Summary

  • PM Rishi Sunak has given a media briefing on a new law aimed at stopping people crossing the Channel on small boats

  • He said "if you come here illegally, you can't claim asylum or stay in the UK", adding "we have tried every other way, it has not worked"

  • The new law places a duty on the home secretary to detain and remove those arriving in the UK illegally

  • Suella Braverman earlier told MPs she was "confident" the bill is compatible with international law

  • Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper says the bill isn't a solution and lets people smugglers "off the hook"

  • The Refugee Council says it breaks the UK's commitment to give people a fair hearing, regardless of how they arrive, under the UN Human Rights Convention

  • More than 45,000 people entered the UK via Channel crossings last year, up from about 300 in 2018

  1. Postpublished at 12:55 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    "What happens when people leave 28-day detention?" Yvette Cooper asks.

    "Will she put them into indefinite tax payer-funded accommodation?", Cooper adds.

    Cooper continues by asking "what does it mean for the promises we made to the Afghan interpreters who served our country but were too late to make the last flight out of Kabul as the tyranny was closing in on them?"

  2. Braverman's statement is 'groundhog day' - Yvette Cooperpublished at 12:55 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    “We need serious action to stop dangerous boat crossings, which are putting lives at risk and undermining border security,” says Yvette Cooper.

    “Instead, today’s statement is groundhog day," says adds.

    She says the previous home secretary made similar pledges and asks what is different about this bill.

    She says 18,000 migrants were considered inadmissible to the UK last year but "just a few" returned.

  3. Yvette Cooper responds to home secretary's statementpublished at 12:53 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Yvette Cooper

    Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper now takes to the despatch box.

    She says the government has allowed criminal gangs to take hold, and the backlog has "soared".

    She adds the system is "broken".

  4. Braverman ends her statementpublished at 12:53 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Concluding her statement, Braverman tells MPs the government must act with determination, compassion, and with proportion.

    "Make no mistake. This Conservative government, this Conservative prime minister will act now to stop the boats," she says, to a round of cheers.

  5. Postpublished at 12:51 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Braverman says the country has been "taken for a ride".

    She says the British people are a "fair and patient people", but their "sense of fair play has been tested beyond its limits".

    "Their patience has run out," she adds.

    "The law-abiding patriotic majority have said: Enough is enough. This cannot and will not continue."

    "Their government - this government – must act decisively," she adds.

  6. Postpublished at 12:50 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Suella Braverman says that the Illegal Migration Bill will introduce an annual cap on the number of refugees the UK will resettle via “safe and legal routes”.

    This cap will be determined by Parliament.

    “This will ensure an orderly system, considering Local Authority capacity for housing, public services, and support,” she adds.

  7. Postpublished at 12:50 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    She describes the UK's approach as "robust and novel" and says other countries who share the same problem understand Britain's position.

    "I am confident that this bill is compatible with international law," she adds.

  8. Controlling borders can't be 'held back by opaque process' - Bravermanpublished at 12:49 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Suella Braverman

    Braverman says the government's ability to control the borders cannot be "held back by an opaque process, conducted late at night, with no chance to make our case or even appeal decisions".

    She says they have initiated discussions in Strasbourg to ensure their blocking orders "meet a basic natural justice standard - one that prevents abuse of Rule 39 to thwart removal".

  9. Postpublished at 12:49 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    The home secretary goes on to add: "Mr Speaker, I won’t address the bill’s full legal complexities today."

    "Some of the nation’s finest legal minds have been – and continue to be - involved in its development."

    "But I must say, the Rule 39 process that enabled the Strasbourg court to block at the last minute, flights to Rwanda, after our courts had refused injunctions, was deeply flawed."

  10. Postpublished at 12:48 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Braverman says modern slavery laws are being "abused" to block the removal of migrants.

    "That's why this bill disqualifies illegal entrants from using modern slavery rules to prevent removal," she says.

  11. Postpublished at 12:48 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Braverman gives more details about those who will be able to delay being removed from the UK.

    Only those under 18, medically unfit to fly, or at real risk of serious and irreversible harm will be able to do so, which has been described as an “exceedingly high bar”.

    Any other claims will be heard remotely, after removal.

  12. Bill allows detention of illegal arrivals without bail or judicial review - Bravermanpublished at 12:47 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Suella Braverman

    The home secretary says the bill allows the detention of illegal arrivals without bail or judicial review within the first 28 days of detention, until they can be removed.

    She says it will radically narrow the number of challenges and appeals that can suspend removal.

  13. Postpublished at 12:47 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Braverman tells MPs migrants will not stop coming to the UK "until the world knows, that if you enter Britain illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed".

    She says they would be removed back to their home country "if it’s safe, or to a safe third country like Rwanda".

    "That is how we will stop the boats," she adds.

  14. Postpublished at 12:46 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Braverman continues: "But, let’s be honest: it’s not enough."

    "In the face of today’s global migration crisis, yesterday’s laws are simply not fit for purpose. So to anyone proposing de facto open borders through unlimited safe and legal routes as the alternative, let’s be honest."

    "By some counts there are 100 million people around the world who could qualify for protection under our current laws."

    "And let’s be clear: They are coming here."

    "We’ve seen a 500% increase in small boat crossings in two years."

  15. Postpublished at 12:45 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Braverman references what action the government has taken, including: a new Small Boats Operational Command with over 700 new staff, doubling NCA funding to tackle smuggling gangs, increasing enforcement raids by 50%, signing a deal with Albania, and procuring accommodation.

  16. Postpublished at 12:45 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Suella Braverman says the government “has not sat on its hands” over the issue of illegal migration.

    She adds that since Rishi Sunak took office, a new deal has been agreed with France “providing more technology and embedding British officers with French patrols.”

    “I hope Friday’s Anglo-French summit will further deepen co-operation.”

  17. Need for reform 'obvious and urgent' - Bravermanpublished at 12:44 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    The home secretary goes on to say migrants cost the British taxpayer about £6m a day to accommodate on arrival.

    She says: "The risk remains that these individuals just disappear. And when we try to remove them, they turn our generous asylum laws against us to prevent removal.

    "The need for reform is obvious and urgent."

  18. Postpublished at 12:43 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Braverman says many migrants came from multiple safe countries "in which they could and should have claimed asylum".

    Many came from Albania and from France.

    She says the vast majority – 74% in 2021 – were adult males under the age of 40, who were "rich enough to pay criminal gangs thousands of pounds for passage".

  19. Postpublished at 12:42 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    "Since 2018, some 85,000 people illegally entered the UK by small boat - 45,000 of them in 2022 alone," Braverman says.

    "All travelled through multiple safe countries in which they could and should have claimed asylum," she adds.

  20. Illegal migration 'already unsustainable' - Bravermanpublished at 12:41 Greenwich Mean Time 7 March 2023

    Suella Braverman

    Braverman says the small boats problem is part of a larger global migration crisis.

    “In the coming years, developed countries will face unprecedented levels, with pressures from ever greater numbers of people leaving the developing world for places like the United Kingdom,” she says.

    She says illegal migration is "already unsustainable" and the asylum backlog has "ballooned" to more than 160,000.

    “Unless we act today, the problem will be worse tomorrow.”