Illegal Migration Bill

Richard Graham Con

Gloucester

Question

Minister, will you be publishing an assessment of how your Bill might affect the legal framework for human trafficking and modern slavery?

Minister reply

The Bill does not seek to undermine our robust modern slavery laws. It seeks instead to ensure that these rules are used in the way intended by Parliament, so they can continue to help genuine victims.

David Lammy Lab

Tottenham

Question

Does the Home Secretary not recognise that asylum seekers often face a hostile environment and may be at risk of modern slavery?

Minister reply

The Bill’s proposals are fair, proportionate and in line with international human rights standards. I am confident that this Bill is compatible with international law.

David Davis Con

Haltemprice and Howden

Question

Are you satisfied that the Government has done everything it can to ensure that a third country agreement will be in place before the Illegal Migration Bill comes into force?

Minister reply

The UK remains committed to working with international partners to tackle illegal migration. However, our approach is robust and novel which is why we cannot make a definitive statement of compatibility under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Yvette Cooper Lab

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

Question

Labour criticised the Home Secretary’s statement as lacking substantive action beyond previous ineffective measures. The number of illegal crossings had surged to a record high while convictions for people smugglers halved and asylum decisions collapsed by 40%. She argued that these chaotic circumstances were the result of government policies over the past 13 years and called for international cooperation, cross-border policing units, fast-track decision-making processes, and legal family reunion routes. Labour emphasised the need for a systematic approach rather than unilateral actions.

Minister reply

The Home Secretary responded by questioning Labour’s actual plans for addressing illegal migration and implied that they would scrap the Rwanda partnership and close immigration removal centres as previously pledged. She argued that the British people wanted to stop the boats, which was one of the Prime Minister's five key promises, contrasting it with Labour's lack of a clear stance on this issue.

Tim Loughton

Question

The MP supported the Bill for providing sustainable safe and legal routes for genuine asylum seekers. He asked if the French might be interested in joining Britain in a joint Rwanda-type scheme, since they face similar problems. He also suggested that there should be more action to arrest people at source on their side of the channel.

Minister reply

The Home Secretary agreed with the MP’s perspective and highlighted deterrence as key. She emphasised the importance of sending a clear message to smugglers and potential migrants: do not attempt illegal crossings, as they will face no entitlement to life in the UK.

Stuart McDonald SNP

Glasgow North West

Question

The SNP stands proudly behind the refugee convention and European Convention on Human Rights. The Home Secretary's Bill will cause harm to asylum seekers but not address people smugglers or traffickers, enshrining policies that lead to missing children and undermining modern slavery legislation. What happens if an Afghan arrival cannot be removed to Afghanistan, France, Rwanda or anywhere else? Will he or she eventually be admitted to the asylum system? If so, after how long?

Minister reply

The Home Secretary emphasised the comprehensive and coherent plan set out in her measures combining fairness and compassion.

Lee Anderson Reform

Ashfield

Question

When asked if foreign rapists and murderers should be deported to their home country, a Labour lawyer replied that it depends. Can the Home Secretary confirm that the Bill will indeed get rid of foreign national rapists, drug dealers and murderers?

Minister reply

The Home Secretary confirmed measures passed by the Government to make removal easier for such individuals.

Diana R. Johnson Lab

Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham

Question

In the Home Affairs Committee report on channel crossings, it was found that poor resourcing of staff and technology by successive governments contributed to the backlog in the asylum system. Can the Home Secretary tell the House what progress has been made on expanding safe and legal routes and negotiating returns policy with the EU?

Minister reply

The Government's measures have led to good progress both with the EU and France, looking forward to an Anglo-French summit this Friday.

Simon Fell Con

Dorset South

Question

Can the Home Secretary confirm that under her plan, as deterrent measures kick in and the asylum backlog is worn down, safe and legal routes will reopen from countries outside Syria, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine? Can she give an estimate of when they will reopen?

Minister reply

The Bill aims to have a more comprehensive discussion and decision endorsed by Parliament regarding allowing safe and legal routes into the country.

Diane Abbott Ind

Hackney North and Stoke Newington

Question

As a child of migrants, can the Home Secretary confirm that she will reconsider her legislation which is deplorable and unworkable? Where will she detain these people as there isn't capacity to do so?

Minister reply

The Home Secretary urged the MP to choose her words carefully when conflating illegal immigrants with those who come legally and abide by laws.

Amanda Milling Con

Cannock Chase

Question

What would be the Home Secretary's key message to constituents angry about asylum seekers being housed in hotels in and around Cannock Chase?

Minister reply

The message is that we need to stop boats coming here illegally through measures in the Bill, thus stopping them from being accommodated in hotels.

Paula Barker Lab

Liverpool Wavertree

Question

Can the Home Secretary tell the House what will happen to the 44,800 others waiting in the system after the Rwandan Government can take only 200 people? Does she believe that £120 million for Rwanda is value for money?

Minister reply

The scheme with Rwanda was upheld by the High Court at the end of last year and we are proud of what the Conservative Government achieved in securing the agreement.

Edward Leigh Con

Gainsborough

Question

Will the Home Secretary assure me that if she overrides objections to placing migrants at RAF Scampton, it will be strictly temporary and not upset the best deal for north Lincolnshire?

Minister reply

The Minister for Immigration is working intensively to secure bespoke asylum accommodation around a range of locations within the UK, including dialogue with local authorities.

Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem

North East Fife

Question

Given the brutality of the Taliban and security situation in neighbouring third countries, what steps is the Home Secretary taking to create a specific safe route for at-risk Afghan women and girls?

