Martin Jay
Could the wholesale arrival of Albanians into the UK be manipulated by a foreign power to send its agents there?
Could the wholesale arrival of Albanians into the UK be manipulated by a foreign power to send its agents there?
The legacy of Margaret Thatcher, particularly among conservatives today, is legendary as it is divisive. Even today's prime minister, Rushi Sunak, is said to be inspired by the late conservative leader. So why doesn't Sunak take some of her ardour to resolve Britain's "invasion" of Albanian immigrants who are without doubt fraudsters claiming "asylum"? Why does our present government play such a pusillanimous role and not fight the problem head on? And why haven't Sunak, Truss, Boris and even Theresa May stood up to the French and taken their president head on?
Remarkably, during Liz Truss's 44 days in power, the one comment she made which broke the house rules - of saying that the "jury was still out" when talking about relations with France's Emmanuel Macron - actually showed true grit when dealing with Macron.
Let's be clear about Macron. The French president is dumping human garbage onto Britain's shores each day - garbage because these Albanians are not only not genuine asylum seekers but are arriving to milk the benefits system while becoming commercial criminals into the bargain. The French don't want these people who would drain the French coffers if they stayed in the Republic. The French, who are paid over 50 million pounds a year from the government to beef up police numbers along its shoreline are cheating the British hand over fist. It is the British who are paying - literally - money into the French national coffers by giving free accommodation, food, heating and cash to Albanians. It is the British who are subsidising France's failing economy which is forcing Macron to not only take a harder line with immigrants in general but also to actually assist the Albanians. How does a country with a first world economy with a defence budget of 40 billion pounds - which includes an impressive Navy - fail to stop the wholesale industrialised illegal migration of thousands of Albanians to cross the channel each day? The answer is that they chose to.
And this is the remarkable thing about British leaders who all habitually fail to challenge Macron about this appalling scam which is threatening to destroy the British economy, its welfare and health system and the safety of many of its citizens as Albanians set up criminal gangs at an alarming rate. The absolute cowardice of Sunak to face Macron head on is not surprising, given that he is following a theme. But what are British leaders afraid of? What does Macron have over them?
For us to look at this crisis in a more lucid light and to attribute blame fairly we need to ask what would our most charismatic modern-day leader, Mrs Thatcher, do under the circumstances? Of course, she would face Macron head on and threaten him that if he doesn't keep his side of the bargain then Britain would have to take more radical measures. But we can't disrespect international laws, people will no doubt cry, which is the heart of the matter in many respects as Britain is trapped by them which make almost all responses in the Channel unworkable. Britain has a right to protect its borders, after all.
Thatcher would argue that this is indeed an "invasion" and that the Albanians will destroy British society and so therefore the influx of them should be treated as an attack and therefore a state of war. An emergency, which needs tackling head on. And as for international laws, aren't the French breaking them by actually assisting the Albanians make the crossings? Wouldn't Thatcher say to hell with international law, let's get the Navy to prevent these boats leaving French waters! Why can't the British navy deploy its frigates and destroyers to make sure that these boats do not leave French waters and, in the process of being in trouble in the Channel will be forced to turn to the French to assist them safely back to shores. French shores. This only needs to happen for a week before the French learn the lesson. We also need to start charging - or debiting - the French for each Albanian who arrives. This could be something very modest, like say, 10,000 pounds per head. This should be deducted each year, or even each month, from the money that the British pay Macron. For each Albanian who arrives, this is a patent example of the deal with the French failing, so therefore there should be compensation. Why isn't Sunak proposing this now with his home office minister who in so many respects has all of the narrative which Conservative members like, but none of the zeal to carry off the 'get tough' on illegal immigrants policy. Suella Braverman will soon prove in the coming weeks to be as fabulously useless at pulling off anything remotely close to what is needed and will have to be replaced. Britain needs a Thatcher type home office minister who is prepared to break rules, get tough, mobilise the British military and put Macron's nose out of joint.
The issue will soon become a military and defence issue, which is what makes the Albanian invasion even more serious that Sunak probably realises. If Albanians, who do nothing remarkable more than buy a cheap budget airline ticket to Brussels, then take public transport to Calais - are to show the world how weak, stupid and cowardly the present British government is at protecting its own civilians and their state then it won't be long before Russia will see how easy it is to send spies there as part of the Albanian deluge? And who could blame Putin for taking advantage of such an opportunity when Britain is playing such a fervent role in the attacks against Russian military? If the British military is responsible for the recent Black Sea attacks on Russian naval ships, then why is it not able to deploy its warships in the Channel to block the dinghies when the British are being attacked by the French who dump their social and financial debt on British shores every day? The British are suffering from a new gruelling tax regime, sky high fuel costs, food costs going out of control and a recession which has not been seen since 2008. There will be a social price to pay for this in terms of casualties from people who can't afford to heat their homes this winter or find themselves homeless as Albanians will be given hotel rooms and take priority on housing lists. If this madness doesn't stop, many will simply make a protest vote at the next general election and the Tories will be plunged into a darkness which might last for many years to come. Where is the Thatcherite leadership to prevent the inevitable abyss?