Immigrants are not the real enemy of the people

Now is a time of hateful protests outside hotels which are providing basic accommodation to people fleeing conflict and hardship, and flags being used not for national pride but to object to welcoming others to our country.

Last month, the leader of the Conservative councillors used his Evening News column to blame Edinburgh’s housing crisis on immigrants. He said he didn’t have enough room to substantiate those claims. How convenient for him that there wasn’t space to talk about the fact that only 12% of homelessness presentations in Edinburgh come from people who have been granted asylum. Or to explore the decades of Tory austerity, and Thatcherite housing policies before then which have created our current crisis.

Last week, the UK Labour Government announced plans to remove family reunion applications. It means that people who have been granted refugee status here – meaning the Home Office (not famously liberal towards asylum seekers) have said they have a legitimate reason to settle in the UK – won’t be able bring their partner or children to live with them. It is as stupid a policy as it is a heartless one, and will only see more people forced to make journeys on unsafe small boats or place them at the mercy of people traffickers. Labour may feel they are responding to the views of the public. In reality they are responding to the electoral threat from Reform. The answer is not to pander to the right, but to remember their roots as a socialist party and strive to improve society for everyone.

People may be angry at inaction of politicians, but they are being manipulated into directing that anger towards the most vulnerable in society rather than the bosses, the hoarders of wealth, and the mega-rich. The anger about “asylum hotels” should be about the awful living conditions people are forced to endure, and the ongoing housing crisis which is affecting everyone in Edinburgh.

Let’s give refugees the right to work and answer their long-standing ask to be able to earn money, contribute taxes and find their own safe and secure home. And politicians? Ask yourself – is gaining a snappy headline and a handful of votes really worth spreading hatred and fear towards the people you are meant to represent? Do better.