Minister reply

The UK takes a robust but compassionate approach, issuing measures that send the message to people: ‘Do not come here illegally.’

Iain Duncan Smith Con

Chingford and Woodford Green

Question

Once we strip away rhetoric, what steps is the Home Secretary taking to ensure that nothing has changed regarding the European Court of Human Rights intervention on stopping migrants being taken to Rwanda?

Minister reply

The Strasbourg court issued a rule 39 order without UK representation or right of challenge; the Bill will introduce detail addressing this scenario.

Lyn Brown Lab

West Ham

Question

Empty slogans, chaos and broken promises are all we have heard from the Home Secretary today. Return of failed asylum seekers has collapsed by 80% since Labour left office in 2010. Is that not an extraordinary level of incompetence by this Government?

Minister reply

What I find to be irresponsible and, frankly, incompetent is the Labour party voting against our measures to remove foreign national offenders, to streamline our asylum system and to take a firm line on illegal migration.

Darren Henry Con

Crewe and Nantwich

Question

I broadly welcome the announcement today and measures being put in place to prevent dangerous crossings of the channel, but how precisely will they affect the migrants who are living in hotels near my inland midlands constituency and move them to more appropriate accommodation, perhaps on military land, as the Home Secretary mentioned?

Minister reply

Our 10-point plan announced in December deals with the issue of asylum accommodation. It is unacceptable that over 40,000 people are being accommodated in hotels all over the country, at a cost of £6 million a day. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Immigration is therefore working intensively with other Departments and local authorities throughout the country to identify and procure sustainable and appropriate asylum accommodation.

Joanna Cherry SNP

Edinburgh South

Question

The Home Secretary has often said that she would be quite happy if the United Kingdom left the European convention on human rights, and when the Justice Secretary gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights last year, he said that the Government were not ruling out leaving the convention. The Home Secretary said in her statement that she cannot make a definitive statement of compatibility with the ECHR under section 19 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which comes as no surprise to most of us. Is the plan behind the Bill simply this: the legislation will go through in the certain knowledge that the domestic courts of the United Kingdom will find that it is incompatible with international law and the ECHR; and then the Tories will fight the next general election on a promise to take the United Kingdom out of the European convention on human rights? That is the whole point of this, is it not?

Minister reply

I refer the hon. and learned Lady to her comments on the Rwanda partnership about a year ago. Many people here denounced it as unlawful, cruel and illegitimate, yet not very long go we had an exhaustive and authoritative judgment from the High Court saying the exact opposite—that it is compliant with human rights, compliant with the refugee convention, and lawful.

Jackie Doyle-Price Con

Thurrock

Question

The House will remember that in October 2019, 39 illegal migrants were found to have perished in the back of a lorry in my constituency. Following that incident, Essex police and their counterparts in Belgium tracked down and prosecuted a number of people in connection with those crimes. Will the Home Secretary confirm that in the dialogue with France this week, lessons will be learned from that case, and that tracking down the traffickers is very much a part of how we tackle this problem?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to alight on the issue of the criminal gangs and people smugglers, and the importance of the pan-European criminal work that is ongoing to break their business model. We have had about 500 arrests and closed down 50 or so gangs, and work continues intensively with our French counterparts to stop this criminal and evil activity.

Hilary Benn Lab

Leeds South

Question

The Home Secretary told the House earlier that she is confident that these proposals are compatible with the UK’s international obligations. Does that extend to articles 31, 32 and 33 of the 1951 refugee convention?

Minister reply

The Bill introduces measures that we consider to be compliant with all our international obligations—in fact, we are certain.

Bill Cash Con

Stone

Question

The Bill is very much in the right direction. As my right hon. and learned Friend has just indicated, she needs to consider disapplication of parts of the Human Rights Act that would otherwise enable judges to water down the legislation and the Government’s proper objectives. If we do not deal with Strasbourg judgments and orders, these new proposals cannot work. I am sure that my right hon. and learned Friend will expect amendments to be tabled in Committee. Will she discuss these with us, including aspects of the European convention on human rights and the refugee convention?

Minister reply

As we embark on the process of parliamentary scrutiny, my right hon. Friend the Immigration Minister and I will engage fully with all Members of Parliament to hear their concerns and ideas about the Bill. I refer my hon. Friend to clause 1 and the specific disapplication of section 3 of the Human Rights Act, which is an interpretive clause; that will help in this regard.

John McDonnell Lab

Hayes and Harlington

Question

I have nearly 2,000 people who have exercised their legal right to claim asylum living in hotels in my constituency. They come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Kurdistan-Iraq, Iran, Eritrea and Syria. Some of them have shown me their wounds from torture; many are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Could the Home Secretary at least provide the House with a monthly report on how the processing of their cases is proceeding? Will she please tone down her inflammatory language?

Minister reply

We are making good progress in bearing down on the legacy backlog in our asylum system. We have increased the number of decision makers and streamlined the decision-making process, and we are increasing productivity. We will continue to bear down on that because it is a big factor in the hotel accommodation issue.

Kevin Foster Con

Torbay

Question

Although the Bill will change many of the legal aspects, ultimately it is about how we make the system work in practice. What reassurance does my right hon. and learned Friend have that we will be able to create the relevant amount of detention capacity and the necessary amount of removal capacity without affecting other vital immigration and removal work?

Minister reply

May I put on the record my thanks to my hon. Friend? As an excellent Home Office Minister, he shepherded through many of the measures in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 that are now being implemented to combat this challenge. We are building on the achievements of that legislation. We will roll out a programme of increasing immigration detention capacity, and we are working intensively on that now.

