The irony of the Afghan resettlement scandal
Ever since the masses decided to vote against their overlords in Britain and America in 2016 in the EU referendum and US presidential election of that year, the elites have propagated the belief that an unintelligent populace has been vulnerable to 'misinformation'. This is the idea that the suggestible lower orders have only become persuaded by populism because they get their news from unreliable social media outlets.
Notwithstanding that there are myriad, genuine reasons behind the populist turn of the past ten years, what indisputably generates current indignation and fury are efforts to withhold information from the public. The decision by the previous Conservative administration to allow thousands of Afghans into the country secretly, and then by the successive Labour government to cover it up, is but the latest in a long line of fateful decisions to withhold the truth from the people.
Many became aware of this increasing inclination towards state secrecy during the last decade, as revelations of the grooming gangs scandal began to emerge. Not only did the extent of these horrors come fully to light in January this year, but so too did the lengths to which local authorities and police forces had gone to keep these crimes quiet. While their failure to act, out of fear of accusations of racism, became a further source of outrage, revelations made by Dominic Cummings last month that Whitehall officials wanted to go to court in 2011 to cover up the whole episode have heaped yet more disgrace upon the state. The cowardly and deceitful response to these crimes by those in charge – a response going right to the top – is as much remembered now as the crimes themselves.
Yet dishonesty, evasiveness and an active determination to withhold facts seem to have become the norm among those in charge. This was made clear after the mass stabbing and murder of three girls in Southport last July, the chief suspect of which, the public was simply and repeatedly told, was 'from Cardiff'.
Were we told this because the authorities didn't want to let it be known that the chief suspect, Axel Rudakubana, was born in the Welsh capital to Rwandan parents? Merseyside police and countless politicians knew shortly after the attack that he was in possession of terrorist material, but on the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service, the public was not told.
It was the failure to disclose this information, one borne perhaps from a fear that it might inflame anti-immigrant sentiment, that paradoxically fanned the flames of anger which led to the riots that actually followed. The online rumour mill had indeed gone into overdrive, but it did so because many people don't trust the government to tell them the truth about these matters anymore. The public had become especially driven to cynicism and disbelief following the Islamist attacks in Britain and Europe in the 2010s, after repeatedly being informed that the perpetrators had 'mental health issues' or other such mendacities.
Yet still the authorities continue to make matters worse out of fear that the truth must not out, lest the easily-aroused hoi polloi fly into a rage. Elsewhere this week we've read that the Home Office has refused to share the location of asylum hotels with food delivery companies such as Deliveroo, citing 'safety concerns' for hotel occupants. And only yesterday the Daily Telegraph reported that ministers once more fear riots will break out in Britain following the disclosures of the Afghan resettlement debacle.
There is indeed much anger in Britain today about immigration. Yet the anger has seldom been conspicuously directed towards the incomers themselves – the assaults against immigrants after Southport last year were remarkable because they were unusual. However, the ire has mostly and increasingly been aimed at the liberal overclass who first decided that large-scale immigration was a good idea – for ideological reasons and stemming from vested economic interests – and then have lied and continued to lie about its consequences. When the general public do voice their resentment at the ballot box, or via mainstream or social media, the elites then have the audacity to accuse the masses of being stupid or ill-informed.
The ultimate irony of our situation today, one in which the smothering of information has become the norm and expectation, is that it feeds a genuinely counter-factual, conspiratorial mindset. The language of 'government cover-ups' is rapidly becoming common parlance. This is the direct fault of governmental deceit and dishonesty over actual facts.
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Daily Mirror
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Family of Brit tourists locked up in Iran for 'espionage' all 'living in solitary confinement'
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Reuters
11 minutes ago
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EU approves new Russia sanctions with lower oil price cap
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Telegraph
11 minutes ago
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‘My holiday let empire is being hit with a £270k net zero bill under Labour'
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'We're paying about 40pc of gross income in council tax,' he says. 'We've been slapped with a massive bill, and unfortunately for us it's a typical one-size-fits-all approach from the Government.' In theory, Barnes could pay business rates instead of council tax, but to do that, his property must be available to let for 140 days a year – and let for 70. But Barnes's cottage rarely meets this threshold, despite being available all year round. Despite being effectively a granny flat, the property is classed as a second home for tax purposes, and will have to achieve an EPC C grade by 2028. 'The heating costs for the cottage were just £237 last year because people don't tend to come outside of the warmer months,' Barnes says. The pensioner anticipates spending the maximum £15,000 to upgrade the property – not that it would make much difference. An assessor recently told him that the most he would be able to raise his score by would be two points, which would still leave him with an F-rated certificate. 'It would be ludicrous to spend that sort of money,' Barnes says. 'What sort of savings could we make on that cost?' Since the cottage is attached to their primary home, Barnes and his wife would have to sell up and move away to avoid the hefty renovation costs. 'We thought the holiday home would provide a bit of extra income and give us a bit more control, and to make sure we aren't dependent on other things,' he says. 'We don't claim any benefits besides the state pension, and we'd prefer to keep it that way.' 'We can't work two years for nothing' Ken Williamson, 67, who runs Askrigg Cottage Holidays with his wife, Sue, has owned two holiday cottages in North Yorkshire since the mid-2000s, before the EPC regime began. The village they operate in is home to about 500 people, and around 30 holiday cottages. Most of the homes, Williamson argues, would not be suitable for people to live in full-time. If he sold up, the buildings would likely be bought as second homes. 'I've no idea what our EPC scores are,' he says. 'They're old buildings and one of them is listed, so their scores are probably between 20 and 30, which would give them an F'. Even if Williamson and his wife were to take advantage of government grants for heat pumps and the like, there is little chance the green technology would work effectively in such old buildings. 'Heat pumps are suited for continuous occupation, and we have a different customer every week,' he says. The age of the buildings means insulation is out of the question, let alone solar panels. 'I can see modern buildings have that insulation built into them, but older buildings have to be practically demolished to do that,' says Williamson. Older buildings tend to have solid walls, compared to the cavity walls of newer homes. The only way to insulate solid walls is to add a wraparound layer either externally or internally, which might spoil the exterior of the home or shrink the size of its rooms. Either way, the process is far more expensive than cavity wall insulation. Williamson estimates each of his cottages makes £15,000 annually, meaning renovations would wipe out a year's profit. 'We can't work two years for nothing. We meet some nice people, and we want to keep doing this into our old age,' Williamson says. 'But if these reforms come in as they are, we'll pack it all in.' A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: 'We have consulted widely on our plans for private rented homes to achieve energy performance certificate C or equivalent by 2030, including those representing the short-term letting industry. 'The consultation has now closed, and we will consider the evidence received. We will set out our position as part of the consultation response in due course.'
