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Sunday 4 October 2020

Priti Patel - Stop Taking Dictation, Hacks

It seems that the taking of dictation on behalf of Priti Patel, who has inexplicably been made Home Secretary, was not limited to the odious flannelled fool Master Harry Cole, currently pretending to be political editor of the Murdoch Sun, whose grovelling I noted earlier. The appetite among the inmates of the Baby Shard bunker to cheer on Ms Patel’s worrying flirtation with avoiding the rule of law has now reached the Sunday Times.


There, readers have been told thatMigrants who board boats to cross the Channel or come to Britain via other illegal routes will be routinely denied asylum under new laws to be unveiled today by Priti Patel, the home secretary. In a major shake-up of asylum rules, the government plans a two-tier system where migrants are treated differently if they pay criminal gangs to help them come to Britain”. Why should that be? But there is more.

Patel says it is ‘morally indefensible’ that people paying traffickers ‘elbow’ aside genuine asylum seekers. The home secretary will unveil a six-point plan that will be outlined in a ‘fair borders bill’ to be published next year”. Those quote marks are doing some seriously heavy lifting. So who has brought forth this steaming pile of weapons grade bullpucky?

Tim Shipman

Once again, following Andrew Norfolk in having his reputation sprayed up the wall in service of the Murdoch agenda, it is the ST’s political editor Tim Shipman who has conducted the interview, and once again does not appear to have seriously interrogated his interviewee. For starters, there is the casual use of the word “illegal”.

Someone who is seeking asylum is not “illegal”. They just aren’t, whether the audience is the Tories’ supposed “virtual conference” or not. And on the subject of Ms Patel getting away with talking out of the back of her neck, we arrive at those Human Rights.


May Bulman of the Independent picked that one up: “'We see people using human rights, modern-day slavery, as reasons why they cannot be removed' - Priti Patel … Because these ARE reasons why some vulnerable asylum seekers cannot be removed. It's the law”. Once again: everyone gets human rights. Not just people the Tories want to get them.

It wasn’t the only aspect of Shippers’ shipping of bull that left her unimpressed. “Also not sure about [The Sunday Times]’s claim that the no. of [people] paying traffickers to get to the UK is on the rise … We need to remember that the rise in boat crossings is largely due to a shift in method away from stowing away in lorries (far less visible)”.


Also, why is someone who may have paid for their place in one of those inflatable boats not a “genuine” asylum seeker? Moreover, the idea that those people are “elbowing” others out of the way infers there is some kind of quota for asylum applications. It would be interesting to see a reliable citation for that one. Because there won’t be one.

But we do know that the legal profession will also be targeted, especially after the Sunday Sun spelt out its disdain for them in today’s suitably frothing editorial. Why Ms Patel has a problem with human beings exercising their right to legal representation is worrying, as is the idea that some ways of arriving in the UK are being arbitrarily labelled “illegal”.

So let me help Shippers and his pals. Priti Patel is irredeemably incompetent. You know this. So stop taking dictation and say so. Tell the truth. That’s what real journalists do.


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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ugli Patel isn't "irredeemably incompetent".

She is a far right urfascist threst to British democracy. Or what remains of it.

Like all tories, blue and red.

Anonymous said...

The crawling profile linked to on Pritti Vacunt's wikipedia page tells us that her "parents fled Uganda in the 1960s, just prior to the decision by the dictator of that East African country, General Idi Amin, to deport all Asians, predominantly Gujarati Indians, who had lived there for almost a century".

Amin actually seized power on 25 January 1971 not in the 60s.

It seems to me Vacunt's parents weren't 'genuine' asylum seekers and so she should deport herself.

Arnold said...

If the government had been in power for the past ten years, it could have fixed the "broken" system long ago. Oh, wait a minute....

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Ms Patel.
You have won a Proud Boys Badge and a signed photo of Toby Young.

Jonathan said...

So is Pritti Vacant going to withdraw from all those UN treaties we are signatories too, about protecting human beings from persecution?

According to her new legislation, her parents wouldn't have been allowed asylum in the UK!

Plenty of asylum seekers and refugees are pretty well educated and given the chance of a new life in the UK would and many do make a huge contribution to the UK, whether economically, socially or culturally..

Appeasing the Gammon vote, at a time when we have an ageing population, falling broth rates and a major skills crisis across the NHS, social care and many other areas of society.

Also Pritti Vacant, is in deep doo doo over bullying at the Home Office, with the Blonde Buffon sitting on the report for some months, it must be bad..

There's an upcoming Employment Tribunal with Sir Phillip Rutman who is claiming Constructive Dismissal,let's hope he rejects the big cheque and goes for it at a full hearing.

Tim Clark said...

And Amin ordered their expulsion in early August 1972