Hywel Williams PC

Arfon

Question

Safaa, a Syrian refugee, escaped from Daesh to save her life. She thinks the Government’s plans will make others in her situation feel suicidal. What does the Home Secretary have to say to Safaa?

Minister reply

I am proud of our track record of welcoming people through humanitarian routes who are fleeing war, persecution and other conflict, whether from Afghanistan, Syria or Hong Kong. That is a record of which I am proud.

Rehman Chishti Con

Gillingham and Rainham

Question

I very much welcome the Government’s renewed commitment to dealing with illegal migration. My constituents want tough, decisive action. The Home Secretary says we will be having discussions with our French counterparts. In 2010, we signed the Lancaster House agreement with France on defence and security. How will these new measures address the challenges to ensure that we have tough, decisive action to deal with illegal migration?

Minister reply

We struck a new deal with France at the end of last year. That saw an increase in the number of French personnel patrolling the French beaches. It saw a new development, with British Border Force officers being located in France, working side-by-side with French police officers. It has led to greater collaboration and intelligence-sharing, so that we can clamp down on the people-smuggling gangs.

Khalid Mahmood Lab

Small Heath

Question

My grandfather came to this country in boats through the British merchant navy and was a proud British mariner. He set up in Newcastle and helped the war effort. Is it not the truth that the Bill is purely to do with her political agenda to get votes in red wall seats, but that the expense of doing so is xenophobia and racism?

Minister reply

It is irresponsible to suggest that someone who wants to control our borders and who says that the numbers are out of control and that we need a firm but compassionate line on migration is racist. That is irresponsible, it is wrong, and it should not be put forward.

Mark Francois Con

Rayleigh and Wickford

Question

Welcomes the principle of the Bill, but questions if it will contain measures to deal with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Minister reply

Acknowledges the legal complexity; mentions measures relating to rule 39 orders and disapplication of section 3 of the Human Rights Act.

Stella Creasy Lab Co-op

Walthamstow

Question

Raises concerns about splitting up families due to eligibility criteria for the Afghan relocations and assistance policy scheme.

Minister reply

Asserts that almost 500,000 people have been welcomed in the UK from countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Hong Kong, and Ukraine.

Richard Drax Con

Question

Compliments the Home Secretary for tackling economic migrants but questions if more could be done to prevent them from coming in the first place.

Minister reply

States that many of these people are young, fit and healthy men who are economic migrants abusing asylum laws.

Tommy Sheppard SNP

Question

Claims the policy is foul and shameful, stating it will be in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Minister reply

Emphasises that the measures are humanitarian to deter dangerous journeys to the UK.

Jane Stevenson Con

Question

Welcomes the Home Secretary’s statement and questions if developing nations need more assistance for development.

Minister reply

Agrees that a global migration crisis means not everyone can be taken in, hence needing a fair system.

Ruth Cadbury Lab

Brentford and Isleworth

Question

Highlights the collapse of immigration decision-making leading to people living in limbo conditions.

Minister reply

Promises legislation to reduce the asylum backlog and hotel accommodations for those in limbo.

Peter Bone Con

Question

Asks if measures are taken to address claims of modern slavery by individuals arriving via small boats.

Minister reply

States that the process for considering modern slavery claims now takes over 500 days due to increased claims.

Caroline Lucas Green

Question

Questions the ban on asylum unless safe and legal routes are used, highlighting their rarity and inefficiency.

Minister reply

Proud of accepting nearly 500,000 people through safe and legal routes for humanitarian reasons.

Simon Clarke Con

Question

Asks if the Government will commit to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights if legislation is stalled.

Minister reply

Addresses rule 39 orders and upholds that the Bill complies with international obligations.

Nia Griffith Lab

Llanelli

Question

Questions the introduction of an annual cap on refugees resettlement via safe and legal routes.

Minister reply

Asserts realism in stating not everyone arriving is for genuine asylum reasons, hence a measured approach.

Caroline Johnson Con

Sleaford and North Hykeham

Question

Asks how the Bill will avoid facing similar fate to the Rwanda scheme.

Minister reply

Welcomes High Court judgment upholding the legality of the Rwanda partnership.

Dan Jarvis Lab

Barnsley North

Question

Between October and December last year, one in three people making the journey came from Afghanistan. The Government say that Afghans should use safe and legal routes to get here, but by their own figures only one Afghan was relocated in the month of December through the Afghan relocations and assistance policy scheme. Those left behind include people who sacrificed everything in support of the UK’s mission in Afghanistan. Many of them have been brutally murdered by the Taliban and many more will undoubtedly be killed. Can the Home Secretary say that she will honour the commitments made to those who served alongside us in Afghanistan and, if she will honour those commitments, how will she ensure that they receive safe passage?

Minister reply

As I have mentioned quite a few times, but it bears repetition, we have been proud to welcome 20,000 people from Afghanistan who have fled the troubles and the Taliban. We have a family reunification scheme to enable family members to join their family here. That is a record of which we should be proud and I encourage the hon. Gentleman to support it.

Andrew Bridgen

Question

Can the Home Secretary reconfirm that the Bill will stop illegal entry being a route to our asylum system, and what effect does she think that it will have on the number of people willing to pay evil people traffickers to cross the channel?

Minister reply

Deterrence is a core aim of these measures. We need to send the message that, if someone comes here illegally on a boat, paying a people smuggler, they will not have an entitlement to life in the UK. That is why I urge everyone here to get behind the Bill.

