BEST FOR BRITAIN'S
WEEKEND WIRE

Dear John 

There may be a new face and a new (old) lectern in front of Number 10, but the U-turns are as tight as ever. Buckle up as we trace the highlights and lowlights from this week, and try not to lose your lettuce.

Nightmare at Manston

A truly horrific scene has been unfolding at Manston Processing Centre, where over 4000 asylum seekers have reported being trapped in the centre, meant to process up to 1500 asylum seekers in 24 hours, for weeks. Outbreaks of scabies and diphtheria have occurred, while the Home Secretary stands accused of illegally trapping refugees at Manston for political games.

Migrant advocacy groups intend to sue Suella Braverman for her alleged failure to act on legal advice that people were being unlawfully detained at Manston. She began the process of booking hotels for people detained at Manston belatedly this week, but Roger Gale, the Tory MP representing the area, accused her of a dereliction of duty in harsh terms. 

The leaders of every local authority in Kent signed a letter Wednesday accusing the Home Secretary of “failing at every turn” to process asylum claims.

Home Secretary goes mask-off

Braverman shamefully adopted the language of the far-right in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon, calling the increase in people seeking their legal right to asylum an “invasion”, parroting numerous false claims about asylum seekers, ignoring the fact that the UK receives one of the smallest per capita number of asylum applications of any European country, accepts among the fewest refugees in Europe and that an overwhelming majority of asylum claims in the UK are ultimately deemed legitimate.

This shocking display of hate in the House chamber immediately drew condemnation from MPs, advocacy groups, and commentators across the political spectrum. Braverman’s irresponsible comments threaten to throw a match onto the powder keg of violent rhetoric being whipped up against immigrants in the right-wing press. 

We at Best for Britain would like to express our deepest support for and solidarity with all people seeking their legal right to asylum in the UK.

Climate hokey-cokey

Someone ought to tell Rishi Sunak that too many U-turns are hard on tyres.

After his first week in office drew the ire of environmental campaigners for his demotion of COP26 chief Alok Sharma and his claim that he would not attend COP27, the Prime Minister this week announced that he would travel to Egypt next week for the conference after all, definitely not because Boris Johnson said he’d be there too.

The King, a longtime climate advocate, pulled off a delicate manoeuvre after Sunak’s office publicly warned him against attending by scheduling a pre-COP reception on Friday with a host of dignitaries, including the Prime Minister. With his hand forced, Sunak sheepishly agreed to attend. Hopefully his view of the beautiful Sahara dunes won’t be blocked by dastardly solar panels.

Hancock gets jungle itch

Until Tuesday, the average member of the public likely thought they had a pretty nailed-on idea of the definitions of “member of Parliament,” “must-see TV,” and “celebrity”. Then came Matt Hancock.

The world’s heads collectively scratched when the former Health Secretary emerged in Brisbane Airport to appear on the upcoming series of “I’m A Celebrity–Get Me Out of Here!”.

Hancock’s announcement resulted in him losing the whip within an hour, but ever the patriot, he defended his decision by claiming the country was in safe enough hands for him to jet off to Australia and that he would use the platform to “deliver important messages to the masses”, because that worked out so well last time.  

However, representatives from Covid bereavement organisations and Layla Moran MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, were swift and unsparing in their condemnation of Hancock cashing in on his failures as Health Secretary which many say cost lives during the pandemic.

No new NI poll

Friday morning saw Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris announce that no fresh elections would be held in the country before Christmas.

After parties on both sides of the deadlock over the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill reiterated this week that an election would not solve the impasse, an agreement that an election next month would be unwelcome news for a public staring down a winter cost of living crisis and recession.

The failure to reach an agreement legally requires an election within 12 weeks of the 28th October deadline, but it remains unclear when or if the election will be held. Representatives of NI parties expressed hope that the UK and EU would reach a solution on the Protocol before then.

Compound misery

On Wednesday, the Bank of England raised interest rates to 3%, reaching the highest levels seen since 2008 and the largest single rise since Black Wednesday in 1992.

Economic forecasts from the BofE were similarly grim, with households expecting up to a £3000/yr rise in mortgage payments and the longest recession on record predicted.

BofE chief Andrew Bailey took the chaos at the top of Government to task for the economic chaos in an interview on Thursday evening, in which he downplayed suggestions that global factors caused the mini-budget meltdown and claimed there was a UK-specific dysfunction in the markets.

Elections roundup

In the highest-profile election held around the world this week, former Brazilian president Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, defeated right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the nation’s presidential election. International observers breathed a sigh of relief, particularly for Lula’s promise to restore the progress his first administration made in reducing Amazon deforestation.

Elsewhere, Denmark saw their governing Social Democrats gain two seats following elections on Tuesday, giving incumbent PM Mette Frederiksen’s centre-left bloc an outright majority.

Less welcome news came out of Israel’s elections, where former PM Benjamin Netenyahu looks set to return to power following the fifth election since 2019 on the back of an alliance with far-right parties. His previous government presided over widespread expansion of settlements in the West Bank and a number of internationally-condemned policies like the 2018 ‘Nation-State’ law.

That’s all we’ve got from another wild Westminster week. If we were a gamblin’ organisation, we’d wager at least 3 U-turns, a healthy dose of prevarication, and potentially a tenner on a longshot Cabinet resignation in disgrace. Send us your best predictions – bye for now!

Tommy Gillespie
Press Officer, Best for Britain

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