Iwas trying to work out which event gave me a greater sense of euphoria and contentment – the fall of Humza Yousaf or the birth of my daughter – when suddenly the Irish got themselves into a most terrible paddy and easily eclipsed both for sheer, untrammelled glee.
This is turning into a very good year, although I daresay my permasmirk will be wiped clean towards the end of it. It is rare in politics for policies to have such an immediate effect that one can justifiably say: ‘See? Told you.’ But that is what has happened with the Rwanda stuff. Those who have argued that sending illegal asylum seekers to Rwanda is not a deterrent no longer have a leg to stand on. It is all the more piquant, of course, because the Irish have been clamouring for an open border with Northern Ireland since late June 2016 – so here it is, fill your boots.
The Scottish Greens said they would abide by the scientific evidence – while dissing the scientific evidence
Better still, the Irish courts recently decided that the UK is not a safe country to which asylum seekers might be dispatched, on the grounds that we will send them to Africa. So the Irish have been stitched up like a kipper by that most magnificent of things, reality.
In truth, they should be glad: all those migrants will now have a safe and welcoming place to live, rather than being subjected to the famous historic brutality of the Bruddish – that’s what you wanted, isn’t it? In all your rhetoric? Because the migrant crisis hardly impinged at all. It’s one thing bobbing about in a dinghy across 20 miles of the English Channel – the Irish Sea is a whole other caboodle.
If I were the British home secretary I think I’d open a new refugee-processing centre in somewhere like Crossmaglen, with very clear directions to the border, or possibly a shuttle bus.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in