Claire Hanna SDLP

Belfast South and Mid Down

Question

Like many who are genuinely interested in supporting those who want to solve these problems, I have concerns about this approach, both in principle and in practice. The issues in communities that the Government uses as a straw man are, in fact, the result of a decade of systematic underfunding and neglect in health, housing and education. Instead of scapegoating the vulnerable, encouraging conspiracy and aggression, when will the Home Secretary get a grip on the chaos in her Department, whose processing rates have collapsed, along with conviction rates for people smugglers? When will she stop scapegoating and start solving?

Minister reply

Far from scapegoating the vulnerable, this is about protecting the vulnerable. This is about empowering our authorities properly to support genuine victims of modern slavery. This is about enabling a swifter resolution of genuine asylum claims. This is about enabling greater, safer and legal routes. This is not scapegoating—this is about protection.

Bill Wiggin

Question

If moving people to Hereford is the solution, may I welcome everything that my right hon. and learned Friend has said? We British people have rights as well, so can she put her shoulder to the wheel for my constituents, too?

Minister reply

This is about our humanitarian approach, but it is also about fairness. My hon. Friend is right—the British people’s famous sense of fair play and generosity has been tested beyond limit, which is why it is necessary to go further than we have gone before and make sure that we have a robust scheme in place that actually stops the boats.

Karen Buck

Question

The Home Secretary must have been shocked to discover that she and her party have been in charge of the Home Office for the past 13 years, during which time the backlog of asylum claims has done nothing but mushroom. The number of children who have been waiting more than a year for their asylum application to be considered has risen twelvefold. Rapid decision making is part of the effective deterrence which she claims to want. Why was this allowed to happen, when will she get a grip and why does passing the same piece of legislation yet again make a difference?

Minister reply

If we go down the path of comparing backlogs, the Labour party will be found wanting. The backlog with which we are dealing bears no comparison whatsoever with what the Labour party left us with in 2010.

James Daly

Question

I warmly welcome the legislation. Will the Home Secretary confirm that running through it is the central theme that the only route to asylum in the UK is a safe and legal route, with an annual cap on the number of refugees? The annual cap is the crucial point. This is democratic accountability. Migration must be based on the country’s capacity and capability to house and support people. We cannot have open borders, whatever the other side pontificates. May I ask my right hon. and learned Friend when we will vote on the migration cap? I welcome her statement, as it is exactly what my voters want—well done to the Home Secretary.

Minister reply

My hon. Friend speaks a lot of sense. The British people did not vote for 40,000 people to arrive here on small boats. They did not vote for our immigration laws to be broken. They voted for representatives to serve in this place to speak up for them. That is why I urge every Member of this House to get behind this Bill and stop the boats.

Ronnie Cowan

Question

According to the statistics quoted by the Home Secretary last year, 17,000 referrals took on average 543 days to consider. Among those were the asylum seekers staying in a hotel in my constituency. I have engaged with them, along with my MSP colleague Stuart McMillan, on an ongoing basis since they arrived. The Home Office has not. It has not talked to those guys; it has not stopped the process. Would the Home Secretary consider expanding the shortage occupation list to allow them to work? Those young men want to contribute to the society in which they have been welcomed.

Minister reply

Aside from humanitarian routes into this country, we also have an extensive points-based system, which we developed post Brexit. Thanks to our freedom on migration, we have issued a record number of work and study visas in the last year alone. People who want to come here for legitimate reasons should go through our points-based system.

Damian Collins

Question

My constituents on the south Kent coast have seen with their own eyes the rapid increase in small boat crossings in the past few years. Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that our priority must be to stop these dangerous journeys, and that the most effective way to do that is to demonstrate that they cannot be a shortcut into the asylum system and will not lead to permanent residency in the UK?

Minister reply

Getting into a flimsy dinghy wearing a thin polystyrene excuse for a life jacket, paying thousands of pounds, breaking our laws and putting one’s life at risk is not the way to come to the United Kingdom. That is what this Bill is all about.

Barry Gardiner Lab

Brent West

Question

The Home Secretary will be aware that the bulk of the 500,000 people she says have come through safe and legal routes are from Ukraine and Hong Kong. Regarding Afghanistan, she will also know that, in the whole of the last year, since the new safe route was put in place, only 22 individuals from Afghanistan have been accepted through that route. Is it any surprise to the Home Secretary, then, that 8,500 Afghans made a small boat crossing to the UK last year? Having rendered meaningless any safe and legal route from Afghanistan, where does the Home Secretary believe she derives the moral authority to criminalise those 8,500 people simply because of their mode of travel?

Minister reply

Regarding Operation Pitting, we have received 20,000 people from Afghanistan—fleeing the Taliban, fleeing conflict and fleeing persecution. I am very proud of Britain’s track record. That is one among many safe routes through which people have come to the UK.

Nicholas Fletcher

Question

The people of Doncaster and Don Valley have welcomed people from all around the world, including recently through the Ukraine scheme, but they also now realise that we are full. Will the Home Secretary confirm to the House and to the people of Doncaster whether an illegal immigrant who arrives on our shores would ever be granted leave to remain?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is right. We are at unsustainable levels of people coming here illegally. It is putting unsustainable pressure on our accommodation, our public services and our resources. That cannot continue. That is why we need to adopt a different approach when it comes to dealing with asylum cases.

Tonia Antoniazzi Lab

Gower

Question

The Prime Minister stood at the Dispatch Box last week and committed that the Government will remain a member of the ECHR because leaving it would break the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. Does the Home Secretary agree?

Minister reply

We are clear that the measures in the Bill comply with our international law obligations. We are pleased to be proceeding with it and I encourage the hon. Lady to back it.

