A former Home Office adviser has branded home secretary Suella Braverman's migration policy as 'racist', adding that it will make the Tories seem 'cruel and heartless'.
Nimco Ali, a one-time campaigner for the Tories who left her job as a government adviser in December last year, told the Guardian that the British Indian home secretary Braverman was 'the wrong person not just for the Conservative party but for the country'.
Braverman is facing increasing pressure over the government’s new plans to clamp down on illegal migration
Ali, who reached the UK as a child refugee from Somaliland, was scathing in her criticism of the government’s failure to widen migration routes open to Ukrainians over the ongoing Russian conflict.
“As a former refugee of colour, if we can provide generous help to Ukrainians escaping war then I think we need to look at ensuring that we also provide routes to anyone escaping conflicts,” Ali told the newspaper.
“If we can find room for a white child but not a black child, who are coming here in similar circumstances, it is racist. It is really painful if we believe that people can seek refuge if they come from Europe but not elsewhere. If we can provide safe and legal routes for Ukrainians, we should do it for other people as well,” she said.
Ali, who is supportive of Rishi Sunak, warned that he would not win the next general election with Braverman as his home secretary as he is in danger of losing younger and floating voters.
“Suella Braverman wants the government to look tough but it will instead make us look cruel and heartless, which I don’t think the prime minister is. I have a problem with her language. I believe that blaming lefty lawyers when they are challenging the law is dangerous. When she spoke about her dream of seeing a plane take off to Rwanda, it lacked compassion and understanding,” said Ali, with reference to the government’s migration pact with the African nation to house illegal migrants.
Her criticism came as former Tory home secretary Theresa May raised several concerns in the House of Commons about the proposed new Illegal Migration Bill, which has been tabled in Parliament to tackle the issue of thousands of migrants arriving on UK shores illegally via small boats.
“As it currently stands, we are shutting the door to victims who are being trafficked into (modern) slavery (in) the UK,” said May.
“Whenever you close a route for migrants… the migrants and the people smugglers find another way. Anybody who thinks that this bill will deal with the issue of illegal migration once and for all is wrong,” she said.
During a debate in the Commons on Monday (13), Braverman referred to her predecessor in office, British Indian former home secretary Priti Patel, to claim all ethnic minority Home Office ministers have been subjected to “grotesque slurs” for simple truths about the impact of unlimited and illegal migration.
(PTI)
Wal Chahal