IT is a first duty of any government to secure our borders. But for far too long, small boat crossings have blown our borders open.
More than 114,000 migrants have illegally entered the UK by small boat from the safety of France in just five years.
Hundreds of local hotels have been taken over to house them.
Billions of taxpayers money wasted. And countless communities torn apart.
For those that get to stay on in the UK, the costs to the taxpayer are extortionate.
One study found it costs more than £500,000 to integrate and support a single illegal migrant.
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So for an average small boat crossing, this is almost thirty million quid.
That’s the cost of rebuilding a school or the NHS hiring a thousand extra nurses.
Such are the numbers arriving on Europe’s southern borders, and such is the weakness of the EU, there is no reason to assume we won’t see another 100,000 illegal migrants arrive on our shores in the years ahead if we don’t act. That’s another city the size of Doncaster or Exeter.
This simply can’t go on. Enough is enough. When the stakes are so high for our country, we have to act now and do so decisively.
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We can’t pass legislation to secure our borders three times, fail on each occasion and retain the confidence of the public.
It’s three strikes and you’re out. So the Conservative Party has one last chance to stop the small boat crossings that are doing untold damage to this country.
You will only stop the boats when it is clear that if you come here illegally from safe countries such as France, you won’t stay.
That’s why making the Rwanda removals policy work is so important.
But the present Bill the Government is trying to get through Parliament is a bucket riddled with holes.
The activist Strasbourg Court will still be able to ground removals at the 11th hour with pyjama injunctions.
And illegal migrants, ably assisted by small boat-chasing firms, will still be able to concoct reasons to prevent their removal.
That is why I’ve tabled amendments to correct these fatal flaws and make the policy watertight.
The only countries that have fixed problems like this have adopted the most robust policies. All the others have failed miserably.
It is high time politicians had the courage and determination to do what’s necessary, placing the interests of the British people above their reputations on the gilded international circuit.
My simple message is: There is no point passing a Bill that doesn’t work.
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The Government must accept my amendments or bring back another Bill that finally delivers.
The country is watching. As parliamentarians we have the power to deliver the Bill that will secure our borders. We can and we must.
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Dan Coombs
