THE Nationality and Borders Bill is currently making its way through Parliament and the House of Lords on its way to becoming law.

Let’s be in no doubt and call it what it is — a further extension of the hostile environment policies the government has been peddling since 2010.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has condemned the Bill — a Bill which is at odds with any notion of common decency, democracy, mutual respect, liberty and the rule of law: fundamental British values.

This Bill would not only break with international law and our international obligations towards those seeking asylum, it will cause suffering and strike fear into our communities.

If enacted, this draconian Bill would allow individuals to be snatched from their homes, their workplaces or off the streets and given “notice of decision to deprive a person of citizenship.” 

And we know who will be at greatest risk of being targeted. Removed at any time, without warning. No due process. This Bill will strike fear, breed suspicion and undermine community cohesion.

Together with other government legislation, including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which, in the wake of communities coming together to demand that Black Lives Matter and an end of violence against women, this parallel piece of legislation aims to remove the right to peaceful protest.

Trade unions and our members are questioning whether this is yet more evidence of Britain becoming a police state? 

It is also not hard to hear the echoes of the Windrush scandal, with black and other minority communities who helped rebuild post-war Britain, secured our NHS and who have been on the front line throughout the pandemic, putting their lives at risk and now rewarded with the threat of deportation at any time. 

While the Home Secretary presides over a Home Office that continues to compound past mistakes, these attacks on our rights must be challenged robustly.

That will require concerted action by black and white communities together, in our workplaces and in our communities, to highlight government hypocrisy and double standards, and their failure to protect fundamental rights, to promote decency and to uphold our shared values.

As we witness the tide of desperation of those risking their own lives and the lives of their children in order to come to Britain, the government’s response is to turn them back and to uproot others.

Surely, tackling the traffickers and working with other countries to create safe routes for those seeking asylum would be the humane thing to do, rather than continue to denigrate and demonise those seeking sanctuary. 

We need a bold agenda to tackle and root out racism, wherever it resides, wherever it exists, starting at the very top. 

We need a programme from government that prioritises equality, fair treatment and decency over the politics of hatred and division.

And we also need government to act now to tackle the growing levels of poverty, widening inequality and social exclusion that drive racial disparities, discrimination and racial hatred — precarious employment, casualisation, zero-hours contracts, outsourcing, discriminatory pay systems and the absence of effective regulatory enforcement to stop exploitative employment practices. 

Fairness and decency starts with government being prepared to stop feeding the appetites of those who dangerously assert that the only way for Britain to “level up” is by downgrading the rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and other minorities. 

Regrettably, attacks on the rights of black communities, migrants and asylum-seekers have dogged our politics for decades.

Over the last 60 years, legislation introduced to curb immigration and to remove the rights of those seeking residence in Britain have been more in evidence than have legislative measures to protect communities from racial or religious discrimination, intolerance and far right attacks. 

This is the context for black workers employed in our schools, hospitals, shops, hospitality and creative industries and care homes.

Our response must be visible, vocal and clear in rejecting the policies of racial hatred and campaigning together to protect our rights and our common values. 

But the implications of the Nationality and Borders Bill should be of concern to everyone.

The government’s legislative programme raises questions not just about the rights of refugees and migrants. Policies and legislation designed to satisfy the self-interest of those who look like us, or sound like us, or act like us will inevitably attack the rights, freedoms and liberty of us all.

And, in the short term, this will embolden those who seek to fan the flames of racism and race hate on our streets.

We must unite to oppose this Bill and to send a clear message to this government that if they won’t stand up to protect fundamental rights, we will.

Patrick Roach is general secretary of NASUWT — the Teachers’ Union and also chair of the TUC Anti-Racism Task Force.