Election 2024: James Cleverly is re-elected in Braintree
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Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have “taken the people smugglers’ side” by making the UK more attractive to migrants, James Cleverly has warned.
The Shadow Home Secretary said the new Prime Minister had erected a “huge ‘open’ sign on the white cliffs of Dover” after axing the Rwanda deportation scheme and allowing Channel migrants to claim asylum.
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Mr Cleverly declared that the Labour Government is “too scared to be tough on migration”.
He told the Daily Express: "Labour granted an amnesty in 2003, and now they're teeing up to do it again. The people smugglers will be rubbing their hands with glee.
More than 13,500 migrants have crossed the Channel this year (Image: Getty)
Ministers have been warned a record number of migrants could cross the Channel this year (Image: Getty)
"It took Labour less than five days to abolish the Rwanda deterrent and allow 100,000 illegal migrants to apply for asylum - all of whom were excluded under the Conservatives.
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"They have rapidly made the UK the top destination for illegal migrants by hanging a huge 'open' sign on the white cliffs of Dover. Too scared to be tough on migration, Starmer and Cooper have taken the people smugglers' side."
The vast majority of those who have arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel will be processed through the asylum system.
Asked if those arriving by small boats would now have the right to claim asylum, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We need to ensure that people who arrive here are processed so that people are not sitting in the system, housed in expensive taxpayer-funded hotels as they have been under previous administrations.”
Former home secretary Priti Patel told the Daily Express: “Within days of coming to power Labour have already opened up our borders, defying the wishes of the British people.
“This reckless decision has given those who make dangerous and illegal crossings the hope and opportunity to stay in the UK and the chance to jump the queue over those who have come through safe legal routes.
“The evil criminal gangs we have spent years fighting have now been given a licence to print money and put more lives at risk by Labour.
“Having opposed the tough measures we put in place to secure our borders, scrapped the deterrent from our Rwanda partnership, voted against life sentences for people smugglers and campaigned against deporting foreign national offenders, it's clear that Labour cannot be trusted to keep our country safe and our borders secure.”
Smugglers are bragging to migrants waiting in France that they will not be sent to Rwanda now that Sir Keir is in Downing Street.
A suspected criminal boasted on his TikTok page that he can get people across the country and even offered to drop the price to ￡1,000 per person if two people joined.
Almost 36,000 migrants are currently living in hotels, costing taxpayers ￡5.3million per day.
Home Secretary Ms Cooper has pledged to end hotel use within a year and to “start saving money straight away”.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who is widely expected to run to be the next Tory leader, warned: “Keir Starmer has essentially surrendered to the people smuggling gangs.
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“He has said it is open season now to come to the UK - we have no deterrent, we have no way of removing you. And I confidently predict, and I don’t do this with any pleasure, that this summer we will see a huge number – a record number – of small boat arrivals and it will be because of the intervention, the first thing that this incoming Labour Government has done is to scrap our deterrent.”
“And the policy they’ve announced is hopelessly na？ve”.
But a Labour source told the Daily Express blasted Mr Jenrick, declaring: “The gall of this former immigration minister is truly unbelievable.
“He led on the expensive gimmick of Rwanda and then resigned to fuel his own leadership ambitions. He clearly just wants to be the next Tory leader and is saying anything just to grab votes.”
Sir Keir declared the Rwanda deportation scheme “dead and buried before it started”, insisting it had “never been a deterrent” to those hoping to cross the Channel.
But the UK is not going to receive a penny back from Kigali, it emerged on Tuesday.
Dr Doris Uwicyeza Picard, from the Rwandan ministry of justice, said the east African nation is under “no obligation to provide any refund” after ramping up capacity to accommodate “thousands of migrants”.
The UK has given Rwanda around ￡270million but no migrant has been ordered onto a deportation flight.
Dr Picard, in a thinly veiled barb aimed at Sir Keir, said: “Rwanda has maintained its side of the agreement and we have ramped up capacity to accommodate thousands of migrants and asylum seekers. We have upheld our end of the deal.
“We have put a lot of effort and resources to accommodate those migrants.
“We understand that changes in government happen and incoming governments have different priorities and different policies. However, this was a state-to-state agreement and we believe this good faith will remain.”
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Sir Keir is also being urged, by hundreds of refugee and human rights organisations, to reduce restrictions on the asylum system.
Signatories include the Refugee Council, Refugee Action, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and branches of Citizens Advice.
Their key demands include:
Restore the right to seek asylum in the UK in line with international law, by repealing the Illegal Migration Act and the Nationality and Borders Act. Open safe routes for people seeking asylum to reach the UK so that people are not forced to risk their lives in the Channel, including providing visa routes, enabling families to reunite safely, and rebuilding refugee resettlement. House people seeking asylum in communities, not camps, and close down all institutional accommodation including barracks, barges, hotels and hostels, which cause unnecessary lasting harm at an eye-watering cost to the taxpayer.
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