Starmer's honeymoon unravelling as Labour invite illegal migrants to UK, says Priti Patel

This week, official figures emerged that showed deportations of illegal migrants were up only three percent on the year to last. If we want to cut illegal migration and curb the significant financial impact that it has on your families’ household finances and our public services, we must get better at removing people who have no right to be here.

This is a view shared by the vast majority of people in this country and it is therefore crucial that the Government do all they can to stop the boats.

As Home Secretary, I included provisions in the Nationality and Borders Act which would have helped this. This included Greek-style detention centres which were part of my New Plan for Immigration. They were decried by the left at the time, but included important provisions which would have helped to keep the public safe.

We know many illegal migrants manage to elude the authorities’ watch with help of criminal gangs by working in the grey economy. My plan for detention centres would have ensured anyone who came here illegally were held and monitored very closely, as well as providing a deterrent effect. It was unfortunate that these centres were never introduced and I firmly believe they should be a feature in our plans to speed up asylum processing.

Alongside this, my New Plan for Immigration would have drastically increased the number of deportations through a one-stop-shop policy that only allows illegal migrants one chance to claim asylum. This was designed to stop people making repeated claims and appeals successively after every time one fails.

The laws to do this are on the statute books through the Nationality and Borders Act, which tightened the scope in which people can claim asylum meaning it is more difficult to make spurious claims and exploit our system. They also included more vigorous checks on individuals, including age checks. This is vital. We have seen various cases where people find very innovative ways to claim asylum, including classing themselves as a child or changing their religion to stand a better chance of being given the right to remain. Unfortunately, those robust new measures, opposed at the time by Labour, were not implemented otherwise they would be making a difference today.

However, alongside introducing a more robust deportation system, it is essential we have a credible deterrent to dissuade people making the crossing from France. That is why the Rwanda scheme which I championed is so important. Until we get to a point where illegal migrants waiting in France realise that they will be immediately sent to a safe third country upon arrival, more and more will keep coming to the UK.

But Sir Keir Starmer’s disastrous Labour Party fail to recognise this. They gloss over the fact that there is evidence of deportation and third party processing schemes working effectively in Australia and Greece and that many European countries are also considering similar approaches to deal with illegal immigration. Instead, they are more than happy to hand the people smuggling gangs a blank cheque to send more people to the UK at the expense of the hardworking British taxpayer.

Sunday Express readers know that this will compound many of the most pressing issues facing the UK. From your children struggling to get a good school place, to getting on the housing ladder and from getting the hospital care you need, illegal immigration impacts public services and needs to be stopped.

You also want to see somebody stand up to the Labour Party’s dangerous complacency on illegal immigration. They never recognise its full impact in their North London echo-chambers and the Conservative Party have a responsibility to stand up for the vast majority of British people who know illegal migration has significant social, political and economic consequences.

But Labour are willing to turn a blind-eye to an issue the vast majority of British people cite as their main concern facing the UK. They have no plan as to how to tackle illegal migration and would rather put their efforts into appeasing left wing campaign groups than introducing credible measures to stop the boats.

Keir Starmer’s honeymoon is unravelling all too quickly. Before you know it, there will be more illegal migrants and more pressure on our public services and the only winner will be the people smuggling gangs in France.