We’re no brutes

The destruction of the so-called “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais, which is due to begin today, has been painted in some quarters as the culmination of a shameful episode for this country – as if Britain set out to lure defenceless people to its shores, then slammed the door shut in their faces. This is utter nonsense, and the depiction of Britons as ungenerous or bigoted over the arrival of child migrants has itself been a study in the political exploitation of vulnerable people by the Left.

Perhaps those who have carped so loudly about British brutishness over the past few days might care to ask themselves this: why do so many migrants wish to come to Britain, rather than remain in France – even if it means residing in a fetid field in Calais? Plenty of people in France ask themselves the same question. The answer is this. It is here, under the Conservative Government, that record low unemployment guarantees a job. It is here, under the Conservative Government, that, despite Labour complaints, welfare and benefits remain extremely supportive. It is here, under the Conservative Government, that the bureaucracy of everyday life is adapted to welcome newcomers.

Is any of this true in the socialist paradise of President François Hollande in France? No. When you click on the French national health website, does it point you to information in Arabic, should you need it, as the NHS does? No. And which is the country that has given most to help those displaced in the region by the war in Syria, so that they can eventually do what any refugee really wants to do and return home? You’ve guessed it…