"I think that the people coming here illegally do possess values which are at odds with our country.
We are seeing heightened levels of criminality when related to the people who’ve come on boats related to drug dealing, exploitation, prostitution." Suella Braverman, 26th April 2022
So, If I have understood this correctly, Suella feels that the values of the country she lives in are such that its people are happy that asylum seekers and refugees, the people desperate enough to get into those wee boats, are likely to end up showing clear markers of poverty and exploitation such as drug dealing and prostitution, and it's the desperate people's own fault and not the fault of the country they hope would offer asylum on the basis of the values it is known for. That sentence goes on for ever and so does my amazement. But then I have to face up to another appalling reaction to what Suella has just said. I looked up for the first time where her family came from in the generation before her. How racist is that? Then I found myself making matters worse by feeling very glad I live here and not on the other island. How racist is that? I have the huge privilege of two national identities and two sets of citizens rights, when the desperate people have none, and here I am feeling free to chop and change according to which makes me look better. In theory, I don't believe in solving disagreement by removing people, but Suella is my greatest challenge.
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