The meaning of Christmas, according to Natalie.

Being kind to people, helping those in need? No, a carefully-worded tweet by Tory MP Natalie Elphicke on Christmas day that never accidentally says that refugees are not welcome in the UK, and yet implies it quite violently.

Natalie Elphicke MP. | UK Parliament/David Woolfall

In a series of tweets that could be considered as rather violent, and which she posted on Christmas day on Twitter, Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover gave her radical views on refugees boat-crossing the English Channel:

“Reflecting this Christmas time on the extraordinary events on the English Channel this year.

“There’s no compassion in allowing people to leave a very safe country (France) to make a dangerous journey in the hands of ruthless criminal gangs across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, where so many lives have already been lost.

“Vulnerable people are forced into boats at knifepoint and gunpoint. People, including young girls, are trafficked for exploitation. Criminals and people wanted for terrorism have been stopped in Dover where they have entered our country through the small boats route.

“There is no compassion in any of this – anyone thinking otherwise is simply out of touch.

“It is absolutely right that we support those in need – and we do – helping people most in need near conflict zones. But we must not put people who are vulnerable at even greater risk of harm and even death.

“This Christmas reinforces to me how vital it is that we bring the treacherous small boats crossings to an end once and for all.”

The reactions to the MP’s tweets didn’t take long:

Sources

• Text: This piece was first published in PMP Magazine on 26 December 2021.
• Cover: Adobe Stock/U_WD.