DTNZ: Hundreds of illegal migrants attempt Christmas Day English Channel crossing

Christmas Day in the UK saw heightened illegal migrant activity in the English Channel, as improved weather conditions facilitated crossings.

Over 350 individuals had reached UK waters by the morning, with hundreds more attempting the journey.

A lull in poor weather allowed small boats to navigate calmer seas, with Border Force vessels intercepting some migrants near Dover.

Barrie Davis: What does New Zealand mean to me?

The United Kingdom is continuing down the path of illegal migration together with its attendant problems. Could the racial discord in Britain be a sign of things to come for New Zealand? Here are some recent events for consideration.

The British knew before the July 4 election that they were about to elect someone they did not want. But after 14 years of Conservative rule, they had no other choice. Brexit was about migration, yet the Tories did nothing with it. The boats continued to cross the channel and the UK detected 39,000 illegal migrants in the year to June 2024.

Matt Ridley from the UK: Atheists and Anglicans could unite against intolerance

We now know from Peter Clarke’s report, published today but leaked last week, that there was indeed “co-ordinated, deliberate and sustained action to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos into some schools” in Birmingham.

Whistleblowers first approached the British Humanist Association in January with such allegations, weeks before the appearance of the Trojan Horse letter. The BHA (of which I should declare I am a “distinguished supporter” though I’ve never done much to deserve this accolade) properly passed on the information to the Department for Education.

Ryan Bourne from the UK: China’s astonishing growth trajectory holds few lessons for democratic Britain

“I’ve seen the future and it works.” That was US journalist Lincoln Steffers’s message after visiting the Soviet Union in the 1920s. It’s worth remembering how wrong he turned out to be. Why? George Osborne and Boris Johnson have just come back from China, and they’ll be tempted to use the impressive things they’ve seen to justify huge infrastructure projects, like HS2 and a floating airport off the Kent coast.

Already, Osborne has claimed that China, unlike Britain, has ambition. There may be some truth in this. More uncomfortably, in conservative circles I’ve heard some discuss “the limits of democracy” – whether seen in the time it takes to build nuclear power stations, or the recent stand-off over the US debt ceiling. Sometimes this implies that China’s model of so-called political-economic “state capitalism” may be on to something.

Ron Smith: A New Falklands War?

There is presently a new ‘war of words’ between Argentina and the United Kingdom. Could it escalate into renewed conflict? All the components for a second round of the 1982 war seem to be in place. On the other hand, it would seem to be a high-risk strategy for Argentina, even if they might have more to gain in economic terms than was apparent on the previous occasion. Apart from the fishery resource, the Falklands EEZ now seems likely to produce oil in substantial quantities.

President Kirschener has a number of political problems to which a triumphant recovery of ‘Las Malvinas’ might seem a solution.