Firm But Fair

The Ministry of Unfitness for Purpose continues to safeguard the legacy of Agent Smith with this heartwarmingly humane demonstration of sympathy. The parents of a possibly terminal cancer patient have been denied permission to extend their temporary stay in Britain in order to care for her, on the grounds that there are plenty of charities which do that sort of thing and she has a husband anyway. A spokesbeing for the Border Agency said that people are allowed to remain in the UK to care for sick relatives, but that "this is only ever temporary and to allow for future care arrangements to be put in place"; in other words, those granted such leave are not supposed to spend it actually doing any caring themselves, but are meant to use the time to employ strangers in preparation for the day when, perhaps rather early in the morning, the Border Agency's boys come knocking at the door. The spokesbeing described this system as "firm but fair". The cancer patient in this case is scheduled for an operation in a few days during which a large chunk of her liver will be taken out. Let's hope the Home Office is quite sure that Britain can spare the anaesthetic.