British Politics Roundup

There will likely be an election in the UK in May 5th (they're not quite sure of the date yet--ah, Parliamentary systems...). An interesting topic in the election has been the status of asylum-seekers; the Conservative/Tory party, led by Michael Howard, seems to be very happy to run on a "xenophobe" ticket, anti-EU, anti-Euro, and now anti-immigration.

But not only does Howard oppose immigration, he now also wants a "health check-up" for immigrants. This sounds reasonable enough, except that when one gets to the details, one finds something much more sinister:

The proposed medical examination would include an overall health check-up, chest X-rays for TB (except for children and pregnant women) and tests for hepatitis and HIV (for those over 16 years old). Only TB will automatically preclude the grant of a visa. All other conditions will be dealt with on a case by case basis to consider what costs if any they will impose on the NHS. (Source: Conservative Party Website)

So, there you have it. What he really wants is an HIV test. Why HIV-positive people should be prohibited from entering the country is far beyond me. And why, all of the sudden, it's become popular around the world to tighten controls on immigration--as some sort of "valid" response to terrorism--is also far beyond me.

Lest one think this is a strictly European phenomenon, it's not. The International AIDS Conference will never be held in the United States, because the US government denies entry to people with HIV/AIDS (and may in fact remove foreign nationals who contract HIV during their stay here). There are also new guidelines going through Congress (already passed by the House) that would deny judicial review of DOJ adjudication of asylum claims. At least the Europeans have the lame excuse of having an ethnically uniform population to "protect." What's ours?