Okay, it has been much delayed, I know. I’ve been wrapped up in my own little world, it seems, for some time now and I missed the news that had been announced… well back in April. In my defence, it isn’t an actual ruling by the supreme court, so – as with a lot of things involving the Home Office – it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt and a gallon of cynicism.
Those interested in more detailed information can find it on Joint Council for the Welfare of Migrants Website.
While, on the surface it reads like a win for multi-national families, my chief concern is that it isn’t going to do much, because the key words are that they accepted to “review” the guidance for the rules currently in place. Note: review does not mean change. And if changes are made, it would likely be to the guidance only and not the rules themselves. That’s vague to the point of obscurity.
So me sitting here and staring at this little token gesture from captains of a sinking ship as if it was a meme immortalised by Orange is the New Black, shouldn’t be such a surprise.
If by some miracle they actually make changes, chances are said changes wouldn’t be sweeping or earth shattering. Why would they willingly correct a system that is working well for them, after all? No, I wouldn’t hold out on anything great happening before the ruling takes place. Whenever that may be.
Why? Well, if they make changes that make things harder yet (and there is always a way to make it harder), if the ruling isn’t in their favour that would constitute wasted effort. And, as I already said, they aren’t about to go about making things easier – short of only doing so to create the appearance of positive change as a means of negating the whole case.
Which is possible, albeit not very likely. Because that’s surprisingly difficult to do with lawyer speak. Oh there may well be some of us that would be conned or convinced, but at the root of it, any changes as a result of any kind of review would be cosmetic or topical at best.
Pessimistic, sure, but it isn’t without precedent. Let’s also not forget that the new Prime Minister just so happens to be the one who came up with the whole thing in the first place. May wasn’t about to budge before the promotion, she isn’t likely to have a change of heart now. Far from it; the referendum more than likely emboldened her.
Loath that I am to admit it, given the choices (was it really a choice?) Theresa May was arguably the strongest candidate for the position. As scary as it sounds, next to the ones pushing for the whole Leave-the-EU-thing… she’s considered moderate.
That’s the world we live in today, where xenophobia is thought to be more centre than extreme right-wing. Coming to that realisation is terrifying.
Transplant Monologues 