Tomorrow is Another Country

By Myles Harris with a complementary essay by David
Conway.
Civitas
£5
ISBN 1 903 386 25X

This is a timely book on Britain’s asylum policy. War in Iraq
could displace millions; many will flee westwards. Harris, adopting
an apparently right-wing stance that will dismay liberals, argues
that only repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 can solve the asylum
problem. In 2002, 111,000 asylum applications cost Britain’s
economy £1.8bn. The number of deportations arising from failed
applications and illegal immigration is a drop in the ocean, with
thousands “disappearing” annually into the black economy.

Britain is already over-crowded and cannot absorb indefinitely the
consequences of policies in complete disarray. Harris’s examination
of the history of immigration shows how the present was shaped:
when it suited, government actively solicited immigration; when it
did not, the bolts were slammed home.

Harris touches on but does not explore how Western foreign policies
provoke large-scale human dispersals and denude other nations of
their resources. Asylum is an international issue that requires a
concerted, international approach.

In this neurotic and increasingly xenophobic age, Conway’s
accompanying illuminating essay on nationalism is also extremely
relevant.

Although undeniably controversial, the book deserves to be
read.

Alison Taylor is a novelist.