In a recent Times article, David Shipley (also of these pages) spoke with a Home Office whistleblower who revealed the extent to which the asylum system is being abused. The official claimed that just 1% of claims made by ‘asylum seekers’ are genuine, with the rest being entirely fabricated (for context, around 70% of claims are ultimately accepted, including those granted after appeal). Particularly egregious examples include hundreds of Iraqi Kurds whose application rests on their having ostensibly been in a relationship with the daughter of the regional Prime Minister and even more Pakistanis who claimed to have been in a gay relationship with the same man. These claims are so obviously fabricated that they have become a running joke among a Home Office staff which has nonetheless done nothing to address this flagrant fraud against our country.
Yet the fraud itself is not, in fact, the central issue with our Asylum system. Let us assume that the First Daughter of Kurdistan truly is as popular as these claims suggest. Can we make any case that the British state’s meagre funds are best utilised providing an effective subsidy for this spirited lifestyle by swooping in to rescue her every conquest from the consequences of his own actions? Indeed, Britain has been one of the main supporters of the Iraqi Kurdistan government since its creation in the aftermath of the Iraq war, with more than £200 million flowing into the region from the Exchequer since then. One would like to think we have the leverage to suggest that, if he really cannot learn to live and let live, the Prime Minister should have a quiet word with his progeny and advise her to settle down, rather than executing any man who dares tarnish her honour. Regardless, inviting a constant flow of failed suitors to take up residence on the Edgware Road seems a remarkably poor solution to the problem.
