Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has sought legal advice on the compatibility of making it illegal for people who claim asylum in Britain after arrival by a small boat, with the UK being party to the 1951 Convention on Refugees.

As my Rt Hon friend the Prime Minister set out in his oral statement on 13 December 2023 (Official Report, column 885-888), the Government will bring forward legislation to make it unambiguously clear that, if you enter the UK illegally, you should not be able to remain here. Instead, you will be detained and promptly returned either to your home country or to a safe country where your asylum claim will be considered.

In the normal way, in preparing the legislation we are seeking legal advice on a variety of issues.