Julian Baggini is a co-founder and editor of The Philosophers' Magazine and author of 'The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other thought experiments' (2005). He has been running a series of ‘thought experiments’ at the party conferences to gain an insight into how political activists think about asylum.
The prospect of senior politicians having an intelligent, public debate about refused asylum seekers currently seems as far-fetched as the possibility of Mohammed Al Fayed accepting it was just an accident after all.
However, having had some very candid discussions on the subject behind closed doors at the party conference, I'm entertaining the possibility that it’s the Tories who are best placed to change the terms of the debate.
Despite their progressive proposal for a limited amnesty, the Lib Dems just don’t have the clout the force the agenda to change. Meanwhile, Labour are in power and desperate not be seen as soft on any issue relating to, or even vaguely sounding similar to, immigration.
The Tories, however, have room to be progressive on asylum that Labour just doesn't. They don't have to prove they are tough on Johnny Foreigner: if anything, they have to prove they have a heart. The party has the same kind of licence on asylum that Labour had on privatisation in its early years of power. Because people didn't believe new Labour had a secret agenda to destroy the welfare state, they could introduce policies like the Public Finance Initiative much more easily than the Tories could have done.
Unlike the Lib Dems, the Tories also might just hold power in the foreseeable future and hence be able to turn progressive policies into action. But even if they don't, a shift in rhetoric from the major party of opposition could change Labour policy in a way that no number of Lib Dem announcements could. The Tories could make it safe for Labour to be more open and practical by ceasing to take the role of the knee-jerk opponent to progressive change.
Most intriguing, however, is how a more refused asylum-seeker friendly policy could fit with avowed Tory values. This week David Cameron et al have been talking about being the party of aspiration. So what of the many people born outside the UK who aspire to make a contribution to their host country?
Interestingly, in a meeting of mainly young Tories, there was widespread support for the idea of giving people an opportunity to prove their worth as citizens and contribute to society. Indeed, a straw poll showed more support for offering a route to some kind of regularisation for refused asylum seekers than a simple round 'em up and send 'em back policy.
Tories are also supposedly fans of community and faith-based voluntary action. And guess what? It is precisely these kinds of groups who are doing the most to help refused asylum seekers on the ground. This suggests a large part of the Tories' natural constituency is more sympathetic to the plight of refused asylum seekers than might be thought.
In short, there is an opportunity for a fresh-thinking, senior Conservative to seize the initiative on refused asylum seekers and address the issue fairly and humanely, within a broad framework which is neither punitive nor bleeding heart. It sounds unlikely, I admit, but if the Conservatives really do want to show they’ve changed and do something unexpected, this is their chance. Over to you, Shadow Minister for Immigration Damien Green?
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