Professor Bill Rolston:

I would prefer to be talking to the Senator about this issue over a pint at Féile. In the meantime, without getting too deep into this matter, the priority of the British Labour Party and the Tory Government in England now is how they can get elected. It is not about how they make the country better, how to solve this huge problem or how to improve the economy. It is about none of those things. All those things fall in under the one rubric of "how do we get elected". As far as, for example, Suella Braverman is concerned, and James Cleverly and others are not so far behind, what is important is how they can stop the boats. That will get them elected. If they have an Act to show they can stop the boats, then they will get elected. On the British Labour Party side, the question of how it gets elected leads to one answer and, again, this is a boat metaphor of not rocking any boats and being as middle of the road as possible, somewhere between Thatcher and Blair, because this is where the votes lie. The key point for the British Labour Party is not to rock any boats or to promise anything that will be a hostage to fortune. The aim is to be as bland as possible because bland is what will get the party elected.