Stephen Metcalfe

Question

I hope the whole House will welcome and support my right hon. and learned Friend’s proposals, because my constituents have rightly been frustrated by our inability thus far to tackle illegal migration and control our borders. This is not about demonising genuine refugees or turning our back on those in need, but about stopping illegal activity and ensuring that our long tradition of offering safe haven to those who are truly persecuted is not undermined by those who abuse our hospitality and break our laws.

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Making progress on stopping illegal migration will enable us to better support genuine victims of modern slavery or human trafficking with asylum. That is what this country is about, and I am very proud of that.

Chris Stephens

Question

The Government will shortly be announcing their sixth immigration Bill since I arrived in the House in 2015, which tells us everything we need to know about their failures on immigration policy. However, I want to ask about the content of the Bill. Will the Home Secretary tell the House that she will not seek to revisit ouster clauses to prevent judicial review and that she will be mindful of the 2019 Supreme Court ruling that the presence of such clauses does not prevent a judicial review challenge based on an error of law?

Minister reply

I hope that the hon. Gentleman, on closer inspection of the Bill, will see what we have put forward. We will dramatically reduce the avenues and options for legal challenge, which are often used to thwart removal. It is important that we do that—within the law—to ensure that our operations can be delivered effectively.

David Jones Con

Question

Congratulates the Home Secretary on introducing legislation to cap asylum seekers and support safe legal routes. Asks if those advocating for other approaches are doing no favours to migrants or constituents.

Minister reply

Agrees that having capped, legitimate routes through parliamentary decision is right; disagrees with perpetuating people smuggling.

Andrew Slaughter Lab

Hammersmith and Chiswick

Question

Critiques the Home Office's handling of Afghan refugee children who were forced to move to hotels without arranged school places, questions level of competence.

Minister reply

Claims Labour voted against measures to streamline asylum process; defends decision-making despite challenges.

Holly Mumby-Croft

Question

Asks the Home Secretary to ensure plans strike a balance in ending illegal crossings while providing sanctuary for those who arrive legally.

Minister reply

Affirms that measures will prevent exploitation by smugglers and ensure safe, legal routes are available.

Zarah Sultana Lab

Coventry South

Question

Claims the Home Secretary is demonising refugees while refusing to create new safe and legal routes; questions how many will be locked up before a compassionate approach is accepted.

Minister reply

Refuses lectures from an MP who sought to prevent deportation of a convicted offender.

Danny Kruger Reform

East Wiltshire

Question

Asks for the Home Secretary's assurance that the Bill will not be frustrated by the European convention on human rights and encourages use of community sponsorship schemes.

Minister reply

Affirms support for community sponsorship scheme; criticises 'activist lawyers' in opposition.

Kirsty Blackman SNP

Aberdeen North

Question

Questions the Home Secretary's lack of compassion and asks to create more safe legal routes.

Minister reply

Defends policy as compassionate, criticises spending on hotel accommodation.

Mark Fletcher Con

Question

Welcomes the Home Secretary's statement about ending housing illegal migrants and asylum seekers in hotels; asks for confirmation of end date and savings.

Minister reply

Confirms £3 billion yearly expenditure on asylum backlog, aims to reduce costs.

Vicky Foxcroft Lab

Lewisham North

Question

Asks about the progress in addressing outstanding asylum cases with a 60% increase from previous year.

Minister reply

Reports increased decision makers, improved productivity and guidance; aims to process claims swiftly.

Simon Baynes Con

Question

Requests details on how the Bill will narrow challenges and appeals that can suspend removal.

Minister reply

Explains duty for Home Secretary to make arrangements; suspension only if serious risk of harm is established.

Rachael Maskell Lab Co-op

York Central

Question

Asks the Home Secretary to publish legal advice on how her legislation complies with international and ECHR laws.

Minister reply

Refuses disclosure under Law Officers' convention; claims Bill complies with international obligations.

Luke Evans Con

Hinckley and Bosworth

Question

Asks for details on bringing the legislation forward, and whether Border Force will have resources to implement it.

Minister reply

Introduces Bill today; hopes parliamentary progress is swift.

Paulette Hamilton Lab

Birmingham Erdington

Question

Questions constituents' trust in the government with rising small boat crossings under their leadership.

Minister reply

Proud of achievements to date regarding Windrush; £60 million offered or paid out.

Richard Graham Con

Question

Asks if the Bill will prevent illegal migrants from abusing modern slavery laws and whether more legal migration routes will be created.

Minister reply

Claims measures will enhance ability to support genuine asylum seekers and victims of trafficking.

Martin Docherty SNP

West Dunbartonshire

Question

When the people of Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven contact me, they wonder why the Conservative and Unionist party is creating a new Bill of dubious moral and legal standing when it could just continue the long-running strategy of driving public services into the ground, making Britain poorer than all of our northern European neighbours and therefore decreasing the pull factors of migration. Finally, they wonder about the Home Secretary’s incredible—and I think absurd—claim that 100 million people are ready to come to the UK, and they want to say to the Home Secretary that it is going to take a lot more than a Bill copied and pasted from the Policy Exchange paper to make a difference.

Minister reply

The hon. Member’s so-called absurd claim is actually backed up by the United Nations. More importantly, it is frankly naive to suggest that everybody coming here on a boat is a genuine asylum seeker fleeing for humanitarian reasons. The reality is that many of these people are economic migrants who are abusing our asylum system, and that is what this Bill aims to stop.

Gareth Bacon Con

Orpington

Question

The right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) said that we need solutions, not slogans, so could my right hon. and learned Friend please tell me of a single proposal the right hon. Lady has made that is anything more than an empty slogan? Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree with me that Labour Members do not have a plan, and they do not really want one either because they simply do not take this issue seriously?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Leader of the Opposition made a grand show of his five great missions to fix the country. Tellingly, he omitted stopping the boats. Either he does not care about illegal migration, or he does not know what to do about it.

