The mendacity of Priti Patel’s immigration Bill

You are a journalist, a satirist, a campaigner, an opposition politician. For years you work to create the flash of light, the moment of revelation, when the veil falls and the world can see the wickedness you have fought in all its ugliness. And then…

Nothing.

You think you have exposed lies and corruption. You expect society will turn on the powerful now it knows the truth. But the only truth you have revealed is that the public doesn’t care and their leaders know it.

‘J’accuse!’ you cry.

‘So what?’ comes the reply.

Next week ought to reveal the mendacity behind our asylum system. For decades politicians have said that ‘the United Kingdom has a proud history of offering sanctuary to those in need’, as Priti Patel put in the summer. From the Huguenots fleeing Louis XIV to Ugandan Asians fleeing Idi Amin to the victims of Hitler and Stalin, we have been a safe haven.