Closing summary
Here is a round-up of the day’s headlines from Westminster:
Rishi Sunak said migrants arriving in the UK illegally will be removed “within weeks” as the government unveiled plans for fresh laws to curb Channel crossings. The prime minister also confirmed the Illegal Migration Bill – to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means – will apply “retrospectively” if passed. Unveiling the plans in the Commons earlier, home secretary Suella Braverman said asylum seekers arriving illegally will be detained and face a lifetime ban on returning after they are removed.
Sunak, who visited Dover in Kent earlier in the day to mark the announcement, said the laws will make it “clear that if you come here illegally, you can’t claim asylum”. He added: “You can’t benefit from our modern slavery protection, you can’t make serious human rights claims and you can’t stay. We will detain those who come here illegally and then remove them in weeks, either to their own country if it is safe to do so or to a safe third country like Rwanda.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the government has promised to address this problem before. But it has failed, she said, and crossings are at a record level. Convictions of smugglers have halved, and the backlog of asylum applications has grown. The system is in chaos, she added. She said Labour has a serious plan to get the National Crime Agency to stop the people smugglers and to speed up the processing of asylum applications.
The UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it is “profoundly concerned” by the Bill and that, if passed, it will amount to an “asylum ban”, making it a “clear breach of the Refugee Convention”. It said in a statement: “The legislation, if passed, would amount to an asylum ban – extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the United Kingdom for those who arrive irregularly, no matter how genuine and compelling their claim may be, and with no consideration of their individual circumstances.”
The former home secretary Jack Straw believes there is a “very grave risk” that the government’s small boats policy could break the UN convention on human rights. The former Labour politician also told The News Agents podcast that it is “likely” that the European court of human rights will act against the government on the policy.
Sir Graham Brady, whose role as chair of the Conservative party’s 1922 Committee saw him usher three prime ministers out of Downing Street in four years, is to step down as an MP at the next election. Arguably the most powerful backbencher of his political generation, Brady released a statement to his local newspaper saying it was time to “bring this fascinating and fulfilling chapter of my life to a close”.
Europe minister Leo Docherty has told a Lords committee the government is considering expanding the Turing programme, the UK’s post-Brexit overseas study scheme. Asked if the government would consider linking up with Erasmus Plus, the EU scheme which the UK left when Brexit came into force told the House of Lords European affairs committee, Docherty told peers that the government that it was among the moves that was “under consideration”.
Mike Gapes, the former Labour MP who quit the party over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership to set up Change UK with a few colleagues, has announced that his is rejoining the party. In an article for the Times, he says: “Leaving Labour was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. So, I am not coming back lightly. But I know in my heart and in my head that this is the right decision. The country can once again trust and believe in the Labour party.”
Thanks for following along today. The UK politics live blog will be back tomorrow. Goodbye for now.
Rishi Sunak’s government has been accused of “extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the UK” by the United Nations refugee agency after the introduction of a contentious new law to stop small boats from crossing the Channel.
After Suella Braverman was forced to admit that the illegal migration bill was “more than 50%” likely to break human rights laws, the UNHCR said it was “profoundly concerned” by the bill’s provisions, which give the government the right to criminalise, detain and deport asylum seekers, saying it would be a “clear breach of the refugee convention”.
