by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak departs after taking part in media interviews at the port of San Diego, USA, ahead of his meetings with US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as part of Aukus, a trilateral security pact between Australia and the UK, and the USA. Picture date: Monday March 13, 2023.
Dozens of Tory MPs have failed to support Rishi Sunak’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
In a sign of trouble ahead for the Prime Minister, 44 of his own backbenchers refused to vote on the Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Commons last night.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May – who previously launched a bitter attack on the bill – was among the rebels.
She said that “genuine victims of modern slavery will be denied assistance under the new law.”
Former Immigration Secretary Caroline Nokes, who has called the law “an absolute horror”, was another rebel.
The bill passed the second reading phase of its parliamentary tour by a vote of 312 to 250.
Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said “many” Tory MPs who voted with the Government last night will not do so in the future unless it is radically changed to prevent unaccompanied children from being deported or families separated become.
Buckland also said the bill will fail unless it is redrawn to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel.
He told Radio Four’s Today program: “I think Theresa May’s contribution yesterday was significant and powerful. She was someone who ran the Home Office for six years and has tremendous experience in that.
“I think many of us who decided yesterday to proceed with the principle of the bill did so on the basis that this bill needs to be worked on further in order to have the effect the government wants, which is to end the crisis of the small boats.”
He added: “I do not support the detention of unaccompanied children or the separation of families, this has been a government policy since 2010 and I think these parts of the bill should be scrapped.”
Buckland said these measures meant the government “runs the risk of appearing guilty of ineffective authoritarianism.”
The government is in danger of appearing guilty of ineffective authoritarianism.
When asked if the law will stop the small boats, Buckland said: “I don’t think that alone will do it. I think international action will be essential if we are to move forward on this.”
Speaking in America, Sunak defended the bill. He said: “I am confident that our bill is the best way to tackle this problem.
“I’ve also always known that there’s no such thing as a…simple solution to a complicated problem. It will require many different interventions.”