Ruth Jones Lab

Newport West and Islwyn

Question

The people in my constituency were outraged by the fact that last year there were just four prosecutions for people smuggling a month, while 46,000 people crossed the channel. Why is there nothing in this Government’s widely trailed plans to tackle these criminal gangs?

Minister reply

Tackling the criminal gangs at the root of this problem is absolutely essential. That is why we have increased our funding to the NCA to ensure that there is better operationalising, better intelligence sharing and better co-operation with European partners, and that is why I am very pleased that many criminal gangs have been shut down and 500 convictions have been secured.

Matt Warman

Question

The Ukraine and Afghanistan schemes clearly show the enormous compassion of the British people, but the reality is that the abuse of the system, particularly the use of hotels for people seeking asylum, saps that compassion. Does the Home Secretary agree with me that we have to end the use of hotels and that this Bill will be a crucial part of that? Can she say when she hopes to be able to lay out a plan to put a timetable on ending the use of hotels?

Minister reply

I know from my hon. Friend’s representations that in his community there are particular challenges with people in hotels. We are using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers because there are too many people coming here illegally. Once we stop the business model of people coming here illegally, we will be able to stop the use of hotels.

Chris Evans Lab Co-op

Caerphilly

Question

There has to be a strong deterrent when these criminal gangs are found people smuggling. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Ruth Jones) has said, there were only four prosecutions per month against 46,000 crossings last year. How is the Home Secretary going to target the criminal gangs? When they are caught, they have to know that they are going to be punished for their evil trade.

Minister reply

I actually joined a dawn raid with the National Crime Agency a few months ago as it was going to arrest a people smuggler. There is a huge programme of work ongoing to ensure that there is proper intelligence sharing, proper resource and adequate funding to take a tough line against the criminal, evil people-smuggling gangs.

Anna Firth

Question

Constituents in Southend West will warmly welcome the fact that this Government are taking a clear stand against illegal immigration, breaking the business model that the vile people-smuggling gangs depend on and stopping the boats. However, one of the most common complaints I hear on the doorstep is about expensive hotels housing asylum seekers while homelessness, sometimes including our armed forces veterans, is on the rise. Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree with me that that is not just unfair on the British taxpayer, but deeply unfair on those genuinely in need who are waiting patiently and legally for a roof over their heads?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to speak for the good people of Southend West in the way she does. The reality is that we have far too many people coming here. They put pressure on our accommodation, and therefore we are now forced to accommodate them in the expensive hotel estate. That cannot continue. It is costly, it is inappropriate and, frankly, it is unfair on the asylum seeker, because it is no fit place to stay for an indefinite period of time.

Stewart Hosie

Question

Imagine being a Tory Home Secretary whose party is supported by barely one in five people having the arrogance to stand up in this Chamber and talk about a patriotic majority being taken for a ride. Imagine having the absolute audacity to stand up in this Chamber and tell this House that there are 100 million people around the world and they are all coming here. No, they are not. The only way this Minister can prove that this is anything other than crass, dog-whistle politics is to answer the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East (Stuart C. McDonald) from the Front Bench: if she was serious, why would she be bringing forward legislation that barely lays a glove on the people smugglers?

Minister reply

Mr Deputy Speaker, I will tell you what is audacious. It is for SNP Members to naively claim that everybody coming here is a genuine refugee or asylum seeker, and then to fail to take their fair share of accommodation. They have wholly failed to properly accommodate asylum seekers, demonstrating a paltry number compared with the rest of the United Kingdom.

Jonathan Gullis

Question

I always enjoy crossing swords with the Opposition. The people of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke will warmly welcome what the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister have delivered today, although they would be even warmer if we at the very least said we would be derogating from the ECHR in this particular case. However, while Labour Members use their confected outrage on the Opposition Benches here in Westminster, Stoke-on-Trent Labour members keep their heads buried in the sand, with councillors and candidates refusing to make any comments on immigration policy, because they know what the people of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke think. They refused to sign a petition to empty the hotels in Stoke-on-Trent, which I started and brought to this House. Will the Home Secretary tell me when the people of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke can expect to see their hotels cleared and emptied, and will it be as soon as possible?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out the failure by the Labour party to properly address this subject. The Leader of the Opposition does not mention it in his five big missions, because he does not care and he does not know. Labour Members vote against every measure we put forward to deport foreign national offenders and streamline our asylum system. They would scrap the Rwanda partnership. They write letters to stop our deportation of serious foreign criminals. That is what today’s Labour party is like. Colleagues, the fight-back starts now.

Luke Pollard Lab Co-op

Plymouth Sutton and Devonport

Question

Britain is and should remain a beacon for LGBT rights, so can I ask Home Secretary a particular question about LGBT asylum seekers who are coming to the UK, fleeing persecution because of their sexuality—who they love and who they are—and who do not come from a country where there is an existing safe route? Will they be deported back to that country where they are being abused, or will they be deported to Rwanda, where the FCO’s travel advice says: “LGBT individuals…experience discrimination and abuse, including from local authorities”? Can the Home Secretary reassure a gay MP here like myself that we are not turning our back on LGBT asylum seekers who are fleeing appalling abuse simply for being themselves?

Minister reply

What I would gently say to the hon. Gentleman is that the fundamental objective in this legislation is to stop people leaving safe countries to come to the United Kingdom and claim asylum. That is the fundamental principle running through our international obligations, whether it is the refugee convention or other conventions. If people are coming here from a safe country, they really should not be claiming asylum in the first place.

