London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, May 11, 2025

Sunak says he is up for the fight on illegal Channel crossings

Sunak says he is up for the fight on illegal Channel crossings

Rishi Sunak has said he is "up for the fight" to bring in new legislation to prevent migrants crossing the Channel on small boats to reach the UK.

The prime minister said he was confident the government would win any legal battles over the "tough, but necessary and fair" measures.

Earlier his home secretary, Suella Braverman, announced the bill during a divisive debate in Parliament.

Labour said the Tories' latest plans were like "groundhog day" and a "con".

It is not just opposition MPs who have criticised the plans. The UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the proposed legislation amounted to an "asylum ban".

Standing behind a lectern emblazoned with the slogan "stop the boats", Mr Sunak confirmed the planned new law, which will see illegal migrants deported "within weeks", would apply retrospectively to everyone arriving in the UK illegally from Tuesday.

He said he knew there would be a debate about the toughness of the Illegal Migration Bill but the government had tried "every other way" of preventing the crossings and they had not worked.

While he admitted it was a "complicated problem" with no single "silver bullet" to fix it, he said he would not be standing there if he did not think he could deliver.

More than 45,000 people entered the UK via Channel crossings last year, up from about 300 in 2018.

The government believes stopping small boats is a key issue for voters and Mr Sunak has made it one of his top five priorities.

This is politically risky - as the outcome may not be entirely in his hands.

Speaking in the Commons, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said serious action was needed to stop small boat crossings, but said the government's plans risked "making the chaos worse".

Opposition MPs attacked the legislation one after another, with some saying it was unlawful, while others suggested it would not work in practice.

But Tory MPs backed their home secretary as they took turns to welcome the move, and Ms Braverman retorted that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer "doesn't want to stop the boats".

Trying to set out the scale of the problem the home secretary said 100 million people around the world could qualify for protection under current UK laws - and "they are coming here".

This refers to a UNHCR figure that there are more than 100 million people forcibly displaced around the world, although there is nothing to suggest they would all want to come to the UK.

Acknowledging the likelihood of a legal battle, Ms Braverman wrote to Conservative MPs saying there was "more than a 50% chance" the legislation was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

This potentially makes legal challenges - and a rough ride for the bill in the Lords - more likely.

But the political calculation could well be that the new legislation puts clear blue water between government and opposition.

And if the bill is stymied, the prime minister may be hoping he gets some political credit from voters for trying to find a solution.

Mr Sunak told a Downing Street conference he believed it would not be necessary for the UK to leave the ECHR and said the government believed it was acting in compliance with it and "meeting our international obligations".

He said part of the problem was people making one claim "then down the line they can make another claim, and then another claim" and said the UK cannot have a system which could be taken advantage of.

The deterrent effect of the new legislation could be "quite powerful quite quickly", he added.

Under the new bill:

* People removed from the UK will be blocked from returning or seeking British citizenship in future

* Migrants will not get bail or be able to seek judicial review for the first 28 days of detention

* There will be a cap on the number of refugees the UK will settle through "safe and legal routes" - set annually by Parliament

* A duty on the home secretary to detain and remove those arriving in the UK illegally, to Rwanda or a "safe" third country - this will take legal precedence over someone's right to claim asylum

* Under-18s, those medically unfit to fly, or those at risk of serious harm in the country they are being removed to will be able to delay removal

* Any other asylum claims will be heard remotely after removal

The UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it was "profoundly concerned" by the bill, calling it a "clear breach" of the refugee convention.

"Most people fleeing war and persecution are simply unable to access the required passports and visas," it said.

"There are no safe and 'legal' routes available to them. Denying them access to asylum on this basis undermines the very purpose for which the Refugee Convention was established."

The Refugee Council said it was "not the British way of doing things", with its chief executive Enver Solomon saying the plans were "more akin to authoritarian nations", while Amnesty International called it a "cynical attempt to dodge basic moral and legal responsibilities".



Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say
Retired British police officer arrested over ‘thought crime’ tweet
Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected as Pope Leo XIV, Marking a Historic Papacy
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested at ICE Facility Amid Congressional Visit
India-Pakistan conflict may be first test for Chinese military tech
Bill Gates Announces Plan to Wind Down Philanthropic Foundation and Disperse Wealth
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
×