Suella Braverman calls ‘broken’ immigration system an ‘invasion on the South Coast’
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for a free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics
Get our free Inside Politics email
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick promised a “more radical” approach to illegal immigration, after Suella Braverman was convicted of claiming Britain was facing an “invasion” on the south coast.
The Home Secretary made her alarming remarks in the Commons yesterday while under pressure over overcrowding at the Manston asylum processing center in Kent, where the disease has broken out in deplorable sanitary conditions.
Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today program this morning: “We need, I’m afraid we have to look at some more radical options now to ensure that our laws are adequate, that economic migrants are returned quickly and that we deter people from come to the UK.”
The Home Secretary has previously suggested that people arriving across the Channel in small boats be barred from seeking asylum.
Ms Braverman was yesterday accused of endangering lives with her “trespassing” claim, which followed the day after a firebomb attack on an asylum processing facility in Dover.
Refugee charities said his remarks were “appalling” and “dehumanizing” to refugees and migrants, adding that he also put Home Office staff and volunteers at risk.
key points
Show latest update 1667294668
Jenrick says a “more radical” approach to immigration is coming
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick promised a “harder” approach to illegal immigration.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m afraid we now have to look at some more radical options to ensure that our laws are adequate, that economic migrants are returned quickly and that we deter people from coming to the UK. because the UK cannot continue to be a magnet for economic migrants”.
Jenrick was speaking after Suella Braverman, head of his department as home secretary, said Britain was facing an “invasion on our south coast” due to the increased number of Channel crossings.
The immigration minister distanced herself from Ms Braverman’s “invasion” claim, but said the Channel crossing posed a “very, very significant” challenge.
Jenrick did not give details of what radical measures might be taken. Ms Braverman previously suggested that people arriving across the Channel in small boats should be barred from seeking asylum.
Liam James November 1, 2022 9:24 am
1667292346
Chart: Channel crossings since 2020
This chart shows the cumulative successful crossings of the Channel by people in small boats over the past three years.
The Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, has been heavily criticized for referring to the increase in the number of crossings as an invasion.
(PA)
Liam James November 1, 2022 8:45 am
1667291566
The Immigration Minister declines to repeat Braverman’s “invasion” claim
The Immigration Minister has refused to repeat Suella Braverman’s claim of an “invasion” of asylum seekers across the Channel, after fierce criticism of her inflammatory language (writes Rob Merrick).
The Home Secretary, affected by the scandal, has been accused of endangering lives with the rhetoric of the extreme right – this was immediately echoed by Nigel Farage – a day after the attack on a center of refugees in Dover.
Robert Jenrick was asked if he would use the word “invasion,” but replied, “In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully.
“I would never demonize people who come to this country in search of a better life and I understand and appreciate our obligation to refugees.”
Asked if Ms Braverman was “wrong” to use the word, Jenrick told Sky News: “I think invasion is one way to describe the scale of the challenge and that’s what Suella Braverman was trying to express “.
Liam James November 1, 2022 8:32 am
1667290246
Today’s headlines: Braverman ‘inflammatory’, ‘irresponsible’, ‘incompetent’
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
Liam James November 1, 2022 8:10 am
1667289046
BP profits double amid calls for extraordinary tax hike
BP has revealed that profits doubled in the last quarter (writes Zoe Tidman).
The London-listed oil giant reported that underlying replacement cost profits, a measure favored by BP, rose to $8.2bn (£7.1bn), compared with $3.3bn (£2.9bn of pounds) a year earlier.
That was well ahead of the $6.1 billion (£5.3 billion) expected by market analysts.
The report comes amid calls for a higher tax on the profits of oil and gas giants.
Liam James November 1, 2022 7:50 am
1667287579
Suella Braverman ‘puts lives at risk’ with ‘migrant invasion’
Suella Braverman has been accused of endangering lives after claiming the south coast was facing an ‘invasion’ of migrants, the day after a firebomb attack in Dover (writes Kate Devlin).
Refugee charities described the embattled home secretary’s comments as “appalling” and “dehumanising”, while Labor accused her of “highly irresponsible” language that was not being taken seriously public safety.
The row erupted as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came under mounting pressure over his decision to re-appoint Ms Braverman to the post last week, just days after she resigned for breaking the ministerial code.
Liam James November 1, 2022 7:26 am
1667285307
Treasury “warns of tax hikes” to fill the financial black hole
The Treasury has reportedly warned of “inevitable” tax rises as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak moves to plug a “black hole” of up to £50bn in public finances.
Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday agreed to freeze the thresholds at which people start paying different rates of income tax and national insurance, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Hunt seeks to cover the deficit through a combination of 50 per cent tax rises and 50 per cent cuts in public spending in his autumn statement on November 17, the paper said.
The Treasury said that “everyone should contribute more in taxes in the coming years”, without giving further details.
“It will be tough,” a Treasury source told the BBC.
“The truth is that everyone will have to contribute more in taxes if we want to maintain public services.”
Given the scale of the loan to support energy bills and the Covid-19 pandemic, the source said the department “will not be able to fill the fiscal black hole with spending cuts alone”.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar November 1, 2022 6:48 am
1667284379
What is Manston Asylum?
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under increasing pressure to ease “catastrophic overcrowding” at the UK’s main asylum processing center for migrants across the Channel.
Ms Braverman is reportedly considering plans to host asylum seekers in hotels, holiday camps and other resorts, alongside members of the public, rather than booking entire venues on behalf of applicants, after that the Manston facility was found to be overcrowded.
The facility currently holds around 4,000 people, despite having been designed for only 1,600.
The site, which opened in January on a defunct airfield formerly used as the Defense Fire Training and Development Center, was meant to be a short-term holding facility where migrants could be housed for 24 hours and processed by Border Force personnel before being transferred to temporary accommodation.
What is Manston Asylum?
The Kent facility opened in January for the short-term detention and processing of applicants, but is already struggling with overcrowding after a large number of Channel crossings.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar November 1, 2022 6:32 am
1667283570
Voices | Listening to Suella Braverman is like being sucked into a viral Facebook scam
“I made a mistake, I took responsibility, I resigned,” said Suella Braverman, standing in the House of Commons dispatch box.
The words he chose were a direct quote from his own resignation letter, which he sent to the now former minister less than two weeks ago.
And yet, somehow, by some strange alchemy, she is still the Home Secretary.
Here she was, praising her own moral courage for admitting her mistake, and doing the decent thing and resigning as Home Secretary, all while being Home Secretary, writes Tom Peck.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar November 1, 2022 6:19 am
1667282599
Rishi Sunak has “full confidence” in Suella Braverman
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has “full confidence” in his Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Downing Street has said.
The statement came as Ms Braverman was embroiled in two rows over leaks of her mobile phone and deteriorating conditions at the Manston migrant processing center in Kent.
Challenged by reports that Ms Braverman fueled overcrowding in Manston by refusing to book hotel rooms to house migrants, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman pointed to a Home Office statement which described the claim as ” baseless”.
Asked if the prime minister had full confidence in his home secretary, the spokesman told a regular Westminster press conference: “Yes.”
Andrew Woodcock has more.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar November 1, 2022 6:03 am