Illegal Immigrants: Offshore Detention and Deportation
Debate between Rupert Lowe and Mike Tapp(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Mike Tapp
I thank the right hon. Member for her passionate intervention. We took on her Government’s open borders. Over the last year, we have seen a reduction of around 41% in small boat crossings. It is not something that we celebrate, because we know that we are only seven months into the year, but we are working hard with our international partners. I have already given the stats on the number of disruptions.
I will move on to the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe), who I know has been a voice behind this petition in the media and on social media. I have never referred to anybody who cares about this topic as on the mad fringe or as a racist. It is about people’s own perceptions; it is for them to decide whether they are racist or mad-fringe. Having these concerns is absolutely valid, in general, but I very much agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool that we must mind our rhetoric, because the public do listen to what we say in this place.
I have not eaten much today, and the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth talked about some fine-sounding snacks being delivered by Deliveroo. He is absolutely right that we must crack down on that issue, and we are making efforts to do that. Arrests are up about 81% on illegal working, but that is by no means finished, and we will continue to work hard on it.
I have talked about the ECHR already. The hon. Gentleman has produced a large book; he did say that he would not go into detail, but maybe there is some in there. I respect that sort of work going into policy development, but as I say, we have to make sure that we maintain our British values throughout.
Rupert Lowe
I think the British public have had enough of Labour blaming the Tories and the Tories blaming Labour. Meanwhile, this national emergency continues to get worse. Does the Minister accept the fact that just playing “he said, she said” is not good enough? We need to change that attitude.