If Britain ignores the law, then the consequences will be disastrous

I must admit I thought for some time that the Illegal Migration Bill was called that because everyone realised it was totally illegal, that newspapers and media outlets had unanimously decided to just say that it is obviously illegal and call it out.

But apparently it is just the government’s way of trying to portray asylum seekers as illegal immigrants, so a lie and a stupid lie at that.

Because it is perfectly obvious from the analysis of the international legal community that this Bill is illegal. It allows the government to overrule the courts, it fails to protect the rights of asylum seekers and worst of all it openly and brazenly breaks the anti-slavery conventions that the UK has previously been proud to not just support but champion.

All because the Home Office is so underfunded and badly run that it cannot process asylum claims quickly enough and because when the UK left the EU it failed to negotiate a continuation of the existing system (Dublin III) that blocked many asylum seekers before they got to the white cliffs of Dover.

The whole thing is therefore an attempt by the government to whip up anti-asylum sentiment, demonise those fleeing war and danger, and win the racist vote. All based on its own incompetence.

But there is another angle to this incompetence, because breaking international law has consequences. The UK can’t be sent to jail, the Home Secretary won’t be arrested, and the UK can leave the ECHR and any other body it wants to.

But as the Northern Ireland Protocol made all too clear, the EU does not negotiate with those that break international law. The UK had to kill the bill to break its treaty obligations before the EU would sign up to a new deal.

The same is true of the ECHR – being a member and abiding by its rules is the bare minimum required of any European state before the EU will discuss anything serious with it. Not only that, but if the UK does withdraw from the ECHR, it would violate both the Windsor Agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Good Friday Agreement.

So, if the UK leaves the ECHR or breaks the rules, all the gains made by the Windsor Framework will be lost and more. So too will be the UK’s ability to criticise countries with bad human rights records, political courts, arbitrary laws of arrest and detention, and all the rest.

In short, the UK would be weaker, less influential, would break international law and find that the EU is once again insisting that the UK prove it is trustworthy, decent and honest. Pictures of the Home Secretary gurning at Rwandan detention centres would be used in articles around the world describing the utter stupidity and cynicism of the once reliable UK government.

All because of Brexit and the fact that the Home Secretary cannot run an asylum application system properly.