𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

It is as much an admission of danger as it is of failure; the decision by the Home Office to publish official guidance telling asylum seekers not to rape or beat up women or to have sex with children has revealed the nation’s disastrously porous control of our borders in all its criminally inept horror. Called ‘Understanding Behaviours and Expectations in the UK: A Guide for Asylum Seekers,’ it will be handed to everyone arriving in the country seeking asylum and, as it is likely to be made available in a wide variety of languages, the Home Office has been tight-lipped about the total cost.

It follows an increase in the number of migrants being convicted of sex crimes, starkly highlighted by two recent cases. In March, Ahmad Mulakhil from Afghanistan was jailed for 15 years for raping a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. At the other end of the age scale, earlier this month, Bruke Desalagne from Eritrea was convicted of raping a male pensioner in his sixties behind a church in Harrow, North London. The attack, lasting 20 minutes, was on a vulnerable old man.

Troublingly, the rest of this page could be filled with similar cases – so it seems fair to ask precisely what potential level of criminality are we allowing into the country? And why the only protection being offered for girls of 12 against men in their sixties is a Home Office booklet?

Be in no doubt, the Government has been forced to do this because of the increasing level of crime from some – important to stress NOT all – arrivals from these countries. Figures last year show 41,472 people arrived via small boat crossings, with the largest contingent coming from Eritrea (around 7,800) followed by Afghanistan (4,800) and then Iran and Sudan (4,400).

An uncomfortable truth here is that in many of these asylum seekers’ countries of origin women are viewed as second class citizens, have limited rights, restricted freedom and enjoy little protection in law. Indeed, in some, female genital mutilation is still widely practiced.

When my late grandfather and father arrived in this country around a century ago, they weren’t handed leaflets such as these. Nor were they given free accommodation and a daily spending allowance – and the fact we have now descended to this pit of servile acceptance of the dangers these people pose is nothing short of grotesque.

Suddenly those demonstrators daring enough to protest about the arrival of large groups of mostly undocumented young males in their communities can be seen to have fears valid enough to rattle the Home Office to publish this guide. And the charge they were “bigots” or “racists” can be dismissed as the usual dreary leftie approach to anything, or anyone, they disagree with.

The sad truth is that there is an irreconcilable clash here, as too many foreign cultures do not match our own. But if many of these people present such a danger in the view of the Government, why are they allowed to roam free from their camps all day?

So much for that…

That ‘Burnham Bounce’ seems to be going a little flat…

Slumbering embers

With the 30th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death now appearing on the horizon, it’s been announced Earl Spencer will publish his own “deeply personal” memoir about his sister.

He says he hopes readers will “’get’ who she really was: a one-off, dynamic character, full of charisma and self-doubt, who gave life a hell of a go.”

Having been a journalist throughout her giddy rise to global acclaim and also her tragic end, that summation bears the precision of a marksman.

But with her two sons now about to be in the same country for the first time in years, it is to be hoped it doesn’t stoke already slumbering embers within the family.

Short-sighted drips

As we appear to be coming to the end of this brutal summer heatwave, the need for a continuous supply of water has never been better illustrated. So, study this chart with dismay.

Since 2000, the following numbers have been completed.

Data centres: 400.

New miles of motorway: 150.

Speed cameras: 3,100.

Reservoirs: Zero.

Conclusive proof we’ve been led by a bunch of short-sighted drips for decades.

Just a thought

You’d need a heart of stone not to be moved by the plight of so many people rough-sleeping up and down the country and Prime Minister Andy Burnham is depressingly correct when he says it “has almost become part of the scenery”.

But as the cash directed to solve this in England (separate policies have already begun in Scotland and Wales) is a whopping £442million and the number of people without a roof above their head is set at approximately 5,000, that equates to over £88,000 each!

You can only wonder if ‘Nightingale’ centres or similar would surely come in a whole lot cheaper.

What’s everyone moaning about?

Why the ceaseless bleating about the use of the emergency “risk of fire” alert just over a week ago?

Last time I looked, trees don’t spontaneously combust and the fires that have laid waste to homes and countryside alike have been started by crass acts of human stupidity such as using disposable barbecues or leaving smouldering cigarettes in tinderbox Britain. If the alert prevented another oaf causing such a calamity, it is to be applauded.

Listen to Andy, Andy!

Former Bank of England chief economist and now President of the British Chamber of Commerce Andy Haldane is a rare beast: an economic guru who speaks in a language we can all understand.

He’s the man who spotted the rising tide of inflation back in 2022, ignored by his then boss (the rather clod-hopping governor Andrew Bailey) and he also wisely urged an end to quantitative easing.

Now reportedly advising Andy Burnham on an informal basis, he wrote last week there should be a pause on further tax hikes and an easing of regulatory burdens on business in the October budget.

Here’s hoping one Andy listens to another.