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Robin Monotti: WHY BORDERS MATTER…

WHY BORDERS MATTER "Borders and national citizenship rules are a primary check upon migration. Migration is not limited just because of xenophobia. Unregulated migration now would undermine both citizenship and welfare rights. This would threaten democracy, which depends of the notion of a national community. Thus a degree of exclusion of outsiders is essential to democracy, and democracy is a key basis for the legitimacy of a government’s external actions. Borders and local policies of national security are now central to containing terrorism and organized crime. Citizens still identify with the nation-state. States are the largest bodies that can claim any sort of primary legitimacy. There is no global ‘demos’. If democracy implies a substantial measure of homogeneity in the demos, then the world is just too unequal economically and too different culturally for the rich to submit to the decisions of the poor, or for one established culture to accept the internationalization of the norms of another. The territorial state will remain a central component of the new division of labour in governance, even if it no longer has quite the monopoly of governance it had when it appropriated political power from the complex division of labour in governance of the later Middle Ages. Politics is no longer exclusively territorial. On the other hand, it cannot hold together unless it is rooted in the democratic political will of territorial states." Paul Quentin Hirst

Liz Webster: Brexit was sold as “taking back control”…

🚨 Brexit was sold as “taking back control” of our borders. Instead, it delivered the opposite. By leaving the EU, Britain lost key cooperation tools (like the Dublin Regulation for returns) while raising public expectations it couldn’t meet. Result? Record small boat crossings across the Channel, over 200,000 since 2018, turning what was once a defensive moat (Dunkirk 1940) into a smuggling superhighway.

Alex Wickham: The thing that is so bewildering…

The thing that is so bewildering is that in Munich in February Keir Starmer gave one of his best speech as PM where he appeared to define his premiership on rebuilding UK defence credibility and taking a leadership role in Europe. Time and time again Starmer has said security is the point of his premiership. Insecurity is his main argument against changing leader. Rather than find a few extra billion to meet that rhetoric he has taken a political decision not to, siding not only with the Treasury but also inexplicably with the Labour welfare rebels who sunk his premiership. It means he is left with Ed Miliband in his cabinet, who has agitated for his downfall, and no John Healey. How has he managed that?

Kathy Gyngell: The Left has reacted with hot rage…

The Left has reacted with hot rage to a comment made by @Nigel_Farage that he had reacted with cold rage to the fatal stabbingof #HenryNowak. And most especially to the way he finessed the remark: that, given the circumstances of that murder, he expects the rest of us to react in the same way. Expects, not urges, straightforward empathynot being the same as incitement, save in the Left hive mind for which all distinctions in logic are transactional. Farage is taken by many to be the villain here. Or so the architects, generals and worker bees of the vicious ‘culture of nice’ are requiring the rest of us to conclude. I’m at a loss to know what for these people the correct response to footage of child sacrifice should look like? @Sean_Walsh_1967

Is the War in Ukraine More Important Than the Problems Facing the British People?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to London and his talks with the leaders of the UK, France and Germany have sparked a heated debate on social media. The main criticism from users is that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is failing to address Britain’s domestic crises and is instead attempting to distract the public from them.

Liz Webster: Nigel Farage’s promises deliver the opposite…

⚠️ Nigel Farage’s promises deliver the opposite: He swore leaving the EU would “take back control” of migration. Instead we got record small boat crossings, lost EU cooperation tools, and a border more porous than ever. Now he claims leaving the ECHR will fix it. Same dodgy salesman, same false promises. Voting Farage consistently delivers the exact opposite of what he sells: fewer rights, weaker security, a poorer country for most, while crypto billionaires and a tiny elite get richer.

Pouria Zeraati: Important…

Important/ The US Secretary of War has also confirmed the attacks in the coming hours. Pete Hegseth: 'Tonight, CENTCOM will be quite busy, because we're about to deliver a heavy blow to the IRI. The regime still has the chance to make a great deal. But so far, it hasn't been willing to do so... As a result, the bombs will land one by one on Iran's key facilities. These attacks are not to resume the war; they are to set the terms for a deal.'
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