 stop them from entering; that is among the important duties of any government. In the whole of 2018, just 312 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats. This year, the figure is already around the 30,000 mark. In the EU last year, there were 200,000 illegal border crossings; our problem is by no means unique. But it is ours. Albania is not responsible for our shockingly porous borders. Neither is Sir Keir Starmer. Nor is France, although they have been notably disobliging when it comes to policing their coast. In response to the outcry, single men landing in Kent are being loaded){kind=link}
In speaking out to defend his countrymen, Edi Rama gave a lesson on how politicians can be uncompromising in defending their nation
What a relief it is to witness a leader finally standing up for his country. Why, I gave a little shiver of something intangible, possibly illegal, when reports came in that the man at the top wasn’t taking any Ordure! Ordure! from the big guys on the international stage.
In this day and age, we instinctively yearn for someone – anyone – who is uncompromising in his defence of national values. Those lovely brown eyes do no harm either. I am talking, of course, not about Rishi Sunak, but about Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister.
Does he not have bearing? Belief? And, yes, balls? When Rama declared that it was time the British Government piped down and stopped blaming his citizens for our migration fustercluck, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one cheering at his bullishness. And why? Because he’s absolutely right.
Speaking from the Albanian capital, Tirana, Rama said it was wrong to say that Albanian migrants were the “cause of Britain’s crime and border problems”. He also called on the UK to stop discriminating against Albanians, and accused the Home Secretary and other ministers of using “easy rhetoric” about migrants to hide “policy failures”.