – until 31 December 2020. If they want to stay longer they will have to apply for a new kind of status, called Temporary Leave to Remain (TLR). If they get TLR it will give them only 36 months.
- After January 2021, there will be “a new, Australian-style points-based immigration system”, which the government describes here as a “fairer immigration system that prioritises skills and what people can contribute to the UK, rather than where they came from.” That sounds fair at first, partly because it seems to include all migrants, but it actually limits your chances of staying because the skills you have, and get “points” for, are only the skills that will get you a salary of at least £30,000 a year (according to a government policy announced earlier). If you have skills that earn less than that, you won’t be able to stay.
- EU citizens with TLR “will only be required to apply to the new points-based immigration system when their 36 months’ Euro TLR leave expires”, although they can do it earlier. But if they do not “meet the … criteria under the new [points-based] immigration system or otherwise have a right to remain in the UK, they will be expected to leave the UK when their Euro TLR expires. Euro TLR will therefore only provide a temporary stay in the UK for some EU citizens.”
Make no mistake: “they will be expected to leave the UK” is not friendly advice: “EU citizens and their family members who move to the UK after 31 October 2019 will need to have applied for a UK immigration status (whether Euro TLR or under the new, points-based immigration system) by 31 December 2020. Otherwise, they will be here unlawfully and will be liable to enforcement action, detention and removal as an immigration offender.”
- “enforcement action” = they will take you from your home;
- “detention” = they will put you in prison;
- “removal” = they will force you onto a plane and fly you out
Here is the government document:
The things they say (5):
“We intend to sabotage any extension. The ‘surrender bill’ only kicks in if an extension is offered. Once people realise our plans, there is a good chance we won’t be offered a delay. Even if we are, we intend to sabotage that too.” (A Downing Street source, quoted in The Guardian)
The things they say (3)
Sajid Javid was not told in advance of [adviser Sonia Khan’s] sacking by Cummings – Guardian headline
One former Whitehall colleague of Khan’s said: “Let’s hope Saj makes a stand and sticks up for her. I won’t hold my breath though.”
The things they say (2):
Nicky Morgan in June:
You cannot say you are going to take back control … and then go: ‘Oh, by the way, we are just going to shut parliament down for a couple of months, so we are just going to drift out on a no deal.’
Nicky Morgan Thursday:
I’m a member of the cabinet, I fully support the prime minister.
The things they say (new series) (1):
In a Scottish court yesterday a government lawyer, though rightly arguing that Johnson’s proroguing of Parliament was not unconstitutional, uttered the following words about the process in which the queen is constitutionally obliged to follow the advice of “her” prime minister:
It’s the act of the sovereign herself exercising a privilege which is hers alone.
That’s some privilege. The privilege to do as she’s told!
Closing The Deal
I just stumbled upon some scribbled random lines & words I’d hastily drafted in March 2017 and elsewhere a few scribbled random lines from April 2017. This afternoon I played around with the two separate entities before realising that they really belonged together, hence the following:
Closing The Deal
once having flown
too close to a werewolf moon
he struggled to provide
a blueprint for his own
corrupted furrow –
his joy
was rarely ever real –
but cynicism
worn as self-defence
though jocular
was more
like the true deal-
he dreamt of heroes
but all too soon became
a doleful clown
Malcolm Evison
- 20 August 2019
Don’t take any risks
This almost certainly means another Windrush scandal, this time for EU citizens who don’t have the right bits of paper (maybe they’ve lost them, maybe they were never sent them, maybe the Home Office (true to its its traditional mix of inefficiency and hostility) has also “lost” them). Anyone who has not applied for settled status should do 3 things:
(1) assume the Home Office is hostile to you (no, don’t say, “Why, I’ve done nothing wrong?” – they don’t care about that. Just assume they’re hostile;
(2) Get a solicitor (no, don’t say “I can do it myself.” You can’t under this new policy. Don’t say, “I can’t afford it” – You can’t afford not to.
(3) Do it now. Especially if you’re not sure about your documents or your ID. But even if you are, do it now. It would be foolish to trust the government’s word, for example, that you have till December 2020. That can change. It probably will. So will lots of other things. Do it now.
Similar advice to non-EU migrants waiting for decisions on your status or on the status of a family member. Read any Home Office or Foreign Office letter you get carefully. If you don’t understand the letter or if there’s any part of it you’re not sure of, get someone else to read it with you (do that even if you think you are sure of what it says), go to your MP, or Citizen’s Advice, or get a solicitor.
This announcement today means we are now entering an even more hostile environment than before. Don’t take any risks.
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