After leading a sustained campaign on behalf of his constituents to tackle illegal immigration, Ben Bradley MP has welcomed today’s announcement of new tougher measures from the Prime Minister.
The announcement was made during a statement by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons this afternoon. These announcements come after Ben was invited for a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the issue of channel crossings and illegal immigration this morning.
Over 40,000 people have illegally crossed the Channel in small boats this year, putting pressure on local public services. Many originate from safe countries and travel through safe countries. That is unfair on those who come here legally, unfair on those who have a genuine asylum claim – and unfair on the British people who play by the rules.
Ben has consistently raised the issue of small boat crossings and illegal immigration with the government, including during a question to the Home Secretary on asylum accommodation and the impact this is having on local public services.
A key part of this announcement is a new deal with Albania that will significantly accelerate the removals process of Albanian claimants. Furthermore, this deal will see weekly removal flights established between Albania and the UK until the asylum backlog is cleared.
The Prime Minister also announced new measures on asylum accommodation where people will be moved out of expensive hotels and into cheaper accommodation that is suitable for those applicants while not over burdening the British taxpayer. Other measures include 700 new Border Force officers and a doubling of asylum caseworkers to ensure a speedy application process.
It was also announced that, in the new year, legislation will be brought forward to ensure that if you arrive to the UK illegally, you are not able to remain. This includes having their asylum claim automatically rejected unless there is a very exceptional circumstance.
Ben was quoted as saying:
‘I know that the issue of channel crossings and illegal immigration is one of the top priorities for people in Mansfield and I have been raising this almost non-stop with government. Only this morning, I was in Downing Street with the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to highlight my constituent’s strength of feeling on this. It was promising to hear them both on the same page and working together.
“I am pleased to see the announcements laid out today which help speed up removals of failed asylum seekers and get people out of hotels that the British taxpayer is paying for.’
‘The key part of this announcement for me is the removals deal with Albania. We saw today that about a third of those arriving via the channel are from Albania, a safe, European country. I completely agree with the Prime Minister that it makes no sense for us to be granting asylum to these people, particularly when Germany, France, Belgium and Sweden rejected nearly 100% of asylum claims from Albania. These weekly flights will significantly increase the rate at which we clear the backlog of asylum seekers and vastly improve the speed of removals back to Albania.’
‘New legislation to tackle the issue of illegal immigration in the long run is also welcome. Illegal immigration is not only unfair to the British taxpayer and breaking our laws, but it is also incredibly unfair to those migrants who do the right thing and go through the right processes to reach our country. I was really pleased to hear that new legislation will be coming to enshrine this principle in law and I look forward to seeing the drafts in the new year.
‘Constituents know my views on this subject and I have been clear the situation in the channel is frankly unacceptable. I look forward to seeing these measures in action, seeing that first removal flight take off and the new legislation that will further strengthen our border protections coming to Parliament. I will also continue to pressure the government to ensure the measures announced today do make a tangible difference to ending the channel crossings.’
