Friday, May 28, 2021
Tories reinforce island Britain
In Boris Johnson's post-Brexit world it is becoming clear that the government do not just want to leave the EU, they want to shut us off fropm Europe altogether. Such isolationism cannot be good for trade, education, our society nor forour economy.
The Guardian reports that Home Office figures show the number of EU citizens being prevented from entering the UK has soared over the past three months despite a massive reduction in travel because of Covid.
They say a total of 3,294 EU citizens were prevented from entering the UK, even though post-Brexit rules mean they are allowed to visit the country without visas. That compares with 493 EU citizens in the first quarter of last year, when air traffic was 20 times higher. Visitors can be stopped or detained and expelled if they are suspected of travelling to Britain to work or settle without meeting the new visa requirements.:
Passenger air traffic from the EU is expected to jump almost 20-fold again once Covid-19 restrictions are fully lifted, with experts warning that the number of expulsions and detainees will also grow as a result.
Most EU citizens were turned back at British-run frontier controls at European ferry ports or the Eurostar rail terminal in Paris, with 738 expelled after landing at airports or UK ferry terminals.
Passengers arriving at airports and ports are routinely held in detention centres in the UK before being expelled.
The published numbers confirm a trend that has shocked some EU travellers who, after making honest mistakes about the new rules, have found themselves locked up for days at detention centres.
Many others have been forced to spend hours, or sleep the night, locked up at airports until they are put on return flights.
Since reports of EU citizens being locked up appeared in the Guardian and elsewhere, the Home Office has ordered that, where possible, such travellers be given bail so that they can stay with friends or relatives until they get on a return flight.
The Home Office has also since made it clear that people who have job interviews should not be expelled, despite several recent cases of that happening.
What they do not seem to have factored in is that such measures can be reciprocated. No doubt the tabloids will go into a frenzy once UK travellers find themselves detained, but we reap what we sow.
The Guardian reports that Home Office figures show the number of EU citizens being prevented from entering the UK has soared over the past three months despite a massive reduction in travel because of Covid.
They say a total of 3,294 EU citizens were prevented from entering the UK, even though post-Brexit rules mean they are allowed to visit the country without visas. That compares with 493 EU citizens in the first quarter of last year, when air traffic was 20 times higher. Visitors can be stopped or detained and expelled if they are suspected of travelling to Britain to work or settle without meeting the new visa requirements.:
Passenger air traffic from the EU is expected to jump almost 20-fold again once Covid-19 restrictions are fully lifted, with experts warning that the number of expulsions and detainees will also grow as a result.
Most EU citizens were turned back at British-run frontier controls at European ferry ports or the Eurostar rail terminal in Paris, with 738 expelled after landing at airports or UK ferry terminals.
Passengers arriving at airports and ports are routinely held in detention centres in the UK before being expelled.
The published numbers confirm a trend that has shocked some EU travellers who, after making honest mistakes about the new rules, have found themselves locked up for days at detention centres.
Many others have been forced to spend hours, or sleep the night, locked up at airports until they are put on return flights.
Since reports of EU citizens being locked up appeared in the Guardian and elsewhere, the Home Office has ordered that, where possible, such travellers be given bail so that they can stay with friends or relatives until they get on a return flight.
The Home Office has also since made it clear that people who have job interviews should not be expelled, despite several recent cases of that happening.
What they do not seem to have factored in is that such measures can be reciprocated. No doubt the tabloids will go into a frenzy once UK travellers find themselves detained, but we reap what we sow.
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You reap what you sew. Now that they have been found out with their hostile environment policy they try to resew it to hide the hole.
Johnson et al could hope that the EU retaliates so that the right wing media can have a field day at attacking the EU for doing a reciprocal measure (whilst downplaying Home Office measures). Johnson has to make things look like it is the nasty EU,s fault to hide Brexit problems.
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Johnson et al could hope that the EU retaliates so that the right wing media can have a field day at attacking the EU for doing a reciprocal measure (whilst downplaying Home Office measures). Johnson has to make things look like it is the nasty EU,s fault to hide Brexit problems.
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