Thatcher was better on Immigration – Dromey

Every now and again, fringe meetings throw up some startling facts that are rarely aired in the mainstream media and we are provoked to a moment (or three) of thought.

Last night’s Refugee Council meeting was one such example.

There was fierce criticism of the Labour government’s asylum policy by a Labour MP. Nothing new there, but Dagenham MP John Cruddas’s comments are nevertheless worth repeating.

Cue thought provoking moment number one.

After listening to a Zimbabwean asylum seeker, who also happened to be a qualified nurse, describe how the law prevented her from working thus condemning her to handouts, he said: “I think many of us find it hard to believe that destitution is an act of public policy by the Labour government.”

Our second thought provoking moment came when Jack Dromey, general secretary, Unite, pointed out that former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher was fairer to asylum seekers than the current government (ouch!).

Under Thatcher asylum seekers were allowed to work.

Last but not least and the deliverer of thought provoking moment number three, the Refugee Council’s chief executive, Donna Covey, said the average asylum seeker was better qualified than the average person educated in the UK; indicting not only asylum policy, but education standards as well. – politics.co.uk