The bias changed and we got Brexit

 

Brexit used to sit on the far side lines of politics.

Refugees are innocent

The BBC calls them ‘migrants’; the prime minister and some other media call them ‘illegal’; some Tory MPs and Nigel Farage call them ‘invaders’. They are none of those. 

How newspaper lies led to Brexit

In October 2015, I gave a speech to international journalists in Germany called, ‘Newspaper lies can cost lives.’ Less than a year later, Britain voted for Brexit, with one of the main reasons cited as ‘too many migrants’. How did such a fear and dislike of migrants develop? Newspaper lies played an enormous role. Video, 14 minutes, click arrow to view:

If the Pope can do it, we can do it

Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, showed true world leadership at the weekend​. He visited the Greek island of Lesbos, and rescued a dozen Syrian Muslim refugees by taking them home with him to the Vatican City in Rome.

The anonymous haters of refugees and migrants

This week The Independent ‘Voices’ section published my article calling on Britain to ‘put a brake’ on the country becoming ‘fundamentally inward-looking and xenophobic’. 

But many of the readers’ comments responding to my article seemed to be just that: inward-looking and xenophobic.

From child soldier to refugee lawyer

At just six years old, Deng Thiak Adut was snatched from his mum at their banana farm in South Sudan and forced to fight in a civil war that tore his country apart.

The Great British bunch of migrants (part 2)

• We’re not only an island, we’re part of a planet

Britain is a potpourri of nationalities which makes Britain Great. We may be an island, but we’re also part of a planet. 

The British have probably been the most prolific migrants in the history of the world. British people have gone to live in all parts of the planet, and still do. 

The Great British bunch of migrants (part 1)

• We’re all humans, isn't that what counts?

Last week British Prime Minister, David Cameron, referred to refugees camped in appalling conditions in Calais, France in derogatory terms as “a bunch of migrants”.

Labour front bencher, Chris Bryant, then reminded Mr Cameron in Parliament that his government Cabinet is “a bunch of migrants”.

But of course it goes much further than that. In all of Britain we’re a bunch of migrants – and refugees and migrants here have been responsible for achieving some of this country’s greatest successes.

Is the UK Prime Minister two-faced?

• Remembering yesterday's victims, but forgetting today's?

Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day, and UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced in Parliament that a new Holocaust memorial would be built next to Parliament.

Danish police to seize refugees' belongings

The Danish Parliament has approved a controversial new law that allows police to force refugees to hand over their valuables.

Labour leader visits Calais and Dunkirk refugee camps

Yesterday, Britain’s Leader of the Opposition did what the Prime Minister hasn't done – he visited the squalid, dilapidated refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk to see the situation for himself.

Asylum and the rights of unaccompanied children

In case of any doubt, the rights of unaccompanied child refugees are clearly defined in the European Union regulations that cover how EU member states should treat asylum seekers.

And contrary to reports in the media (especially the BBC, which should know better), there is no law that requires refugees to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

There are, however, obligations under the Dublin 3 Regulation for EU member states to take responsibility for asylum seekers who arrive in their country first.

Son of Syrian migrant creates the world's most profitable business

• Banksy paints the case for refugees

Migrants and refugees not welcome is the cold-hearted cry of some people, papers and politicians these days. But just think what would have been lost by banning all migrants or all Muslims. 

It’s something that the British artist, Banksy, has clearly been thinking about.

He’s just painted a mural on a desolate concrete bridge at the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais, depicting Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers, carrying an early version of his computer invention and a bin-bag of possessions. 

Peter Hitchens: Refugees not welcome

Peter Hitchens, in his column for The Mail, described refugees coming to Britain in terms of an invasion from which we need to protect our country. If we let them in, he wrote, it would be tantamount to giving the country away to “complete strangers” only because “it makes us feel good about ourselves”.

Misleading claim about why Syrian boy drowned

A YouTube video posted yesterday by a UKIP supporter claims that the Syrian boy who was washed up on a Turkish beach drowned because ‘his father wanted new teeth.' The video has so far been viewed over 400,000 times and also posted by far-right groups.

The video shows a clip from a short Sky News interview to which has been added (not by Sky News) an opening title stating, ‘Syrian boy drowned because his Father wanted new teeth’.  

Refugees: 'There are too many, so we won't help any'

•  Some have strongly objected to the front page photo published today by The Independent of a dead Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach, whose family was trying to escape war and terror. This photo is too upsetting, said many.  However, similar objections were made when photos were released of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp after the Second World War, but only then did the world start to fully understand the true horrors of the Holocaust. Now, the world needs to understand this worldwide refugee crisis. Maybe this photo will at last open eyes - especially those of the British government, which has stated that it doesn't want to offer asylum to refugees.

The poor, the unemployed, the homeless, the disadvantaged - many of them in Britain think it’s them or us. Refugees fleeing terror, war and torture? We’re full. People here need looking after first. Charity begins at home. We don’t want them. We can’t afford them.

Those were the typical comments by some British people on what the country's response should be to the world's worst refugee crisis.  The new Conservative government seems to be taking them on board  - and ignoring urgent pleas by other Britons calling for a more humane response.*

The 8 steps to genocide

• The Daily Mail: One step, two step...?

This is how the Daily Mail chose to portray asylum seekers this month. 

In the first cartoon, by the Mail's resident cartoonist, 'Mac' (Stanley McMurtry), a British couple are advised to tell asylum-seekers in a bed to ‘shove over’ to make room for them in a hotel temporarily accommodating people seeking asylum in the UK. 

Daily Express business model: selling prejudice and bigotry?

• Imagine Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily Express, pitching his business to the Dragons' Den

Imagine an imaginary scene in Dragons' Den, the popular BBC TV programme where millionaires decide if they'd like to invest in the business plans of 'wannabe' entrepreneurs.

And here comes Richard Desmond into the Den with an investment opportunity for his newspaper called the Daily Express. "So what’s your idea, Richard?" asks one of the Dragons.

Calais: Questions the Daily Mail must answer

The Mail on Sunday claimed that hundreds of migrants were 'illegally' entering Britain from Calais and 'being put up in hotels at taxpayers expense'. But was this entirely true? 

Yesterday I phoned the story’s reporter, Brendan Carlin, to ask him.

“I’ve got a plumbing emergency right now,” he responded. “My toilet’s blocked. Send me an email and I’ll try to answer your questions.”