UK Leaders Condemn Donald Trump – A Case of People in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones?
Thirty-six hours after suggesting all Muslims should be banned from entering the United States, Republican Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump, is still suffering the ramifications.
And his latest Tweet suggests he has no intention of backing down.
In fact, he has stated that “I'm doing good for the Muslims…many Muslim friends of mine are in agreement with me. They say, 'Donald, you brought something up to the fore that is so brilliant and so fantastic.”
However, despite his posturing, his comments have been condemned by all the world leaders who have cared to comment, and a petition to ban him from visiting the UK now has 380,000 signatures. Demand to access the petition was so high on Wednesday, the Government website hosting it crashed several times.
Amid the furore over Mr Trump’s comments, one has to ask, despite members of the Cameron Government offering the appropriate words of disgust at such blatantly prejudiced talk, have they stopped to consider that some of the Immigration policies the current Government has enacted or tried to enact could be considered just as discriminatory?
Consider the Right to Rent Scheme landlords will need to abide by from February 2016. Human Rights groups have stated that this scheme is likely to lead to ‘foreign looking’ people being excluded from renting properties because landlords found to have illegal immigrants living in their properties could face a fine of £3,000, or under the Immigration Bill 2015-16, up to five years’ incarceration.
What about the discriminatory financial rules placed on UK residents who wish to bring their non-EEA spouses and children to the UK? Studies show 46% of ordinary UK citizens would be unable to meet the £18,600 threshold requirement to bring their spouse into the country, let alone the subsequent £3,800 applies for the first child and the additional £2,400 for each subsequent child.
Finally, let us not forget the Government’s thwarted attempt in 2013 to force visitors from "high risk" countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria to pay a £3,000 security bond to enter the UK. The policy was binned after being seen as ‘highly discriminatory’ by the Tory Government’s then coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats.
In conclusion, our suggestion to the Home Secretary is rather than point the finger at Donald Trump, perhaps look at some of the UK’s current Immigration policies, and examine whether or not they are just and reasonable in an open and democratic society.
As the saying goes, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”!