Yet more 'hard man' posturing from Home Secretary John Reid!

Frankly whenever I hear that our illustrious Home Secretary, John Reid, has issued yet another 'policy' or even more alarmingly an 'initiative' I feel a strong urge to throw the nearest fragile object at the nearest hard object. What is the man on? We all know that this is just rhetoric to disguise the fact that he couldn't formulate a logical, well thought-out, practical policy if his life depended upon it. He is quite, quite useless!

Now, what has got up my nose this time? The Home Secretary has just launched yet another of his triumphs of logic, this time aimed at illegal immigrants, or as he more graphically puts it "foreigners [who] come to this country illegitimately and steal our benefits"; frankly the idea that most immigrants come to this country, whether they are legal or illegal, in order to live off the munificence of we British citizens is highly questionnable. And in any case if the figures for legal immigration quoted in the linked article (1,425,565 for the period 2004-2007), presumably by people who 'pay their way' then it is clear that the NHS and other publicly-funded services are already under severe strain.

But it's when you come to look at the detail of Mr Reid's proposals that it becomes clear quickly just how flimsy is his thinking:

'Watch list' of people not entitled to public services
- just how is the data to go in such a 'watch list' to be compiled; remember these are 'illegal' immigrants who presumably mostly keep a 'low profile' anyway. Idiot, Reid!

Enforcement teams to track down bosses employing illegal workers
- this one could I suppose have some merit; get the inspectors out to the fields in Lincolnshire and East Anglia to inspect almost any agricultural enterprise dependent upon seasonal labour. However it might be useful to consider how the crops could be collected whilst they are still worth harvesting once all the labour which normally does it has been sent packing at Dover! Idiot, Reid!

Compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals
- So someone who looks dodgy (for example, my good self - lol) is asked by the police for his ID Card; obviously I don't have one, although I do speak pretty good English and I talk with one of those funny Scottish accents and unlike a case I heard of recently concerning a fellow-Scot I happen to be white British not brown British. Packed off into a ship at Dover? Or is this really just another way of trying to justify compulsory ID Cards for everyone? I strongly suspect it is just that! Not only an idiot, Reid, you are mendacious with it!

Text alerts for people overstaying visas
As Mr Eugenides has pointed out, this brilliant idea has certain flaws. Idiot, Reid!

Possible £20,000 fines for landlords housing illegal immigrants
- so it means all tenants will have to be vetted, but without ID Cards .... Oh, now I remember, they want US ALL to have ID Cards. In any case why would 'illegal immigrants', as distinct from 'asylum seekers' whose cases have not yet been decided be issued any kind of ID Card? This nonsense is just about none too subtle 'wolf whistle' politics designed to limit the drift by Labour supporters to political parties such as the BNP. Disgusting! Idiot, Reid!

Remove driving licences
As above, why would an 'illegal immigrant' as distinct from an 'asylum seeker' have a British driving licence? How could such a document have been issued? Idiot, Reid!

Pilot schemes to use ID card data to ensure migrants pay for NHS care
- You mean all migrants? You mean those who are here legally and pay taxes and National Insurance? Oh sorry, you mean the illegal ones. I don't absolutely think this is a nonsensical idea, but ... and yes, there is a but, whatever happened to the Hippocratic Oath under which all medical people operate. Are they to turn seriously ill people away from Accident & Emergency unless they pay with cash or have a credit card to hand? Offensive nonsense. Idiot, Reid!

Did I forget to mention it? Mr Reid, YOU ARE A PUBLICITY-SEEKING, INCOMPETENT IDIOT!!

PS/ It is distressing to me that a normally agreeable person such as Cllr. Gavin Ayling can write:

Never before has a Labour MP made such strongly worded statements about illegal immigration. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Reid's overstepping the mark, I just think it is fascinating that he is now talking of illegal immigrants "stealing" use of the NHS and other services. This is brave talk and the Conservatives should follow Reid's lead on this change of tone.

Startling, and sinister. I can only imagine that some Conservatives are also coming to the conclusion that the only way to defuse the perceived attraction of the BNP is to adopt its style of rhetoric. Appalling!