UK seen as soft touch

ThE Mail is enormously proud of Britain’s long tradition of giving safe haven to those fleeing war and oppression.

The problem is that our asylum system has too often been abused. Thousands of economic migrants flock to our shores, in the hope of a new life.

Those whose claims are rejected often hire activist lawyers (paid – surprise, surprise – via legal aid) for a merry-goround of repeated appeals. Vanishingly few are ever deported. And yet they still pocket taxpayer-funded handouts.

Not only has this contributed to the asylum bill doubling to a colossal £1billion, it grievously erodes public faith in the security of our borders. French politicians, who do risibly little to solve the Channel migrants crisis, consider Britain a soft touch. They’re not wrong. TODAY, it’s not just schoolchildren starting a fresh chapter. Tim Davie is the new boy at the BBC – beginning his stint as director-general. And his in-tray is daunting. The corporation, permeated with political correctness and Left-wing bias, and chronically adrift from its core audience, needs urgent rewiring. We wish him well in restoring sanity. To start, he might reverse the ludicrous ban on singing Rule Britannia at the Last Night Of The Proms.