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Is this country morally bankrupt?

(142 Posts)
Glorianny Thu 27-Jun-24 10:12:58

James Cleverley was asked last night if he would say that orphaned children in Gaza with relatives in the UK would be permitted to come here. He couldn't say "Yes". He ranted on about International agreements and our allies. What sort of a country have we become that we can't even offer a home to orphans and unite families?

Marmin Thu 27-Jun-24 10:18:09

No, this is not a morally bankrupt country. You have to keep believing in the good in people, however difficult it may appear.

henetha Thu 27-Jun-24 10:20:16

No, I don't believe this country is morally bankrupt. There are many many good deeds and kindnesses.
But we do need better politicians.

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 27-Jun-24 10:20:22

It isn’t as simple as you imply Glorianny. Of course he couldn’t give an answer. And no, the country is not morally bankrupt.

Glorianny Thu 27-Jun-24 10:43:08

Germanshepherdsmum

It isn’t as simple as you imply Glorianny. Of course he couldn’t give an answer. And no, the country is not morally bankrupt.

Of course he could have given an answer, even if he had qualified that answer. So he could have said "Yes, providing some conditions are met, if this is best for the child we will unite orphans with their UK family."
He couldn't even give a qualified "yes"
That's why this country is morally bankrupt. There are undoubtedly good people here but the people who speak for us are not good people.

GrannyGravy13 Thu 27-Jun-24 10:45:50

No the U.K. is not morally bankrupt

Gaza is a complicated situation, multinational negotiations are needed not unilateral decisions made off the cuff by our Hone Secretary.

Glorianny Thu 27-Jun-24 10:47:47

Compare his attitude to that taken to these Ukrainian orphans welcomed by (of all people) Priti Patel.
54 of them with no relatives here brought to Scotland.
www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/24/ukrainian-orphans-en-route-to-scotland-after-landing-in-uk

GrannyGravy13 Thu 27-Jun-24 10:49:13

Glorianny

Compare his attitude to that taken to these Ukrainian orphans welcomed by (of all people) Priti Patel.
54 of them with no relatives here brought to Scotland.
www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/24/ukrainian-orphans-en-route-to-scotland-after-landing-in-uk

Like comparing apples with pears…

Glorianny Thu 27-Jun-24 10:49:50

GrannyGravy13

No the U.K. is not morally bankrupt

Gaza is a complicated situation, multinational negotiations are needed not unilateral decisions made off the cuff by our Hone Secretary.

Gaza's orphans are children. They have no parents. If they have family in the UK they should be permitted to join them. The niceties of the war are not their concern.

Glorianny Thu 27-Jun-24 10:50:53

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Cossy Thu 27-Jun-24 10:55:01

These are CHILDREN! Where has your compassion gone?

It shouldn’t matter about the politics or nationality, if they have family legally settled here, of course they should be allowed to come.

How would you feel if these children were your grandchildren or nieces/nephews?

Cossy Thu 27-Jun-24 10:56:15

Btw, no I don’t think this country is morally bankrupt, some of our decision makers most certainly are!

Mollygo Thu 27-Jun-24 10:57:17

GrannyGravy13

No the U.K. is not morally bankrupt

Gaza is a complicated situation, multinational negotiations are needed not unilateral decisions made off the cuff by our Home Secretary.

Off the cuff statements or even straightforward statements can easily be twisted to mean what one group believes even if that was not the intention of the speaker.
QED the responses on to his statement on here.

LizzieDrip Thu 27-Jun-24 11:05:54

What sort of a country have we become that we can't even offer a home to orphans and unite families

Oh Glorianny I’m asking myself the same question daily.

I remember when a Tory minister criticised a reception centre for immigrant children (mostly alone / orphaned) for appearing “too welcoming”.

I hope the country is not morally bankrupt despite being governed, in recent years, by a morally bankrupt government.

I suppose the result of the election in a week’s time will answer your question Glorianny.

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 27-Jun-24 11:10:26

Cossy

These are CHILDREN! Where has your compassion gone?

It shouldn’t matter about the politics or nationality, if they have family legally settled here, of course they should be allowed to come.

How would you feel if these children were your grandchildren or nieces/nephews?

