Paul Wordsworth writes

The Summer of ’24 

It’s been an eventful few months, and we may be grateful that autumn leaves are falling to cover what has gone before! In June, came the announcement of a General Election. This took a lot of people by surprise, including most Conservative MPs, and Larry the Downing Street cat. The decision was not met with great fervour from the population at large. That may be an indication of general weariness with politics and politicians, and a growing minority who seem to have come to the conclusion, ‘a plague on all their houses’. 

The 4th of July brought a change of Government, which had been forecast for some time. What is of note is the number of people who did not vote. Some were prevented by lack of ID, but a sizeable and concerning number conveyed their lack of hope in the democratic process by not taking part through choice. So a new day dawned, and the Labour Party, after a long time poking the Government with a pointed stick, was now in the driving seat, promising ‘change’.  

What has changed? 

The illegal and monstrously futile ‘policy’ of seeking to export asylum seekers to Rwanda has been brought to an end. Good riddance to that hugely expensive project. Initially, we were told the cost would be £160m. Delays followed, and the last figure from the previous Government saw the cost rising to £300m. It now appears, from new figures to emerge from the Home Office, that the full cost is around £700m We may probably never know all that was spent, since some was in the hands of the Rwandan Government.  Hire of aircraft was running at £0.5m per flight, and planes were being booked in the last days before the election, even though there was no prospect of them taking off with even a handful of passengers. It was, as senior civil servants warned at the very beginning, a costly notion, with no evidence to suggest it would be any form of deterrent.  

Where did all the money come from to support such an overblown budget?

The barge, tied up in Portland harbour, is to close in January 2025. 3 cheers for that decision!  The cost of converting an elderly barge from capacity of 200 to 450 passengers was enormous, and subject to lengthy delay. The plan was to ‘house’ asylum seekers in the barge, since it was forecast to be cheaper than hotel accommodation, and seen as more austere. The Government of the day judged cramped conditions and minimal facilities would go down well with the British public.  To make the cost effective, the barge needed to be at full capacity at all times. For many months, it barely reached 50 occupants….and the cost proved hugely more expensive than if they had been living in a hotel. 

Where did all the money come from for such an ill-conceived project? 

It looks as if the plan to develop former RAF and other military bases into large holding bays for asylum seekers has also bitten the dust. Such places are often situated in remote areas, with only small villages nearby. The scheme, wherever it was mooted, was deeply unpopular with local people. The cost has proved over budget in every location where attempts have been made. However, large contracts were signed with companies to provide security and even catering staff in bases which contained not one asylum seeker. 
How was so much money made available to be wasted? 

Where did all the money come from?  

The following information is now in the public domain, and is recently released by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Between 2021 and 2024 the Home Office planned to spend £110m a year on asylum, border, visa and passport operations, making a total of £330m over the period. You can see that the Rwanda scheme alone has cost twice that sum. The full overspend total is £7.9 billion. The IFS who counted up the overspend say it is down to ‘woeful’ budgeting at the Home Office and the Treasury. Is ‘woeful’ the word that springs to your mind? 

Some of the money was provided from ‘contingency funds’. The equivalent of the biscuit tin with some £10 notes in there for hard times. Other funding came from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office. That is the Department which oversees aid to reduce global poverty and help reach United Nations goals on health, humanitarian aid to victims of war, and climate change. Funding was taken from those four areas which are the driving forces in creating refugees. Is that another ‘woeful’ decision? Add your own word. 

Overseas projects which had been commissioned and for which funding was awarded for 2024-25 in countries desperate for support in combating drought, floods, disease, malnutrition and the effects of war, saw their funding cut and some programmes were not able to run. The Development Office used to be a separate Government department, but in recent years has been down-graded, so that its funds can more easily be conveniently raided for ‘other purposes’

So, there is change. It is very small but welcome. We are only 3 months into a new leadership of the UK. The very structure of the immigration system needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. That would take imagination and boldness. Small changes round the edges will not achieve a fair, just, speedy, beneficial, efficient, effective, and humane system of attending to our borders and those who enter the UK seeking asylum. Is that possible? If there is the will and desire to make the changes that will make the difference, then it will and can happen. 

