OPINION: The Channel is only the last part of the journey!

Yahoo

6 days ago

Small boats bringing illegal migrants were the main story coming from the meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and President Macron recently, but there was really a lot more to talk about.
Since William the Conqueror defeated his cousin Harold in 1066, the story between England and France has taken many twists.
The raising of two fingers was originally a salute to the French from medieval English archers, showing that the two key fingers for pulling a bow were in good working order!
Migrants arriving at the Channel ports have already had a long and arduous journey.
Statistics state that seventy per cent of people recently crossing in small boats have come from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria, or Eritrea, leaving the final strip of water a relatively minor challenge.
It is difficult to imagine that any migrant who has reached Calais would then give up!
All the gloom and doom in our news should surely put people off wanting to come here, with the bin strike in Birmingham, the economy stagnant or in decline, plus uncertainty over jobs in the gig economy.
Certainly, most of the French prefer to stay in France, but President Macron said the UK is too attractive for migrants, making them want to come here.
What we do have is a long-standing belief and conviction in the freedom of the individual.
Our Parliament evolved into an argumentative debating chamber, where each MP is elected by their own constituency and free to promote constituency interests, not tied to any party.
Our Prime Minister may have the right and power to do anything he wants, but unlike Donald Trump and President Macron, he can lose that authority overnight if Parliament so decides!
Most important to migrants, and to us, is that we are free to go about our lawful business without being chaperoned or documented by the government, whether local or national.
We are not required to carry identity papers, as happens in the USA.
The migrant problem is actually much worse for many of our neighbours; more lives are lost crossing the Mediterranean than crossing the Channel.
Italy bears the brunt of this, being the most obvious destination for any boat.
Germany had a major influx of migrants across their land border with Eastern Europe, and statistics show that Germany has taken in more migrants than other European countries.
The UK is lower down the list.
"Irregular arrivals" are not the largest number of migrants arriving into our multicultural society.
We are already a mixed bunch.
The news displays presenters from various ethnic origins quoting experts, many of whom have names which are clearly not British.
In general, we have become a multicultural society.
This is our strength as it has been for many generations, with Normans, Huguenots, Indians, Africans, and my ancestor blown ashore from the Spanish Armada!
The boat people have undertaken long and dangerous journeys to join us, is it fair to condemn them to live in France?
We cannot afford generous benefits, nor can we afford to turn away willing workers.
But housing asylum seekers awaiting processing while our homeless are sleeping rough is crazy.
Migration is a world problem.
New migrants, once here, need proper organisation.