CROSS ABOUT THAT
Priti Patel to introduce new laws to crack down on illegal migrants crossing the Channel
PRITI Patel’s sweeping plans to tackle illegal immigration have been included in the Queen’s Speech.
The Home Secretary will introduce the tough new measures to crack down on migrants crossing the Channel, while also making it easier to boot out foreign criminals from Britain.
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She will also take on leftie lawyers who battle the government and try and stop the deportations with last ditch appeals.
And illegal immigrants and asylum seekers will no longer be housed in luxury hotels, but instead processed in new immigration facilities.
The measures were included in the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament today.
But she will also ensure fair and legal measures are brought in to help genuine refugees start a new life in the UK in the New Plan of Immigration Legislation.
Her Majesty said: “Measures will be brought forward to establish a fairer immigration system that strengthens the United Kingdom’s borders and deters criminals who facilitate dangerous and illegal journeys.”
Other plans today also confirmed:
- A new online harms bill to keep kids safe online and slam Facebook and Google if they break the rules
- Extra cash for the army
- Fresh plans for a post-Covid crackdown on obesity
- Extra help to buy homes with a planning bill to rip up red tape and ground rents to be banned for new homes
- Lifetime deposits for renters moving home
- Protecting animals' feelings in law - with proposals to force cats to get microchipped and new legislation to meet eco goals
- Ripping up the Fixed Term Parliaments Act so the PM of the day can call an election when they want
- Fresh plans for voters to take ID to the polls in future
- Levelling up and extra skills for the North - with new plans for lifetime loans
- A new NHS bill to reform and update the health system
- Immigration laws to stop people crossing the channel in small boats
- New measures to crack down on foreign spies
It comes as 2,613 people have already crossed the Channel this year according to analysis by The Times.
The total is already more than a quarter of the 8,420 who arrived in the whole of 2020.
Ms Patel unveiled her plans earlier this year where she told MPs: “Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not the ability to pay people smugglers.
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“If you enter illegally from a safe country like France where you should and could have claimed asylum, you are not seeking refuge from persecution – as is the intended purpose of the asylum system.
“Instead, you are choosing the UK as your preferred destination and you are doing so at the expense of those with nowhere else to go.”
The Home Secretary previously told MPs that 87 per cent of arrivals last year were men, with 74 per cent aged between 18-39.
She added: “We should ask ourselves, where are the vulnerable women and children that this system should exist to protect?”
Back in March the proposed border shake-up was set out in a 60 page dossier called a “New Plan for Immigration” and it revealed the bill for processing asylum claims will rise to £1.3bn this year.
The British Red Cross said they had "concerns" over the proposals.
Mike Adamson, Chief Executive, British Red Cross: "The New Plan for Immigration is an opportunity to create a fair, effective and compassionate approach to asylum that saves lives. The UK must play its part globally by introducing more safe routes for people fleeing war, persecution and violence who are in need of safety, that go beyond the current plans.
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"We are concerned the proposals we’ve heard so far effectively create an unfair two-tier system, whereby someone’s case and the support they receive is judged on how they entered the country, rather than the danger they face.
"Decisions made during the Bill process will have life-changing consequences for the women, men and children who need protection from this country. The Government must listen to their voices and understand their concerns."
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