Cossy, you are giving an emotional response to a very complex situation. It cannot be compared with, for instance, Ukraine. The children are citizens of another nation in whose affairs we interfere at our peril.

westendgirl Thu 27-Jun-24 11:13:10

That was Robert Jenrick .

Feverjo Thu 27-Jun-24 11:23:48

Yes. For the all benefits afforded by the pillaging of countries we colonized, we can certainly try to right those wrongs today by being more generous to those around the world in need.

GrannyGravy13 Thu 27-Jun-24 11:26:53

I have compassion for all mankind.

I do not want our MP’s to make off the cuff remarks which can be misinterpreted and held against the Government of the day.

GrannyGravy13 Thu 27-Jun-24 11:30:56

Glorianny please an you explain your comment

I’m afraid all I can see is probably one of the most racist comments I have ever seen on GN

Please explain why pointing out that Gaza and Ukraine are as different as apples and pears is racist?

If you do not I am reporting you for calling my post racist and therefore calling me a racist which I am definitely not.

Glorianny Thu 27-Jun-24 11:34:49

Germanshepherdsmum

Cossy

These are CHILDREN! Where has your compassion gone?

It shouldn’t matter about the politics or nationality, if they have family legally settled here, of course they should be allowed to come.

How would you feel if these children were your grandchildren or nieces/nephews?

Cossy, you are giving an emotional response to a very complex situation. It cannot be compared with, for instance, Ukraine. The children are citizens of another nation in whose affairs we interfere at our peril.

Thank goodness for emotional responses. Another view of that is a humanitarian response. or A caring response.or even A moral response.

The families of these children are in the UK. They may well be UK citizens of Palestinian origin.
How far would you take this? What other countries do you consider are too dangerous for British families to claim children from?

Glorianny Thu 27-Jun-24 11:39:05

GrannyGravy13

Glorianny please an you explain your comment

I’m afraid all I can see is probably one of the most racist comments I have ever seen on GN

Please explain why pointing out that Gaza and Ukraine are as different as apples and pears is racist?

If you do not I am reporting you for calling my post racist and therefore calling me a racist which I am definitely not.

You post comes after a comment about the differences between the attitude taken to Ukranian children (who had no family here) and that taken to Gazan children who have family here.
You said it was
"comparing apples with pears"
Which means you see Ukranian children as apples and Gaza's children as pears. In what way isn't that racist?

Feverjo Thu 27-Jun-24 11:41:57

Let’s face it, some people’s compassion dims dramatically for non-white, non-Christians. We find all kinds of excuses to view some children as less worthy of our love and compassion.

GrannyGravy13 Thu 27-Jun-24 11:42:18

Glorianny

GrannyGravy13

Glorianny please an you explain your comment

I’m afraid all I can see is probably one of the most racist comments I have ever seen on GN

Please explain why pointing out that Gaza and Ukraine are as different as apples and pears is racist?

If you do not I am reporting you for calling my post racist and therefore calling me a racist which I am definitely not.

You post comes after a comment about the differences between the attitude taken to Ukranian children (who had no family here) and that taken to Gazan children who have family here.
You said it was
"comparing apples with pears"
Which means you see Ukranian children as apples and Gaza's children as pears. In what way isn't that racist?

Ukraine and Gaza are not comparable

Saying that is not racist.

Mollygo Thu 27-Jun-24 11:42:41

It’s too complex to do off the cuff, no matter how much we care.

Define children.
Where would the age cut off point be for acceptance as a “child”?
The age at which they can vote?
The age at which they have the right to take drugs?

Define ‘join with their families’.
Which families?
Would these families have to agree to take responsibility for the children until they’re old enough to leave home?

What about those children who do not have families over here, or do not have families willing to take them in, or whose families over here are already suffering from child poverty and would find it difficult to add to their already stretched circumstances.

What would you do with them?

How does shouting that these are children, or implying that only you care doesn’t help.
Maybe you are genuinely volunteering to take in these orphans yourself.

GrannyGravy13 Thu 27-Jun-24 11:43:03

Feverjo

Let’s face it, some people’s compassion dims dramatically for non-white, non-Christians. We find all kinds of excuses to view some children as less worthy of our love and compassion.

Who are the some people you are accusing on GN