At ease. Just a quick update and an introduction to this week’s Friday blog post. Checking back in with my loooonnnnnngggg 4 parter on Controlling our Borders. I posited in Part 4 that our government were being deliberate in their conduct in frustrating Ukrainian visa applications. A few days ago, an article in the Guardian set out the thoughts of an anonymous whistleblower who works for the private company processing applications for the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Quoting from the article:
The source… said he dealt with numerous cases where UK visas had been issued for an entire Ukrainian family apart from one child, which in effect stopped the family travelling to the UK…
…he came across four or five cases each day in which a single child from a family had not received permission to travel…
…Latest government figures show that 40,000 UK visas have been issued under the Homes for Ukraine scheme… yet just 6,600 Ukrainians have actually arrived…
Guardian – Saturday 23 april 2022
I don’t want to be right about this, because if I am right, then our government are deliberately trying to stop refugees from seeking safety in our country and being downright disgustingly sneaky about it. They get to say they’ve issued loads of visas, well done us. When in reality only let in less than 20%. But then isn’t that this governement’s raison d’etre? Controlling Our Borders – Part 4 and the Guardian article can be accessed from the buttons below.
Soooooo last week I wrote about Angela Rayner. And over the weekend there were reports that actually the source of the ‘Basic Instinct’ nonsense was Rayner herself! There I was sticking up for her and actually she was the one what started it, joking about with other MPs and on a podcast. Egg on my face. Or not. Because it turns out the actual culprit was none other than… Amanda Platell, a columnist for a tabloid newspaper I will not name. Platell first mentions this foul shite in January and a week later Ratner is joking about it. I don’t know why Rayner was having a laugh and a joke and I don’t give a shit. The suggestion is gross and it needs to stop. Nazir Afzal OBE has a neat explainer with receipts on twitter. Afzal is a British solicitor and was once the Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England. I’ve heard him interviewed and he comes across as a plain speaking, sensible gent.
Lastly, I am very excited to announce that the blog has a new guest author, my lovely friend Jo. She will be the headline post this week, dropping on Friday at 9am. I’m really happy that she wanted to write for the blog and it’s on a very spooky subject. A little excerpt:
After heading down a narrow path I thought was vaguely in the right direction, I was quite suddenly surrounded by the undergrowth and no obvious pathway. As I stood quietly and listened for a distant train passing to help get my bearings, I was instantly overcome with a feeling that I didn’t belong there and really should get moving…
chasing the scare – guest author, jo
If you have something you’d like to pontificate on and write down, I am always open to new authors for the blog, you’d be very welcome, please get in touch. And if you want the latest post to pop into your inbox as soon as it drops, you can subscribe below. Love and peace to you all.
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