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Gary Lineker denounces the UK government’s new bill that will tighten migration policies.
UNITED KINGDOM – “My God. It’s beyond terrifying. Here is ex-footballer turned BBC presenter Gary Lineker’s reaction after seeing the UK Home Secretary’s video touting her new immigration law on Tuesday 7th March.
In these images, Minister Suella Braverman poses in front of a black background with dark music. “Last year more than 45,000 people made a dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journey across the English Channel. Our asylum system is overwhelmed. We now spend £7million a day on hotels,” she explains. She assures us that her priority is to stop the boats trying to cross the crossing.
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Gosh, this is beyond awful. https://t.co/f0fTgWXBwp
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker)
Gary Lineker, who was arrested after his first message on social media, insisted: “There isn’t a massive influx. We take in far fewer refugees than other large European countries. This is simply an absolutely cruel policy aimed at the most vulnerable, in language no different from that used by Germany in the 1930s.”
@a_webb @secretory12 There isn’t a big turnout. We take in far fewer refugees than other large European countries. This… https://t.co/dbrWxNDvaK
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker)
This Wednesday, March 8, Suella Braverman responded to the journalist’s vehement comments on the BBC. “Of course I’m disappointed. I think there is no point in comparing our actions, which are legal, proportionate and compassionate, to Germany in the 1930s. I also think that we are on the British side here. It is clear that the British are fed up with this situation,” she said.
“It’s not helpful to compare our actions to 1930s Germany” On #BBCBreakfast, Home Secretary Suella Braverman criticizes… https://t.co/8Nf7oxDPeF
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast)
Downing Street also regretted Gary Lineker’s comments, which he says are “unacceptable”, reports the BBC. However, the Prime Minister’s Office has not commented on Gary Lineker’s possible sacking. “It’s up to the BBC to act,” said a spokesman for Rishi Sunak. The public audiovisual group promised to have an “open conversation” with him.
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Gary Lineker wants to defend those ‘who have no voice’
For his part, the journalist does not want to stop. In new messages released on Wednesday, he was pleased to note that “freedom of expression has emerged victorious”. “I have never seen so much love and support in my life as I did this morning,” he added, assuring that he will “continue to speak out for these poor souls who have no voice.”
Note that Suella Braverman is known for her controversial statements on immigration. With the word “invasion” she referred to refugees in particular, which a Holocaust survivor did not fail to mention in a public intervention.
This Wednesday, she was also pinned down by unions who accuse her of writing in a press release that “left-wing officials” were preventing migrant boat arrivals from being slowed down. FDA Officials Union Chairman Dave Penman is demanding an apology.
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SCOOP: FDA chief Dave Penman writes to Rishi Sunak demanding apology after Suella Braverman accused official of… https://t.co/wpXjNLFZAR
— Kevin Schofield (@KevinASchofield)
In any case, this law does not only worry the former footballer. On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said he was “deeply concerned”. “Such a blanket ban on preventing people from applying for asylum and other forms of international protection in the UK would go against the UK’s human rights and refugee rights obligations,” said Volker Turk.
“The legislation also raises several specific human rights concerns, including violating the right to individual screening and prohibiting refoulement and collective expulsion, as well as arbitrary detention of immigrants.” The day before, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had accused London of “violating the right to asylum to want to end.
Rishi Sunak defends the text
“Precisely because we want to help the world’s weakest (…), we must ensure that our system is no longer exploited and overtaken by illegal migrants,” Rishi Sunak hammered in parliament against the opposition attacks. “Stopping the boats is not just my priority, it’s the British priority,” he added.
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Before him, Suella Braverman, an immigration hardliner, had worked to respond to criticism: “It’s not racist to say we have too many illegal immigrants abusing our asylum system.”
The government says it is “confident” that its text is compatible with international law. However, in a letter accompanying the draft law, he admits that he cannot fully confirm that the text respects the European Convention on Human Rights.
Sunak will meet Macron
Rishi Sunak, who has made immigration controls one of his priorities, said he was ready to fight the legal battle over the text to “take back control of our borders once and for all”.
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He is expected in France on Friday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, a few months after London and Paris signed an agreement to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration. In particular, London advocates that migrants apply for asylum in the first safe country they reach.
More than 45,000 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats last year, and more than 3,000 since the beginning of the year. The crossing is dangerous and at least 27 people died in a shipwreck in November 2021, the worst migration drama on record in the English Channel.
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