Make the bureaucrats accountable again. By David Shipley in The Spectator.

British civil servants have almost never faced real consequences for their failures. If Reform come to power, that might change. Nigel Farage’s party has announced yesterday that they will introduce a new criminal offence of ‘dishonestly determining an asylum claim’.

They will use this law to prosecute civil servants who have knowingly put British women and girls in danger by granting asylum to foreign sex offenders. These prosecutions will be retrospective, targeting those who have already made such asylum grants. The new crime would carry a prison sentence of up to two years, and could also result in offenders’ pensions being forfeited.

This announcement follows revelations that asylum caseworkers are being put under pressure to approve more asylum claims with less scrutiny. Some have reportedly been told to ignore criminal charges. In one case, an asylum caseworker was apparently disciplined after refusing to approve an Afghan man’s application because he has been arrested repeatedly for indecently exposing himself in a children’s playground. …

Yet again, the system is choosing the desires of foreign men over the rights of British people. It is this abuse which Reform are seeking to end. Farage made his intent clear when announcing the policy. ‘I will not allow the safety of our women and girls to be sacrificed on the altar of misguided liberalism,’ he said. …

In announcing this new policy, Reform are beginning to exercise power before they enter government. Once civil servants realise that their actions today will have criminal consequences in 2029, they will naturally change their behaviours. Farage and Yusuf’s new law may well protect us even before they enact it. …

One of the great failings of the modern British state is that incompetence or even malice seldom bring any real consequences. If we are to thrive again as a nation, our public servants must be held to the very highest standards. Reform’s announcement yesterday may be the first step in bringing about a new era of real accountability and consequences.

Stop the New Class breaking the rules or harming us, and getting off scot-free.