It has been fascinating watching the Tories trying to leap to the left of Labour (not that it really requires that big a jump – a bit of respect for basic civil liberties will get you there), while also trying not to — too badly anyway — piss off their traditional “hang ’em and flog ’em” supporters.
A speech today by William Hague today was a classic example. First off, he’s impeccable:
William Hague today called for stronger measures to protect victims of modern-day slavery in Britain as he warned that the trafficking of women and children for the sex industry was worsening. The Tory shadow foreign secretary called for greater protection of victims…
Hey, could have happily written it myself. But he can’t, or thinks he can’t for fear of what the traditional supporters will say, take the final step of ratifying a humane UN convention. He:
…stopped short of calling on the government to sign up to a convention that would allow women and children rescued from captivity a leave of stay in the UK.
The convention provides trafficking victims with a 30-day reflection period, which the government has so far resisted on the grounds that it could be abused by bogus asylum claimants.
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