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Jonathan Freedland: Right About Labour MPs, But Journalists Too
Jonathan Freedland, writing at the Guardian's Comment is Free is right. Labour's spineless MPs should stop blaming Brown and show some fight. Spot on. But in passing he talks of Gurkhas and their rights. I wonder what he is on about. Journalists really need to grow some critical faculties and stop being sheep on a feeding frenzy whipped up by Fawkes and Coulson: Can you please explain Jonathan what on earth you mean by "their full rights" when it comes to Gurkhas? Before 1997 FIVE were given resettlement rights. Since then, under Labour, it is 6,000. The Tory position - whatever it may actually be - doesn't seem too clever when set against that.
Are we talking about Gurkhas who have resettled before 1997 in Hong Kong and Singapore and Darjeeling and indeed in Nepal upping sticks, sacking their household servants, withdrawing from their communities, draining their wealth and income out of these countries? What does that do for the fragile ecologies and economies there?
I say "whatever it may be" vs Tory plans because within an hour or two of Cameron generously calling for all Crown Servants (not just Gurkhas) of whatever nationality, length of service, terms and conditions signed up for resettlement rights we had Liam Fox mumbling and muttering about giving Gurkhas (just Gurkhas) a leg up in the points-based immigration system.
Not really the same is it?
I'm towards the far liberal left spectrum on immigration. And a loyal Labour member and activist. I stop short of "No Borders" but I do hope that Gurkhas, other Commonwealth soldiers, and other Crown Servants get a fair crack of the whip. Though I'm not convinced universal resettlement rights are the right thing.
We need arrangements that we the public can afford and that will maintain public support even after the Ab Fab buzz of the current sentimental campaign.
On Saturday we went to the "status " party of Yousef from Sierra Leone. We polished off a whole sheep, pot roasted in a delicious sauce. Brilliant.
On Sunday I happened to meet a former KLA fighter and his daughter. We helped them get his "status" a year or so back. He was aghast at the apparent Tory ascendancy and hoping Labour maintained government.
I'm in favour of immigration in general and I think former Crown Servants may well have a good case for status.
However ... It is absolutely one hundred percent right and proper that our government test the likely quantums of cost and numbers ahead of changing their policy and practice on immigration in any significant way.
Nick Clegg we expect in this making grand gestures with other people's budgets. Cameron however is a pitiful hypocrite. But as you may be suggesting in your comment the Labour 100 on this issue are worse.
Utterly pathetic. Idiots many of them. Disloyal idiots. Hopefully they will realise as much and pull their socks up.
http://tinyurl.com/chrispLOL / @chrispLOL
5 comments:
I see you have fallen for the racist and dissembling crap that Woolas and his Batman were chuntering out at the Select Committee yesterday.
If you can name a single other example of when a British government has ever carried out an impact assessment on another country for migration from that country to this one then you are a better man than they are. Which may be true, but that says far more about that pair of gutless bastards than it does about you.
They weren't called "Impact Assessments" back then but HMG and all the United Nations governments did such calculations about Displaced People after WWII.
And the Government that was helping to put the lights back on all over the world after fighting facism- er- Clement Atlee's Labour Party.
Along with creating the NHS.
We could do with a bit of fascism-fighting at the moment. When a Labour government's stance (and seemingly that of this blog) on immigration is less tolerant than the BNP's .........
You're a card ain't ya just PUP. If you are going to come here and libel me then please have the good grace and guts to identify yourself.
We could then at least compare notes on fash fighting.
Have you even read the post?
The Gurkhas are primarily a matter of:
(a) MOD Policy
(b) Contractual Law, particularly
(c) Favoured Nations, and
(d) Employment
(e) Cost
Immigration policy is hardly relevant and putting this on Phil Woolas' desk (? jointly with MOD) is probably the greatest Govt mistake here.
Fact remains LP have helped Gurkhas far more than Tories and that as PM/Govt Gordon and Labour MUST do the sums and appraise the options. The LDs don't have to. Cameron is just a stonking great hypocrite.
The greatest problem here IMO is going to be retro-fitting for Commonwealth Soldiers and other crown servants who may have related claims. It is just fatuous to ignore the complexities.
And you are a shocking coward and utterly ignorant to boot.
Stand by your beds for some shocking Rochdale revelations over the next week or so.
It's not an immigration matter????
So why is it the Immigration Minister that is getting kicked all over the place about this?
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