Ben Bradley

Question

I was horrified to hear that those on the Opposition Benches feel that this is about xenophobia and racism, scapegoating and dog-whistle politics. This is a simple matter of fairness—fairness for my constituents, who work hard and do the right thing, who see other people who arrive here illegally able to access the taxpayer-funded housing and support that they themselves struggle to access. They have been frustrated by delays and problems in implementing these measures to prevent that from happening, so can my right hon. and learned Friend give her absolute assurance that she is willing to do whatever is necessary to get the outcomes that my constituents deserve?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is right. His constituents deserve fairness, pragmatism and compassion in controlling our borders. It is not racist to say there is too much illegal migration. It is not racist to say we cannot go on spending £6 million on hotel accommodation. It is not bigoted to say people should not be breaking the law to come here. It is fair, it is pragmatic and it is compassionate.

Mike Kane Lab

Wythenshawe and Sale East

Question

I represent an airport seat and have a number of hotels currently in use in my constituency, but for 19 months one hotel in particular has since the fall of Kabul been used by Afghans. Is it a competency issue that we cannot process their claims, or is it a confidence issue? I think it is a confidence issue, because the civil service has lost confidence in this Administration carrying out any effective policies whatsoever.

Minister reply

I encourage the hon. Gentleman to keep in mind the global and indeed European dimension to this problem. Other EU nations are grappling with unprecedented levels of illegal migration. Some countries are saying they are going to stop accommodating people and instead let them abscond willingly. Some countries are accommodating migrants in sports halls and inappropriate accommodation. This is a global challenge and we have to take measures to deal with it.

Scott Benton

Question

This Parliament and this nation must be sovereign when it comes to controlling our borders. It is completely unacceptable that a foreign court can seek to inhibit the wishes of the elected Government of the day. Although I strongly welcome the measures outlined by the Home Secretary, what assurances can she give to the House that these new measures, and indeed our Rwandan policy, can be implemented without interference from foreign judges?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend is right to highlight concerns about the process to which we have been subject from Strasbourg. That is why there is a clause in the Bill relating to rule 39, and we will be closely specifying the details of what we are going to propose. In the meantime, I greatly welcome the vindication by the High Court of our Rwandan partnership in December. We now proceed to the Appeal Court and we wait to see what the courts and their justices decide.

Fleur Anderson Lab

Putney

Question

Wandsworth is proud to have welcomed refugees for hundreds of years and to be a borough of sanctuary. This Bill sounds like a charter for lawyers. This retread of failed policies relies on returns to third countries; that was in last year’s Nationality and Borders Act 2022, but 99% of people were not returned because the Government do not have return agreements. Will the Home Secretary give us a list now of the return agreements currently being negotiated and the deadline for reaching those new agreements, because we will need to know before we vote on this Bill?

Minister reply

We have been in negotiations with several countries, which is why I welcomed the agreement the Prime Minister struck with Albania at the end of last year. Let me be clear: we welcome the contributions of Albanians who come here lawfully, but we need to work together with the Albanian Government to properly relocate back to Albania those who do not have a legal right to be here.

Jack Brereton

Question

People in Stoke-on-Trent are fed up with being ignored and having their generosity taken for granted, and I fully support the measures being introduced today. Will my right hon. and learned Friend confirm that these actions will be taken swiftly and we will see deportations of those here illegally as soon as possible?

Minister reply

The matter is now urgent and we need to move quickly. That is why we have brought the Bill forward today. We hope to proceed with a swift timetable in Parliament. I urge all Members of Parliament to support this Bill; we must scrutinise it effectively, but we want to get on and get the powers on to the statute book and deliver them in material terms as soon as possible.

Alex Cunningham

Question

Every week I have more asylum seekers asking for my help to progress their claims. Some have waited for up to a year; most have waited several. They are left languishing at home, awaiting an appointment or a decision and are desperate to get on with their lives; many are now blighted with mental and other illnesses. Is this latest stunt by the Home Secretary not yet another attempt to direct attention away from her failure to deal with the escalating backlog, which has grown constantly for years on end?

Minister reply

The challenges the hon. Gentleman describes that are faced by asylum seekers are exactly why he should support the Bill. We want to reduce the number of people coming here illegally. We want to reduce the number of people waiting for a decision in the asylum backlog. Only by supporting this Bill will we be able to support the genuine asylum seekers in this country.

John Stevenson

Question

I welcome the proposed legislation, but the reality is that we need the confidence of the British people in our immigration system. To give additional confidence to local residents in Carlisle and other provincial towns and cities, will the Minister agree to an immediate moratorium on the use of hotels?

Minister reply

When someone is waiting for an asylum decision, there is a duty on the Home Office to accommodate them and provide them with appropriate support. Therefore, we have been forced to use hotel accommodation in many towns and cities across the United Kingdom. It is important that appropriate support is provided to asylum seekers to avoid destitution and homelessness.

Carol Monaghan

Question

I have the situation in my constituency where businesses are unable to recruit staff yet living upstairs are asylum seekers who are unable to work. The Home Secretary has talked about the cost to the UK of housing asylum seekers; when is she going to get realistic about this and allow people waiting for their asylum claims to be decided to access the world of work?

Minister reply

Many people, such as those who have come here under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy, the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme or the Ukrainian scheme, are able to work in this country, and many of them do. I encourage all Members to support people in those communities to find work through their local jobcentres.

