The immigration game

I've been watching Question Time since I was a student, so that's fi-ahem years of listening to questions about immigration. And without fail, the panel will talk about how useful immigration is but it needs to be controlled. But why do people flock here anyway, is this really the land of milk and honey?


Great Britain presided over most of the known world for over 600 years. Britannia really did rule the waves. A military nation of shopkeepers made the UK a superpower, something that has been sustained despite the rise of America, Russia and China.

A result of this glorious empire is we're multi-cultural. A nation that ruled others had to open its doors in order to control them. Give and take. We got cheap labour in return for good prospects. We owe tikka masala and chow mein to it. And when times got dark, like in Idi Amin's Uganda, we became a refuge for exiled Ugandan Indians. While other countries languished in insular propaganda, we embraced reggae and adopted the blues.

However, in this shrinking world people are still flocking to these shores seeking a better life. And we don't like it. So we want them out. Or to be carefully selected.

The other responsibility to being a superpower is you play chess with other countries. They're pawns in a masterplan designed to benefit the overlords. These games have devastating side effects.

In 2003, Tony Blair and George Bush started a war in Afghanistan and Iraq. This was illegal. The UN and NATO failed to stop it. The war's drone attacks murdered innocent civilians, destroyed their way of life, imposed choking sanctions and created the most dangerous place on Earth.

We were shown shocking footage by WikiLeaks of American soldiers randomly attacking civilians, soldiers humiliating prisoners in Abu Ghraib, we saw a British marine murder a prisoner of war and JSOC conducting night raids on homes with suspected Taliban connection, are we surprised terror organisations like ISIS exist and our disenfranchised Muslims sign up for jihad? It doesn't take a genius to figure out this conduct is wrong and it's our fault.

So when we're destroying countries or supporting the destruction of a country, like Syria and Yemen, we should expect these people to leave their countries and come here. It's nice and safe here. Women can drive cars and walk around naked. Men aren't threatened in the middle of the night and they're not having bombs dropped on them. We should be taking responsibility for our actions and offer that safe haven. And let's face it, we owe them.

The immigration game is simple. If you don't want dirty Arabs coming over here, then stop bombing their fucking countries.

First published 18/06/2015

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