Didn’t she do well? Err.. no

I’VE got a new idea for a TV game show – it’s called the Immigration Game.

It will be like the Generation Game, but with groups of refugees trying to win the right to stay in the UK.

I’ll dig up Jim Davidson from obscurity to host it and get a studio audience to vote on who gets to the final conveyor belt, with the chance to win asylum and a cuddly Boris Johnson toy.

It’s almost as crazy an idea as the system in place now.

If you’re a refugee fleeing from Ukraine, this Government welcomes you with open arms and even offers cash for Brits to put you up in their homes.

But if you’re from other war-torn countries, you’re more likely to be treated like a prisoner and bundled on a plane and sent to Rwanda.

Where is the consistency? The fairness? The humanity? Priti Patel, a daughter of immigrants herself, says the Rwanda plan is needed to act as a deterrent to asylum seekers who cross the Channel on dinghies. But why Rwanda? She may as well have said she’ll send them to the moon.

It’s just as random as Rwanda and, like this plan – which will cost £120million – stupidly expensive. And it’s probably not likely to be much of a deterrent.

The Government said 444 migrants tried to cross the Channel in small boats on Tuesday, the highest number in a single day for two months.

It has already cost £500k for a flight that never left the ground. Patel said: “We will not stand idly by and let organised crime gangs... treat human beings as cargo.” Fair enough. But is treating the human “cargo” like criminals the answer?

It’s like having a crackdown on burglars and then arresting the homeowners who have been burgled as the answer to the problem.

And no, the answer is not letting everyone in. But I think it should mean letting everyone have a fair chance of a hearing. And access to a system which helps those in need.

And if Priti and her heavies do really want to stop the crime gangs, why not go for them instead?

Spend the millions on hiring law enforcement to crack down on them. And then help those who claim asylum and treat them like human beings.

After all, life is the name of the game…