I am worried. I am worried for the people of Great Britain and the people who have travelled here to make it a home. So, I did all I can do at the time of writing and sent off venom to Andrew Jones MP — Member of Parliament for Harrogate. The issues in this letter affect everyone. I will type up his reply in the comments section.
Dear Andrew Jones MP
First of all, congratulations on attaining your new position — you have the authority to make life a lot better for your constituents from all backgrounds; could this be the dawn of a golden era in British Politics? General elections are as surprising as they are frequent these days. And whilst (at the time of writing) the frenzy of speculation continues as to what will happen next, they are also the opportunity to ask ourselves what type of country we are or want to be.
Andrew Jones, when did we become a country that boasts about being a “hostile environment” for migrants? Or one that shamefully abandoned it’s international responsibilities in the refugee crisis? Why are there 30,000 people locked up indefinitely in immigration detention centres on our shores, having committed no crime? When did it become okay for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to threaten to scrap Human Rights Laws that “get in the way” of draconian and ineffective counter-terrorism powers?
For too long, and increasingly since the 2015 election, I’ve seen politicians exploit fear to create laws that divide, discriminate and and disregard human rights.
In a desperate bid to look tough on immigration and strong on security at any cost, border controls have crept in to every part of life Schools and doctors are forced to pass sensitive data to the Home Office to support deportation. Landlords face jail if they let a home to a “wrong” person, and homeless charities are forced to flag up vulnerable rough sleepers. A new criminal offence of “driving while illegal” will lead to racial profiling on our streets — risking major damage to police/community relations.
These laws have made life worse for all of your constituents, Andrew Jones — spreading racial profiling, fear and division in our community at a national level. It has turned private individuals and trusted public servants in to unwilling border police.
We are all collateral in this misguided hope of looking tough on immigration at any cost.
Yours sincerely,
Andy
