I first read the phrase “the cruelty is the point” in a searing essay by American journalist Adam Serwer describing the particular coarseness of Trump’s campaigning style – his language, his bluntness.
The introduction to a Vox interview with him states: “While Serwer recognizes that cruelty, over time, has been a bipartisan feature of American politics, he believes it’s now central to the Republican Party. This is not the same as saying individual Republicans are cruel; the point is that the GOP, as a matter of strategy, is incentivizing cruelty.”
The Conservatives always get tetchy when a line is drawn between the GOP, or rather, Trump, and Johnson, but with the recent partygate and associated debacles, even they have been forced to confront the fact that Johnson’s immoral and shallow leadership has echoed throughout his administration. He may be posh and have a wider vocabulary, but there is a dotted line between his populism and Trumps. As the mist rises from the latest pointless culture war his government wages on minorities and just about anyone seeking justice for present or historic wrongs, it’s apparent that when it comes to policy, they offer very little in the way of practical measures to improve the country, just an unwavering dedication to Brexit and its fictional outworkings.
The cruelty phrase has always jangled around my head when I look at Tory policies since the coalition government but especially since Brexit, when the hardline faction of the party gained the ascendance. Gal Dem did a helpful article about the three problematic Bills currently wending their way through parliament, including the Nationality and Borders Bill, which is having a reading in the House of Lords today, and which tightens the hostile environment that was pioneered by Theresa May when she was Home Secretary. Among other measures, it will permit the government to strip citizenship from people without them even knowing about it.
It’s important to the government because the signature promise of Brexit was to “regain control of our borders.” There are other reasons for it, but that was the main animating feature, the thing that Farage campaigned on with his “Turning point” poster featuring a faceless mass of people entering the UK from Europe. Restricting immigration from Europe was also promised as a boon for other immigrant populations, with the implicit suggestion that fewer Europeans coming would make more room for more Indians or Nigerians – Commonwealth migration over EU migration. It earned the Brexit endorsement of the Bangladesh Caterers Association, among others – though as a regretful article by its secretary-general notes, while a larger numer than expected in the South Asian community voted Brexit, the majority voted Remain.
Enter Ukraine. I haven’t said much about it because I’m listening, and to go on and on about my feelings seems indulgent while people are fighting for their lives. As more options for practical assistance become apparent, I try to focus on that. It reminds me of Tigray. And the news is unsettling because some of the coverage treats the whole thing like a tactical war game. I’m not avoiding coverage completely, but I’m trying to select coverage that informs and illuminates – it’s hard to find. It’s frightening to have another war and the courage of the Ukranians is a bright light in a dark night. Among the narratives are the the sad ones I expect – disbelief that this could be happening over “here”, reports of racism at the borders as black and brown people are not allowed to get to sanctuary with others – and the kicker, sustained amazement at the UK’s asylum and border regime.
No, the UK government isn’t (yet) going to create a carve-out for Ukranian refugees. As Europe stands shoulder to shoulder with an offer of asylum for Ukranians, no questions asked, for three years, the UK is offering a very limited family reunification programme with plenty of exclusions even for immediate family members and…*checks notes* a chance to apply for a fruit picking visa.
Is this insane, immoral? YES. It is the promise of Brexit? Also YES. This is exactly what the UK voted for. It is only sad coincidence that the Nationality and Borders Bill is under scrutiny today, a bill that will make a bad situation worse. UK government departments have been tweeting furiously, #StandWithUkraine and lighting up buildings left, right and centre. But the government which has underpinned its critique of contemporary social movements with the dismissive claim that they are “virtue signalling” and “wokeism” is tweeting its heart out and refusing to move the very big levers at its disposal to actually change legislation to save lives.
Some are calling for a carve-out for Ukranians like the one created for those fleeing Hong Kong. I’ve always had mixed feelings about that scheme, which had powerful backers (some of whom I know and respect) and which achieved its aim for its constituency but left other, equally desperate people at the gates. What we need isn’t carve-outs but a humane, sensible immigration system that respects international law and conventions, preserving dignity for all and recognising that seeking asylum is not a lifestyle choice.
Our government’s response to Ukraine is mealy-mouthed and shocking. And it has to be seen in the wider light of the hostile environment and the immigration promise of Brexit to be understood. This paticular cabinet comprises people who have only one aim, to make the “Brexit opportunities” real, and this includes a highly punitive and restrictive immigration policy. Brexiteers always rush to emphasise that Brexit was about much more than that unfortunate mood music on immigration. I believe them, but it’s also true that the issue that animated their campaign was this immigration promise. It could have been made in a positive way (for some, probably never for me), but it wasn’t. Not one person on the Brexit side condemned Farage’s crude poster, because they guessed, rightly, that it would ultimately help, not hinder. The Brexit vote was not racist, but it was fine with it. And now the fruit of that poisonous tree is ripe for the picking and Priti Patel is inviting Ukranians to do it. It’s crass and it’s cruel. And that is (still) the point.
For more on what the new Bill, if passed in its current form, will mean for Ukranians and other refugees, read this thread by the excellent Zoe Gardner, from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
madomasi 