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A nation is defined by its borders. Without delineation between that which is within the nation, and that which is without, there is no nation. President Trump, on a visit to Poland, once opined that the question of our age was whether the West had the will to survive, and whether we had enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders. The events of this past year have left no doubt as to the cast iron fortitude of the will of Poland and her neighbours. When Belarus sought to wield migrants as a cudgel, and tasked its army to aid and abet illegal migrants en masse, Poland held firm. The 250-mile-long border was shored up by soldiers and policemen, resolutely holding the line which their Prime Minister had dubbed sacred. In Scandinavia, unprecedented migration and its consequences have provoked effective action by their governments, not least in Denmark, whose left-wing Social Democrats have gone so far as to pass legislation that will enable offshore processing and repatriation. In Southern Europe, leaders who were unwilling or unable to hold fast have been chucked out, or soon will be, as a raft of new measures are introduced. But in Britain, the nation which Tennison lamented once was able to move earth and heaven, we are unable, perhaps unwilling to defend our territorial integrity against rubber dinghies, and two-bit smugglers. Tens of thousands are entering our country, being housed in hotels, and making a mockery of our sovereignty. Now the question of will is being asked of us, and so far, we have been found wanting.
By September 2021, 17,000 migrants had illegally crossed the English Channel, double the number which had done so the previous year, and thousands more have done so since. Almost none have been deported. The taxpayer is picking up the tab of housing these migrants in hotels, of them claiming legal aid, and of literally dishing out weekly cash sums so that they can better enjoy the fruits of their illegal crossings. With national debt higher than our GDP, and tax rises on every echelon of society, we happily continue to enable this exponentially growing burden. And this not to mention the inevitable integrational and cultural issues to come when these tens of thousands of asylum applications are invariably approved. The people of Britain don’t want this, 76% of us want immigration reduced, compared to just 4% who want to see more of it. Don’t believe the polls, we are of course the same people who this past decade has three times awarded Nigel Farage’s party first place in elections to the European Parliament, four times elected a Conservative government, and last but not least voted to leave the European Union. The question this begs though is why our political class are not chomping at the bit to capitalise on the goldmine of goodwill that tougher border policies would unlock. For Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the answer is simple, they don’t believe in the nation. Their ideological impulses take precedence over electability, as their anti-scientific recalcitrance to accept that women have cervixes, or their unwillingness to seriously deal with crime and terror aptly illustrate.
But the Conservative party has no such excuse. It was the vessel into which the British public channelled their will to survive, on a manifesto whose centrepiece was sovereignty, and border control. And yet, sitting idly on an eighty-seat majority, with a Home Secretary branded far-right by elements of the media, there has not been a single effective measure yet implemented to restrain the illegal migrant crisis. While Boris might not be personally excited about the issue of immigration, he’s acutely aware of the potential consequences of the present crisis. In the run-up to COP 26, he publicly toyed with the idea that mass migration had led to the collapse of the Roman Empire. He knows it’s existential. And if Priti isn’t willing, then no one is. But deeds not words are now needed. Though the government of the day is ultimately accountable, it is becoming increasingly evident that the root of the most egregious deficit of willingness is on the part of those charged with being willing. The institutions and individuals therein who have been made responsible for protecting the nation are as ideologically opposed to their charge as Keir Starmer, and the four per cent. The guards have not just abandoned their posts, they have spiked our guns too. The outgoing head of the border force said upon his departure, that ‘We’re all human beings, we’re all mammals, we’re all rocks, plants, rivers. Bloody borders are just such a pain in the bloody arse’. At the same time, the union representing border force, joined with the Care4Calais charity in launching legal proceedings in the shape of judicial review, against Priti Patel, to prevent her passing legislation that would enable us to push back migrant boats. Our institutions are set, inexplicably, not just against the mass of public opinion, but of our democratically elected government and its mandate.
The Civil Service did not err when it came to imposing restrictions on British citizens throughout this pandemic. Nothing, including vaccine passports, was a bridge too far for our technocratic blob. Not a peep was heard from the unions, or insiders, in the way of discontent, opposition or intent to disrupt plans for any manner of draconian measure. Any imposition on the liberty of British citizens was accompanied only by the nagging thought that it might not be quite enough of an imposition. This was the mask off moment. The reality is that government can do as it likes, as Germany are aptly demonstrating by introducing a lockdown for the unvaccinated, for those who refused a medical procedure. Citing the Human Rights Act, or the ECHR, or whatever else the blob may weaponise against effective measures have been exposed for all to see as just that, weapons. The government must move now, using the powers that this pandemic demonstrated they have in their armoury, to get a grip on this Channel crisis. They must overcome the technocracy and implement the will of the people, or they will simply be replaced by those with the will to survive.
