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Our political correspondent The Rebel examines the enlightened policy announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take in Hong Kong people after China revealed a draconian new security law, and how it might tear apart the Conservative Party.
Immigration, like Europe, has always been a tough one for Tories.
On the one hand they want to be viewed as upholding ‘British values’ and understanding the concerns of ordinary Britons who believe their jobs might be threatened, on the other they want to be seen as internationalist, and welcoming to those with skills which might help the UK, especially after Brexit.
So it will be interesting to see how Boris’ latest offer to Hong Kong people plays out.
Britain will not ‘walk away’ from the people of Hong Kong and will have “no choice” but to offer them a route to UK citizenship if China strips them of their freedom, he said.
The Prime Minister has made offering the island’s residents “an alternative” to China’s new security law a matter of ‘national honour’, and it is a dramatic escalation of the confrontation with Beijing.
It could be a lot of people though.
Bojo has that he would “willingly” implement one of the “biggest changes in our visa system in British history” to offer nearly three million Hong Kong residents extended visa-free access to Britain and the chance to obtain citizenship.
“Britain would then have no choice but to uphold our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong”, he has said.
“… about 350,000 of the territory’s people hold British National (Overseas) passports and another 2.5 million would be eligible to apply for them.
“At present, these passports allow visa-free access to the United Kingdom for up to six months.”
It will be fascinating to watch how the background of the politicians who have to implement this policy, affect the way they do it.
The offer of a path to British citizenship to Hongkongers has been driven by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, along with the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab.
Ms Patel’s parents were among Asians allowed to flee repression in Uganda in the 1970s while the Foreign Secretary’s Jewish relations fled Czechoslovakia in 1938.
The admission of Ugandan Asians (although controversial at the time) is seen now as a shining example of the success of immigration, and Tory MPs will be mindful of that.
Many were entrepreneurs and brought with them an ethic of hard work and an understanding of business that allowed them to prosper.
A large proportion were highly educated, familiar with British customs and had a network of contacts that helped them build businesses again.
Latest estimates suggest that there are about 59,000 Ugandan-born people in the UK.
Many settled in the English midlands, building successful businesses, notably in jewellery trading — a success evident in the number of driveways with upmarket cars.
Others moved into professions such as accountancy.
They have also transformed the corner shop.
As Lord Popat, a Conservative peer, who arrived in the UK a year before the expulsions from Uganda, said in the Lords: “Perhaps our most notable achievement has been to come to the nation of shopkeepers and transform the shopping experience for British consumers”.
Baroness Vadera came to Britain, emerging as a Labour politician and a key aide to the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the financial crisis.
Tarique Ghaffur became a deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, while Shailesh Vara became a vice-chairman of the Conservative party.
As a predecessor of Boris’s, the former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said in 2012, Indians and Asians from Uganda are “one of the most successful groups of immigrants anywhere in the history of the world”.
The success of a policy of letting in people from Hong Kong might mean it is good for the economy, but whether it is ‘successful’ for the Tory party is another matter entirely.
That will be up to Bojo, who is ‘willing’…
The memories of our Editor Phil Parry’s extraordinary 36-year award-winning career in journalism as he was gripped by the incurable neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order the book now!
If you need something to keep the children entertained during these uncertain times (in Welsh) try Ffwlbart Ffred about the amusing stories of Ffred and his pet.