DAILY MAIL COMMENT: We are being taken for a ride on asylum

The more we learn about the ludicrous decision to grant Abdul Ezedi sanctuary in Britain, the more we see the liberal elite is taking the whole country for a ride.

The Afghan failed a test on Christianity even though he claimed to be a convert. He was a convicted sex offender. And an asylum tribunal considered him serially dishonest.

Despite these concerns, an immigration judge permitted him to stay, persuaded by 'compelling evidence' from a Baptist minister that Ezedi had seen the light.

Last month he was pulled dead from the Thames after carrying out a hideous chemical attack on a woman and her two daughters. The fact he was given a Muslim funeral indicates his true faith.

But spurious asylum claims based on religion are commonplace. The bar is low and, with the assistance of Leftie lawyers, it is easy to game the system. Everyone apart from credulous clerics and woke judges can see these conversions are often a scam.

Ministers have now told church leaders to explain the checks made when helping asylum seekers who claim to be Christian converts. But it's too little, too late.

Huge numbers of illegal migrants from countries steeped in misogyny are arriving in small boats. With the complicity of a dysfunctional and do-gooding elite, we could be sheltering many more Ezedis.

A fatal betrayal

How  many more times must a defenceless child be murdered by pitiless sadists in our supposedly civilised country right under the noses of the authorities?

Finley Boden was taken into care at birth because of fears he'd come to harm. Soon after the ten-month-old was returned to his parents, Stephen Boden and Shannon Marsden, in November 2020, he was dead.

In a regime of brutality lasting 39 days, the vile psychopaths inflicted hideous injuries to almost every part of his tiny body.

What on earth possessed the courts and social services to conclude it would be safe to give him back to a pair of violent drug addicts? It defies common sense.

A review found judges rejected a local authority plea to delay the boy's return. Social workers and health visitors overlooked clear evidence of abuse. Yes, the Covid lockdown made it more difficult for them to monitor at-risk children, but that cannot excuse this scandalous failure.

This is a depressingly familiar story. We were told lessons would be learned after the deaths of Victoria Climbie, Baby P and many others. But once again, the cries of a child have been tragically ignored.

Sewage shame

With cleaner air, more trees and species returning after centuries' absence, Britain's environment has improved in many ways.

Unfortunately, our rivers and seas have defied this trend. Raw sewage was discharged into them no fewer than 464,000 times last year – a 54 per cent rise on 2022.

Water firms can do this during extreme weather so filth doesn't flood into homes, but the data suggests they are polluting our waterways as a matter of routine.

Predictably, the industry blames climate change for more frequent storms, but this is a pitiful excuse. Heavy rainfall is not new.

The problem is that for years, highly profitable water companies have neglected to upgrade antiquated infrastructure.

That Ofwat has allowed this is shameful. It must ensure firms meet investment targets and put water quality and public health first. Until then the industry, like the rivers awash with sewage, will stink.