Channel Crossings in Small Boats
Debate between Jonathan Edwards and Priti Patel(3 years ago)
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Priti Patel
I thank my hon. Friend. First, I think Labour Members have made their position clear, not just on legal migration but on illegal migration, with their resistance to everything we have done on a points-based system, ending free movement and, obviously, our plans now to reform a broken asylum system and tackle illegal migration. The Bill is an important piece of legislation. We want to make it harder for the criminal gangs behind these crossings; we want to make the UK less attractive and viable for illegal migration, which really is crucial; and importantly—this is something that the Labour party has not been supportive of either—we want to remove those individuals with no legal right to be here, and we will do that through our legislation.
Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (Ind)
In response to the British Government’s policy, the Albanian Government have said that Albania
“will never be a hub of anti-immigration policies of bigger and richer countries.”
Which other territories are the British Government considering for their immoral offshore migrant centres?
Priti Patel
I am not going to provide any commentary at all in terms of other countries that we are negotiating with. It is for the Government to go away and do this work, which we are doing, and not to start speculating and creating false expectations around much of this work.