As the shock of last Friday’s hotel stabbing incident in Glasgow subsides, it is clear there must be an open investigation into whether the horrific events could have been avoided.
Glasgow is home to more than 5000 asylum seekers and the city has shown tolerance and compassion to its new arrivals, many of whom face huge uncertainty and stress when their applications to remain are rejected.
Calling for outsourcing company Mears, which moved so many vulnerable people into temporary hotel accommodation at such short notice, to be fired from the job is understandable.
If the company did not carry out the right procedures, and assess people for their vulnerable status, they ought to face the music.
But it has to be remembered that Mears took over the role from Serco, who were dismissed after threatening evictions and changing the locks on asylum seekers’ accommodation.
There may be no simple solution to asylum accommodation and certainly there is no excusing the violent trauma of Friday.
But the Home Office, the providers, asylum seekers and the city council should be involved in taking stock on what went wrong.
Find the money
It is blindingly obvious there can be no return to the austerity of the last decade, as Boris Johnson has now repeatedly promised us.
One reason is there is precious little left to cut from the public sector.
Another is that the economic crisis caused by coronavirus has forced the Tories to embrace socialism.
Only the state can intervene and act when a third of the workforce is on furlough.
Johnson had to be prepared to shovel public money into propping up the economy anyway because of the hit the UK will take from his botched Brexit.
Now, he has to do it quickly because of coronavirus and hope the pandemic – rather than his misguided exit policy – will be blamed.
There is also a gulf of difference between an announcement and action.
Johnson has to prove he can walk as well as talk about a £100billion economic recovery.
