Rishi Sunak was urged on Monday by a senior Tory to amend his flagship immigration bill to make it “humane” as well as “tough” by opening up safe and legal asylum routes at the same time as clamping down on the flow of small boats across the Channel.
Simon Hoare MP, chairman of the Commons Northern Ireland Committee, is planning to table an amendment to the deeply controversial legislation so these routes would be created “in tandem” with the other measures in the Illegal Immigration Bill.
Ahead of the second reading of the Illegal Migration Bill, Mr Hoare told the Standard: “You can be tough and humane at the same time.”
He believes if the bill includes new safe and legal routes it would be “another hammer” to break up the human trafficking gangs and stop the Government being “characterised as narrow, mealy-mouthed among a broad section of the electorate who would describe itself as small c conservative and socially liberal humanitarians”.
Ministers have also not ruled out that children who come to Britain in “small boats” will be held in detention centres, raising concerns over their treatment, including possible use of force and restraint on youngsters by immigration officers.
The bill would allow adults who arrive by “small boats” to be detained without bail or judicial review for up to 28 days, denied asylum, sent to their home country, or a third “safe” nation such as Rwanda, and banned for life from returning to Britain - even if they have compelling asylum claims.
Children would not be deported until they reach the age of 18.
Priti Patel previously stressed as Home Secretary when she introduced the New Plan for Immigration in March 2021 that any new system needed to be “fair but firm”.
Former Cabinet ministers David Davis and Sir Robert Buckland have raised concerns about the bill, as has Caroline Nokes, chair of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee.
The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment opposing the bill and accusing the Government of “criminalising” aslyum seekers.
Labour is also against it, arguing it will fail to tackle the criminal gangs running the small boats.
Mr Sunak, though, has rejected the criticisms, insisting his plan is “tough but fair” as he seeks to deal with the crisis which saw more than 45,000 people detected last year arriving by small boats in the UK.
He stressed recently: “I believe it is the compassionate and right thing to do.”
However, the Government’s own lawyers have refused to clear the bill as compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ministers were also accused by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey of “playing fast and loose with Parliament” over doing the committee and later stages of the bill in the Commons in just three days.
Hannah White, director of the Institute for Government, added: “Rushing through a bill with such deeply controversial measures which even the Government admits may be in breach of international law unnecessarily limits Parliament’s ability to do its job.”
But a Government source responded: “This Bill is a priority. It is wholly untrue to say that we are not giving it proper scrutiny.“
