Is it possible to express an anti-open border stance without resorting to hyperbole, demonisation, othering, and lying? I imagine it probably must be, but I’ve yet to see it. There must be people who oppose open borders yet can speak about asylum seekers with humanity and love. Where are they?
I think one could get close to that by expressing of small boats, “That looks frighteningly dangerous. We should stop that” (which I think some right wingers initially claimed was their standpoint) rather than of migrants on small boats, “They look frightening and dangerous. We should stop them.”
Exactly this. There is no concern for the people on the boats, and no genuine concern actually for the people of Great Britain. There’s something else behind it all.