Riots of Summer ’24 

The deaths of 3 young children in Southport as a result of a deadly attack at a Dance Class, by a deeply disturbed young man was upsetting and horrifying. The town came together to mourn the loss of life in a vigil. Hours later, the peace was torn apart as rioters, some coming from far afield, others living in Southport, took to the streets, and made their target the local Mosque, and the police who arrived to seek to bring some control back to the streets. Some had been summoned and drawn in by false claims that the young man responsible for the attack was an asylum seeker who had arrived in a small boat, and from a Muslim background. He was even given a name. None of this was true, and was fabricated by a woman who was later identified. Others came along to simply enjoy goading the police and taunting the frightened occupants of the hotel and mosque. 

The violent racist rioting was to continue over a number of days in many locations across the UK. Hotels housing asylum seekers were stormed with considerable force, police were attacked and assaulted, and mosques also came under siege. In the background, Nigel Farage stated that ‘the police may not be telling the whole truth about the person in custody’.  That was adding petrol to the flames. From afar, Tommy Robinson, a figurehead of the far right, was encouraging supporters of his toxic brand, to take to the streets.

Here in York, there was a suggestion that an attack may be mounted on a hotel in the city and possibly on the mosque, when the social media claimed that the far right were planning 100 attacks across the country. In the event, over 100 people turned up for a peace vigil at the York mosque, including local residents, and the police provided a clear and present force to guard the hotel. The evening passed without incident, and no disturbances were reported. 

Is all now peace and light?

Since then, the ugly scenes have disappeared from the TV and the news headlines, and the aftermath is the large number of people who have made court appearances. Ages of those convicted run from 12-79, boys and men, but some women, one of whom brought her baby to join in the abuse. The scenes of uproar and rioting have gone, but they have left their mark. Many people of colour in our city continue to be anxious about walking to work, catching the train or bus, or any other activity where they fear being confronted with hostility. They have seen what racist anger and rage can do when it is unleashed. Asylum seekers have seen what happened elsewhere and many were concerned about leaving the local hotel for fear they may be attacked. 

It is hard to re-assure those people that these riots do not represent the mainstream of the British population. It nevertheless demolishes the commonly held opinion that there is no racism in the UK. In conversation since those ugly scenes in July and August, an increased number of friends have reported to me that they have been racially insulted on the streets of York. This may be regarded officially as ‘low level’ racial abuse, a few words of aggressively obscene language, a few abusive racist slurs, and then the perpetrator moves off and away. However, it is not ‘low level’ to the person on the receiving end. It is distressing and shocking to be abused. Is it worth reporting such an incident? The person responsible has gone, so what is to be said unless it is captured on camera. Very often, it over so quickly, that it is not even possible to re-act meaningfully. Police will keep a record of any racial abuse reported.  

It may be that the riots have emboldened people who hold racist views.  Who knows what goes on in their mind? I don’t even want to speculate about such a process. However, I do want to encourage all supporters of York City of Sanctuary, and all people of goodwill in the city, to ensure that any racist references in their presence are swiftly challenged, and any friends or associates on the receiving end of racial abuse are given support and solidarity.

This is a city which has the aspiration to be anti-racist. Clearly it is not there yet. It is part of our aspiration as a City of Sanctuary that all people should be welcome, feel secure, safe, and have freedom to peaceably go about their lives here. Until that is true for everyone, there is work to be done. 

Autumn is here……
That means we come to the season when we hold our Annual General Meeting. It is an opportunity for the Trustees and Leaders of our charity to meet supporters and friends, and give an account of our work over the past year. This year, we will be meeting on Saturday 2nd November at 11.30 am in the Friargate Quaker Meeting House, Friargate, York YO1 9RL. I hope you will make a note of the date, and come along. We will look forward to seeing you. 

Urgently looking 

We continue to look for landlords and those with accommodation to rent, in order to assist a waiting list of Ukrainians seeking to move on from being with hosts.  If you or someone you know has a room, an apartment, flat, or house to rent, we would love to hear from you or them. You can go to our website; see details below. 

If you have not hosted before, you can still offer. We would be pleased to hear from you.

Paul Wordsworth

Co-ordinator- York City of Sanctuary

[email protected]