Zia Yusuf’s recent resignation as Reform UK chair and subsequent U-turn over involvement with Nigel Farage’s party opened public debate about the Muslim burqa given his earlier tweet about new MP Sarah Pochin’s question in Parliament. Alongside this is the ongoing debate about how far Reform would go in restricting legal and illegal immigration, with Reform deputy Richard Tice last week grilled on GB News about the possibility of mass deportations under a Reform UK government.
Farage could do worse therefore than look to other countries for oven-ready models of how to address these hop topics. Taking the latter first, Reform is already talking about time-limited work permits for the UK. This is the model in countries like Singapore, where the gifting of citizenship is unlikely to say the least while permanent residency or PR is granted highly selectively.
Time-specific work permits would be a win-win for the UK: satisfying the needs of the labour market – thereby addressing Reform’s critics head-on – while guarding against the ramifications of mass permanent settlement.
Win-win! Heck, why didn’t the UK think of this years ago?
Now, let’s turn to the burqa. There is, as Tice said on GB News, a debate to be had. Meanwhile any ban – if established – ought to encompass other face coverings, not least balaclavas. But why not put it to the people?
Farage has frequently extolled the virtues of Swiss-style direct democracy. In Switzerland, 50,000 legitimate signatures are enough to challenge a law, while 100,000 enable the public to propose their own ideas.
Adjusting for Britain’s larger population, wouldn’t contentious issues like this be better settled via referenda? For Reform, who can argue with a policy which actively widens democracy?
Switzerland also has a double majority requirement for more contentious issues, while the country has safeguards in place to ensure human rights are protected. Supermajorities could also be applied where needed.
Singapore and Switzerland then have oven-ready systems which Reform could recommend, and the UK could utilise. Singapore can also be a model when it comes to cracking down on crime as well as Reform’s newfound taste for government involvement in key economic sectors.
The burqa question and a wider debate about mass immigration can be respectfully addressed by applying oven-ready models from Switzerland and Singapore which we already know work well.
Work permits are the immigration solution the UK has been crying out for while referenda would put more power back in the hands of the British people. The bigger question perhaps is why nobody thought of these before?