Anyone following the news this week will have seen the debates over the Rwanda Partnership and our scheme to stop small boat crossings.
Sadly, almost no commentator in the media focuses on why this is needed in the first place. There is always much focus on Parliamentary numbers, and who is doing what, but rarely the substance of the issue.
For my part, I’ve been clear for years now (indeed I’ve been criticised by some on the other side of politics for my many columns on why we must tackle the small boat problem) – stopping the small boat crossings is essential. But that isn’t the end of the matter, I also want to see levels of immigration in general reduce. The current number simply isn’t sustainable or, in my eyes, acceptable.
And I don’t think I’m alone in believing this. Reducing immigration is an issue so many of you raise. At street stalls, my surgeries, online on my social media accounts.
The debates in Parliament this week, certainly amongst Conservatives, have been about how we do that. Labour’s position, not unexpectedly, is the total opposite. Indeed, it was Sir Keir Starmer himself who wrote the book on European Human Rights Law and said that there is a “racist undercurrent” which “permeates all immigration law” (his words in the ‘Socialist Lawyer’ magazine… I couldn’t disagree more.
Having debated all the ‘how’ in Parliament this week though, we have now passed the Safety of Rwanda Bill through the Commons and it now proceeds to the House of Lords. As the Prime Minister has made clear, this is our best chance to get flights off the ground to Rwanda, which will result in the strong deterrent effect we need.
The gangs perpetrating the smuggling, to circumvent our rules, will have a much harder sell when they’re selling a ticket to Rwanda via the UK, rather than a new life in the UK. And that’s exactly why other European nations are interested in what we’re doing.
But, as I said, it isn’t just illegal migration. This week I was also at 10 Downing Street for a roundtable discussion on legal migration. We discussed everything from abuse in the system, and the points-based scheme in place, to what the overall number should be and whether a legal cap would be the right thing.
Whilst there may be some, like Sir Keir and the Labour Party, who don’t think we should have immigration controls, I will always argue for a sensible, firm, and fair, system.