Paul Bristow

Question

Does the Home Secretary agree that, despite the noise and howls from Opposition Members, we are forgetting that these measures will save lives—that people would otherwise be drowning in the channel or suffocating in the backs of lorries? Stopping the boats is the compassionate thing to do, and the only thing Labour’s open border policies would do is enrich people smugglers and risk death in the channel.

Minister reply

Fundamentally, these are humanitarian measures that we are bringing forward with precisely the goal my hon. Friend sets out. We need to stop people dying in the channel. We need to stop people being exploited by criminal gangs. We need to stop the criminality. That is why I encourage everybody to get behind the Bill.

Richard Foord Lib Dem

Honiton and Sidmouth

Question

As of September last year, the backlog of asylum applications stood at 115,000 and might include some economic migrants. The average waiting time for an initial decision is 20 months. Does the Home Secretary recognise the moral hazard here: economic migrants coming here in small boats have no incentive to guard against the risk of entering those boats, because others have been protected by her Government against the consequences of being returned when they get here, which damages the protections for genuine asylum seekers?

Minister reply

The vast majority of people arriving via small boats have chosen to make that journey of their own free will. They have paid money, and they are largely young, healthy men. There is no good reason in many instances for them to claim asylum, and they should not be abusing our asylum rules to do so.

Tom Randall

Question

On behalf of all the residents of Gedling who have raised the issue of small boats with me, may I warmly welcome the Home Secretary’s statement? Will she confirm that the forthcoming legislation will end the morally reprehensible practice whereby smugglers are a de facto part of the asylum process, and does she agree that, given the dangers of cross-channel smuggling, a robust approach is right, fair and humane?

Minister reply

One of the root causes of this problem is the proliferation of sophisticated, well co-ordinated and well-resourced criminal gangs operating across transnational boundaries on the continent. That is why we have increased resources for the National Crime Agency and increased co-operation and intelligence sharing with the French. Only by working together with our European partners will we be able to smash the business model of the people smugglers.

Jim Shannon DUP

Strangford

Question

For myself, for the Secretary of State and for many there is a need to help and protect the vulnerable. Does the Secretary of State acknowledge that with the better weather there will undoubtedly be a rise in the numbers making illegal crossings? Does she believe that we should engage further with the French authorities to facilitate legal migration in a more structured way? Will the Bill enable those who seek asylum legally to be processed efficiently, while sending the clear message that if they come here illegally, asylum will automatically be denied?

Minister reply

We institute in the Bill some procedural requirements and limitations on legal claims, and time limits for bringing those claims. The aim is to reduce attempts to thwart removal and detention, and it strikes the right balance between fairness and compassion.

Brendan Clarke-Smith

Question

On behalf of the people of Bassetlaw, I warmly welcome the Bill introduced by the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister, which we have been crying out for. The Opposition often speak of safe and legal routes, which of course we already have, but does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that what they actually mean is that they support open borders, blanket approvals and amnesties for those who want to cheat our system, cheat our constituents and cheat genuine refugees?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend puts it very well. Labour’s policy on this issue is indeed open borders. A former Labour Home Secretary did grant an amnesty to asylum seekers. It is about ensuring that illegal migration continues through the back door. That is not what the British people voted for; that is not what this Parliament will vote for.

Peter Grant

Question

It will not have escaped the Home Secretary’s notice that despite what I have no doubt have been the best efforts of her Government Whips, they have not found a single Member of Parliament from a Scottish constituency to have a single good word to say about the Bill. The fact is that Scotland’s MPs, Scotland’s Government, Scotland’s local authorities and Scotland’s people speak as one in saying that our biggest complaint about the UK asylum system is that her Government will not allow us to welcome as many refugees and asylum seekers as we want to. May I make a suggestion to the Home Secretary? Will she agree, even on a temporary pilot basis, to allow the Scottish Government to take control of our asylum system? We will see whether the best way to deal with asylum seekers is to treat them like human beings or to treat them in the way she wants to treat them.

Minister reply

All the Scottish National party can point to is a track record of failure when it comes to discharging its humanitarian duties to asylum seekers. It totally failed to support Ukrainians and had to hand over responsibility to the UK Government. It totally failed to take its fair share of refugees in comparison to other parts of the UK. It is failure, failure, failure from the SNP.

Tom Hunt Lab

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Question

Does my right hon. and learned Friend think it is fair to deduce from today’s debate that the Labour party thinks it is totally fine to turn up here illegally and stay here for as long as you want? Does she think it is fair to assume that it opposes any kind of cap on refugee numbers?

Minister reply

My hon. Friend puts it very powerfully. That is what Labour’s policy is: uncontrolled immigration, open borders, an amnesty for asylum seekers and a total disregard for what the British people want.

Patrick Grady SNP

Glasgow North

Question

How can we know if someone is a genuine asylum seeker or not, unless they are allowed to make a claim and that claim is fairly and independently assessed? When was the last time the Home Secretary actually met another human being who had come here on a small boat?

Minister reply

The reality is that we need to all work together now to find a pragmatic, compassionate and fair solution to this problem. That is why I have introduced these measures today and why I encourage all Members to support them.

Jonathan Edwards PC

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr

Question

Last week, we saw with the revised Northern Ireland protocol deal what progress can be made when we work collaboratively with our European partners. Rather than the sabre-rattling content of this statement, is not the reality that the most effective way to deal with the issue of small boats crossing the channel is to work in full collaboration with our European partners?

Minister reply

The reality is that we have developed much closer co-operation with our French partners on this very issue. That is why I am pleased that we struck a good deal with them at the end of last year. The Prime Minister is heading to Paris—I will be accompanying him—later this week to talk further with our French partners on how to tackle this issue, among many others.

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