We need to democratise the immigration debate

 Source - Spike 07/03/23

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There’s something strange about the response to Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Bill, announced today in the House of Commons. 

Much of the commentary has focussed not on whether the bill is right or just or effective or necessary. No, much of it has focussed on whether or not it is ‘legal’. Whether the plans, for example, to deprive illegal migrants of the right to claim asylum in the UK will breach international human-rights law. 

Those opposing the bill don’t just oppose this particular policy, they also struggle to see why the government is allowed to set immigration policy in the first place. These lawyers, campaigners and assorted pundits need to have a word with themselves. This attack on the ability of parliament to make laws undermines democracy. 

It also undermines those of us who want a more liberal approach to migration. Because if we want to win an argument for a more generous border policy, it needs to be premised on our government’s ability to control our borders and respond to public concerns. This legalistic pearl-clutching betrays a contempt not for this Tory government – but for the democratic process itself.