One of the most basic duties of government is to protect our borders. To control who comes into the country, and to ensure those with no right to be here are removed. Without border control, pretty soon a country will lose both its identity and its security. Today, we face a borders crisis. Illegal immigrants are crossing the channel at will, in ever larger boats. Over two thousand illegal immigrants have entered in the last eight days alone, and over 33,000 this year so far – the worst in history.
I visited an illegal migrant camp in Dunkirk in August. It was run by Kurdish and Albanian people smugglers. A man pulled out a machete on us, and we were pelted with bottles and stones. By now, many of those people will be living in a hotel near you, paid for with your taxes. The annual cost of the asylum system is now £4.5 billon, and the last 12 months have seen the highest number of asylum claims on record. The Labour government has lost control of our borders.
Around 20,000 serious foreign criminals – including murderers and rapists – are wandering around our streets following release from prison. They should have been returned to their home country. But asylum, modern slavery and human rights claims mean they get to stay here. Many re-offend, putting British citizens at daily risk.
So we need a strong plan to fix this mayhem and restore control of our borders.
The first step is to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, or ECHR. This is now the Conservative’s policy. It is not a step we take lightly, but a step we must take to secure our borders. It follows probably the most detailed ever legal analysis of the ECHR’s impact by one the UK’s most eminent barristers, Lord Wolfson KC.
The ECHR started with noble aims in the aftermath of the second world war. But the meaning of its vaguely worded articles has been stretched by the courts far beyond what the framers intended.
For example, a Ugandan murderer was allowed to stay because the health service there isn’t as good as here. A Zimbabwean paedophile was allowed stay in the UK because he might face some hostility back home. No mention was made of the human rights of children here to be protected. An Iraqi drug dealer was allowed to stay because he was, the court found, too westernised to go back to Iraq. The litany of absurd cases goes on and on.
But leaving the ECHR is just the first step. On its own, it isn’t enough to fix the border crisis.
So we will also ban asylum claims for all illegal immigrants, including small boat arrivals. We will make sure that they are immediately deported – either to their home country if possible or to a safe third country if not. All foreign criminals – not just some – must also be deported.
It’s also time to end the endless merry-go-round of vexatious legal claims. Claims are often made at the last minute, based on coaching by immigration lawyers. Some migrants make repeated, often contradictory, claims over many years. Some Judges in the Immigration Tribunal used to be open border activists. They now hand down decisions which defy common sense to allow dangerous foreign criminals to stay here.
This all has to end. So we will abolish the immigration tribunal, and decisions will just be taken in the Home Office. We will end almost all judicial review of immigration decisions and we will abolish legal aid for immigration cases. Radical steps, but necessary.
We also need a new Removals Force in the Home Office. With a £1.6 billion budget – double the current one – and without the legal impediments, they will deport 150,000 people a year who have no right to be here.
Lord Wolfson’s 200 page ECHR report and the plan we publish today are the most detailed and strongest set of measures ever proposed to end illegal migration.
The Labour government is too weak to do what is needed. Nigel Farage’s Reform haven’t bothered to do the detailed work – they just have slogans sketched on the back of a fag packet in a pub.
Our plan is radical, serious and well-thought out. It’s the only game in town – and our country’s future depends on it.