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Home Secretary unveils plan to stop small boat crossings
roposed new legislation aimed at cracking down on small boat crossings in the Channel has been announced by the Home Secretary in the Commons.
The plan will remove and ban asylum seekers from re-entry if they arrive in the UK through unauthorised means. The new rules will apply retrospectively from Tuesday to stop a rush of illegal border crossings.
Ms Braverman told MPs that it would “betray” British voters not to tackle the “waves of illegal migrants breaching our border” as she set out details of the Illegal Migration Bill.
Amid accusations the crackdown will only end up in the courts, she admitted she “can’t make a definitive statement of compatibility” of her legislation to halt small boat crossings of the Channel under the Human Rights Act
Rishi Sunak has argued that his new Bill, which is key to one of his five priorities for his premiership, will “take back control of our borders, once and for all”.
But critics have warned the proposals are “unworkable” and will leave thousands of migrants in limbo by banning them from ever claiming British citizenship.
Ms Braverman made a statement to MPs at 12.30pm. Later on Tuesday Mr Sunak will visit frontline officers in Dover. The Prime Minister will hold a press conference from Downing Street following the visit.
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Small boats have not overwhelmed asylum system, MP says
Dame Diana Johnson said small boats have not overwhelmed the system, but poor resourcing by successive Govenments has been a significant factor in the collapse of the asylum system.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said there are “unprecedented” numbers of migrants arriving.
She said the Prime Minister is meeting with France this week to discuss plans in detail.
‘Do not get into that flimsy dinghy’, Home Secretary pleads
Suella Braverman said deterrance is a key theme in the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill.
“We want to send the message loud and clearly, do not do it,” she said.
“Do not get into that flimsly dingy…because you will not be entitled to a life in the UK.”
Labour are ‘against deterring’ illegal migrants, Braverman claims
Suella Braverman said “stop the boats” didn’t even feature in Labour’s five key plans if elected.
“The British people know why,” she said. “Deep down the leader of the Opposition doesn’t want to stop the boats. Labour MPs would prefer to write letters to stop the removal of foreign national offenders.
She added: “Labour are against deterring people who would come here illegally.”
‘This bill is a con’, Labour claims
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This bill isn’t a solution, it’s a con that risks making the chaos worse.
“Britain is better than this,” she told MPs.
But Home Secretary Suella Braverman hit back, saying she has “no idea” what Labour’s plan is to tackle illegal migration.
‘This bill makes things harder’, Shadow Home Secretary says
Yvette Cooper said the Home Secretary has already admitted the Rwanda plan is failing.
The Shadow Home Secretary said if the Government was serious, it would be working internationally to get a plan in place with Germany and France.
”Instead this bill makes this harder…expecting every other country to carry on.”
‘Deeply damaging chaos’, Labour says
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons that the asylum system is in “deeply damaging chaos” and “there’s no point ministers trying to blame anyone else”.
“The asylum seeker system is broken and they broke it,” she said, blaming the Government.
Annual cap on refugees to be introduced
The bill will introduce an annual cap on refugees that the UK houses through safe and legal routes, Suella Braverman said.
“The British people are famously a fair and patient people…but they’ve seen their country taken for a ride,” she said.
“This can and will not continue. This Conservative Prime Minister will act now to stop the boats.”
Bill blocks use of modern slavery rule among illegal entrants
“Modern slavery laws are being abused to block removals,” the Home Secretary said.
“We granted more than 50 per cent of asylum requests from citizens of Albania.
“This bill disqualifies illegal entrants from using the modern slavery rule.”
‘The farce of accommodating migrants in hotels’
Ms Braverman has listed all actions the Government has taken to crack down on illegal migration.
The Home Secretary mentioned recruiting over 700 new staff members within a small boat operations group, signing a deal with Albania and procuring accommodation on military land to “end the farce of accommodating migrants in hotels”.
Global migration crisis to worsen, Braverman says
The Home Secretary said not acting on small boat crossings “would be to betray the will of the people which we were elected to serve”.
Suella Braverman said small boats crossing are part of a wider migration crisis. Countries will face “unprecedented” numbers of immigrants, she said.
