Small boats crisis latest: Labour MPs will be instructed to vote against Illegal Migration Bill

Rishi Sunak's Downing St press conference is due to begin shortly, where he will answer questions about the new government bill aimed at putting a stop to illegal migration over the Channel.

Reporters at the scene say a new podium has appeared in the room, with the slogan "stop the boats" printed on it.

“My policy is very simple. It is this country, and your government, who should decide who comes here. Not criminal gangs”

Those illegally crossing the channel were not directly fleeing a war-torn country, persecution, or an immediate threat to life, Sunak said. 

“They have travelled through safe European countries. They are paying people smugglers huge sums to make this dangerous and sometimes tragic journey.”

Sunak said the reason criminal gangs continued to bring small boats to the UK was because “they know our system can be exploited”.

Sunak claimed that once here, illegal migrants could make any number of “spurious” human rights claims to frustrate their removal.

If they knew they could no longer do that, “the boats will stop”, the Prime Minister said.

“That is why today we’re introducing legislation to make clear that if you come here illegally, you can’t claim asylum. You can’t benefit from our modern slavery protections… and you can’t stay.”

People would be detained and removed from the country within weeks, he said, and they would then be banned from ever returning - just like they would in the US or Australia.

“This is how we will break the business model of the people smugglers. This is how we will take back our borders.”

Rishi Sunak confirmed that the legislation would apply retrospectively, affecting everyone arriving in the UK illegally from Tuesday.

Sunak said the UK would be “constrained” in its ability to take in refugees if he cannot reduce unauthorised crossings of the Channel.

He told his Downing Street press conference: “If we can’t stop the boats our ability to help genuine refugees in future will be constrained. Full control of our borders will allow us to decide who to help, and to provide safe and legal routes to those most in need.

“I understand there will be debate about the toughness of these measures. All I can say is we’ve tried it every other way and it has not worked.”

Asked if he would have failed if he had not “stopped the boats” by the next general election, Rishi Sunak said: “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t think that I could deliver on this promise.”

One reporter asked whether the new bill was in line with Britain’s traditions of compassion. Sunak answered: “What is not compassionate is to allow the current situation to persist.

“There is nothing compassionate about allowing vulnerable people to perish in the Channel. People being exploited by criminal gangs and smugglers.

“I want to move to a system where we break that cycle, we deter people from coming here illegally, jumping the queue, and actually, we as a country can then make sure that we decide who we bring here, how many and make sure we target that compassion, generosity and support on the world’s truly vulnerable.”

On potentially coming into conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights - which has previously grounded a flight of asylum seekers bound for Rwanda - Sunak said they were “up for the fight” against any legal challenges to his plans to tackle Channel crossings.

“Of course we’re up for the fight, I wouldn’t be standing here if we weren’t. But we’re confident that we’ll win.”

He said there is “absolutely nothing improper or unprecedented” about pursuing Bills with a warning that they may not be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

“We believe we are acting in compliance with international law, in compliance with the ECHR, and if challenged, as you may well be right, we’ve seen in these matters we do get challenged, we will fight that hard because we believe we’re doing the right thing and it is compliant with our obligations,” he added.

The United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, says it is “profoundly concerned” by the Illegal Migration Bill.

“The legislation, if passed, would amount to an asylum ban – extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the United Kingdom for those who arrive irregularly, no matter how genuine and compelling their claim may be, and with no consideration of their individual circumstances,” the UNHCR said in a statement.

“Most people fleeing war and persecution are simply unable to access the required passports and visas…This would be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention and would undermine a longstanding humanitarian tradition of which the British people are rightly proud.”

Suella Braverman has done her first broadcast round since she became Home Secretary last year, following yesterday's announcement of the Illegal Migration Bill. She has insisted it did not break the law despite admitting there is a more than 50% chance the legislation may not be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

She told Sky News: “We’re not breaking the law and no government representative has said that we’re breaking the law.

“In fact, we’ve made it very clear that we believe we’re in compliance with all of our international obligations, for example the Refugee Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights, other conventions to which we are subject.

“What’s important is that we do need to take compassionate, but necessary and fair, measures now because there are people who are dying to try and get here.

“They are breaking our laws, they are abusing the generosity of the British people and we now need to ensure that they are deterred from doing that.”

The United Nations’ refugee agency has urged MPs and peers to block Rishi Sunak’s “profoundly” concerning plan to tackle small boat crossings.

The UNHCR said the Illegal Migration Bill amounted to an “asylum ban” which would prevent people fleeing war and persecution from seeking refuge in the UK.

“We urge the government, and all MPs and peers, to reconsider the Bill and instead pursue more humane and practical policy solutions,” the agency said.

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker differs from many BBC hosts in that he tends to say exactly what he thinks on social media, and his latest tweets have landed him in a spot of bother.

He compared the illegal immigration plans to "Nazi Germany" - which has predictably caused fury among Tory MPs.

The BBC says it intends to "speak to him" about the matter.

Prime Minister's Question Time has kicked off in the House of Commons.

Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer is the first to query Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the new Illegal Migration Bill. Starmer said in the last decade, the Conservatives have introduced five plans to tackle illegal immigration, and none had worked.

“The problem just gets worse with every new gimmick. The Home Secretary says the public are sick of tough talk and inadequate action.” He asked Sunak: “Does he agree with her assessment of this Government’s record?”

Sunak said Starmer failed to recognise that this was a global migration problem. “We are not alone in facing these challenges,” he said. The party had brought forward these new plans precisely because the problem was escalating so much across Europe, he said.

What they hadn’t heard, Sunak said, was Labour’s plan for tackling the crisis. “We know what it is, it’s open door immigration and unlimited asylum. Whilst he may be on the side of the people smugglers, we’re on the side of the British people.”

Starmer questioned whether the Tories were really dedicated to fixing the problem.“If he was serious about stopping the boats, he’d actually steal our plan on stopping the boats, smash the gangs, sort out the returns and clean up the utter mess.”

He asked: “Nobody on this side of the House wants open borders. On that side they’ve lost control of the border. He’s promised the country that this Bill will stop all small boat crossings, no ifs, no buts. Sounds like more talk – so, in the interest of adequate action, when will he achieve that?”

Sunak would not be drawn on when he would stop small boat crossings, but said his plan would be implemented as soon as it passed through Parliament. “So, I look forward to the honourable gentleman’s support. The reality is on this issue, [Starmer] has been on the wrong side… his entire career.

He continued: “He described all immigration law as racist. He said it was a mistake to control immigration. And he has never, ever voted for tougher asylum laws.”

The Labour leader slammed Sunak’s plans as nothing new, and says they have been tried before - and failed. “I voted against his legislation last time because I said it wouldn’t work, since it became law the numbers have gone up, he’s proved me right.

"The Prime Minister says they will detain people who aren’t eligible to claim asylum here and then return them. Well, they already tried that under the last legislation.” 

Starmer said in 2022, 18,000 people were deemed ineligible to apply for asylum, and asked Sunak how many of them had actually been returned.

Rishi Sunak replied: “As a result of the plans we’ve brought forward we have almost doubled the number of people returned this year… precisely because of the law that the Conservative government passed last year they have now been able to arrest more than double the number of people they did before, 397 in the last six months.”

The Prime Minister said Starmer wanted to scrap the Rwanda deal, and “even argued against deportation flights''. He accused his opponent of being “just another leftie lawyer standing in our way.”

The Labour leader claimed the actual number of the 18,000 people deemed ineligible for asylum last year returned was just 21. “What happens to the rest? They sit in hotels and digs for months on end at the taxpayers’ expense.”

Sunak had promised to end the “hotel farce”, Starmer said. “That’s the talk, but because of his mess there are thousands of people who can’t claim asylum and can’t be returned, so where does he actually think they’re going to end up?”

The Prime Minister answered: “We’ve actually got a clear plan to stop people coming here in the first place. Labour have absolutely no plan on this issue because they simply don’t want to tackle the problem.

“We introduced tougher sentences for people smugglers, they opposed it, we signed a deal with Rwanda, they opposed it, we are deporting foreign offenders as we speak, they oppose it… In fact, he opposed every single step of what we’ve done to try and stop this problem.”

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn asked: “On International Women’s Day, can I ask the Prime Minister to reconfirm that under his proposed new asylum laws women who are sex-trafficked to the UK on a small boat by a criminal gang will not be afforded protection under our modern slavery laws?”

Sunak replied: “It’s precisely because we want to target our resources and our compassion on the world’s most vulnerable people that we need to get a grip of this system, make sure that we have control over our borders, make sure our system and resources are not overwhelmed, so that we can help the people most in need.”

Flynn said he would “take that as a yes” that women who were victims of sex trafficking would not be protected under modern slavery laws. “What a complete and utter disgrace.”

Sunak echoed the sentiment when asked about Olympic gold medallist Sir Mo Farrah, who last year revealed he had been trafficked to the UK as a child.

Labour MP Imran Hussain asked whether under the new “dystopian, far-right appeasing, anti-refugee Bill”, others who were trafficked to the UK would still face deportation. “Can the Prime Minister therefore clear up whether Sir Mo Farah… would have been removed under this Bill?”

Sunak replied: “It is precisely because we do want to help the world’s most vulnerable people that we’ve got to stop our system being exploited and overwhelmed by illegal migrants who are being trafficked here by criminal gangs.

“There is nothing compassionate, there is nothing fair, about supporting that system continuing, and that’s why our new laws are the right way to deal with this.”

Gary Lineker’s criticism of new asylum policy was “not acceptable” and “disappointing”, Downing Street has said.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters: “It’s obviously disappointing to see someone whose salary is funded by hard-working British (licence-fee) payers using that kind of rhetoric and seemingly dismissing their legitimate concerns that they have about small boats crossings and illegal migration.

“But beyond that, it’s up to the BBC, who I think have said today that they’ll be having a conversation with Gary Lineker and it’s not for me to comment further.”

She was not aware of plans to make a formal complaint to the BBC, saying it was a matter for the broadcaster.