3 days ago
My part in Britain's illegal immigration crisis
Illegal immigration – and how to respond to it – has transformed British politics over the last few years. It is why Reform is leading in the polls and why Labour and the Conservatives are both facing an existential crisis.
What is less often considered is how our personal spending decisions are driving that illegal immigration. It is all well and good to bemoan what is happening in the abstract, but we then spend our cash with the food delivery companies and at the barber shops and nail bars which pull undocumented, illegal workers to our shores.
This reality was brought home to me last weekend when I tried to do what I have done on countless occasions – order a beer at Royal China on Baker Street in London's West End. Royal China serves perhaps London's most sublime dim sum – not the most cuisine-y or original, but certainly leagues above most of the capital's establishments.
My opinion on this is not an esoteric one. At weekend lunchtimes, its entrance and the street outside is thronging with people waiting to be called when a table is ready. And, best of all, you can still have a lunch for four without drinks for around £100, something of a bargain in London.
I must have eaten at this restaurant, and the others in its group, hundreds of times over nearly 30 years and have a sentimental attachment to them.
When the first branch opened in Queensway in Bayswater (now closed) in the mid 1990s, I was in my early 20s and used to go on Sundays with my mother after walks in Hyde Park. She was in and out of hospital at the time with the cancer that went on to kill her.
When I was running a think tank and a magazine in Marylebone, I dragged our authors there – with little regard to whether they had a fondness for Chinese food. My two teenage sons have been going for longer than they can remember.
What was different this time is that I was informed that the restaurant no longer serves alcohol, but I was welcome to bring my own drink. Corkage is now charged which, on my visit, ranged from £3 for unlimited beers to £50 for a bottle of whisky.
Why the change? After a raid by immigration officials, the restaurant lost its alcohol licence last August when it was found to be employing nine members of staff who were here illegally.
It was also fined £360,000 by the Home Office. This was the third time the restaurant had fallen foul of the law, having already had to pay penalties totalling £110,000.
All the fines were swiftly paid, and other branches of the restaurant in Canary Wharf and Harrow, as well as its more upmarket Michelin-guide listed sibling, Royal China Club, a hundred yards or so further north on Baker Street, are not accused of similar breaches and are still merrily serving alcohol.
The output of council staff is not usually written to entertain, but the City of Westminster's submission on Royal China makes for quite some reading. Of their 2018 raid, the report states:
'Upon officers parking the vehicles, one worker at the rear of the restaurant ran inside and warned the other workers that immigration officers were present, officers… could see staff running through the restaurant and discarding their uniform.
'There were 28 staff members encountered in total, nine members of staff were found to be working illegally and arrested.
'During the visit the fire alarm was set off… In the commotion one Chinese female who had admitted to entering the United Kingdom illegally managed to escape. The fire brigade attended and informed the officer in charge that there had been no fire and that the fire alarm had been pressed by someone inside the restaurant.'
And the record of last year's raid is similar:
'Upon officers entering the front of the premises they were asked by the staff member behind the bar to wait for the manager to arrive.
'Whilst officers were waiting, eight staff members attempted to escape from the premises via a lift at the rear loading area, another two members of staff fled via a rear staircase. Nine members of staff were arrested by the officers positioned at the rear and one male escaped.
'There were 29 staff members encountered in total, this time nine more illegal workers were found. The illegal workers consisted of six Indonesian males who had overstayed their visas, two Malaysian males who had overstayed their visas and one Chinese female who was working in breach of her visit visa conditions. The workers were arrested and escorted off the premises.
'One worker reported that they worked washing dishes 11 hours per day, six days per week and earning £400 a week, (around £6 per hour compared to the minimum wage of £11.44 per hour).'
Royal China is not an obscure establishment on some backstreet. If somewhere so public-facing in so prominent a location has flagrantly abused its position, what is going on elsewhere? One must assume, after being fined a total of £470,000, it is now compliant with the law.
My attempt to satiate a lunchtime craving for a beer has caused me to ask: has my fondness for dim sum, in however small a way, contributed to Britain's illegal immigration crisis?
