Ex-Minister calls on Sunak to revisit Rwanda migrant plan as Channel crossings surpass 21,000

The Swindon South MP, who served under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, also voiced his approval at the Home Office taking heed of a centre-right think tank's desire for the Rwanda policy to be “revisited and revised rather than abolished”.

He said: “Unscrupulous criminal gangs must be stopped, and their business model dismantled, restoring the all-important quality of justice to our asylum system.

“This would be reinforced by adopting further Bright Blue policies, such as humanitarian visas, an annual refugee quota and the re-introduction of the two-tier system that wasn't given enough time to work.”

Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner MP David Simmonds, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration, also threw his weight behind respecting the rule of law.

The Tory MP said: “We are rightly proud of the rule of law as one of the foundations of our democracy.

“Our approach to asylum needs to focus on putting our own policies and laws correctly into practice, rather than seeking to disadvantage the most vulnerable by depriving them of legal rights that our own citizens rely on when in difficulty abroad.”

Bright Blue, which proudly promotes liberal conservatism, suggested the UK Government could commit to an annual quota on refugees under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees resettlement schemes, create a new humanitarian visa scheme which would cap the number of asylum seekers, revise the Rwanda policy to enable claims to be heard, or reinstate its two-tier system which enables and promotes differential treatment of refugees who arrive via legal routes compared to those who arrive irregularly.

Two of the recommendations included annual reviews and were more lenient depending on the fragility of certain countries.

Bright Blue chief executive Ryan Shorthouse said: “Since asylum applications are at record levels, the Government urgently needs to get a grip and implement alternative policies to reduce the number of people making dangerous journeys to arrive in the UK.

“The main proposal to detain and deport nearly all irregular migrants, especially to Rwanda, is neither realistic nor fair - it's just not cricket.

“The UK public do want tough action to be taken on irregular migrants, but only once their claim has been heard and rejected - in other words, Brits believe in due process.

“So the priority for the Home Office must be improving the speed and accuracy of asylum processing, and ensuring the effective tracking and removal of people who are not eligible to be here.”

The total number of migrants who have crossed the Channel in 2023 exceeded 21,000 at the start of September.

The figure is slightly below where it stood at the same time last year but almost 46,000 people completed the perilous 21-mile journey in small boats in 2022.

A majority of the British public favour deporting illegal migrants but also support an added process when determining their removal, Opinium polling conducted for Bright Blue has revealed.

However, immigration and asylum has emerged as a major issue for both 2019 Conservative voters and 2016 Brexit supporters.

Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman vowed to end illegal Channel crossings as part of the Prime Minister’s five priorities after he succeeded Liz Truss in Downing Street.

The Prime Minister rowed back against the commitment last month, saying the Channel crossing crisis cannot be solved “overnight” as it is a “complex” problem.

He added: “I want it to be done as soon as possible but I also want to be honest with people that it is a complex problem, there is not one simple solution and that it can’t be solved overnight and I wouldn’t be being straight with people if I said that was possible.”

The Illegal Migration Bill passed through the House of Commons in July as the Government continues to try to address the migrant crisis.

The legislation gives the Home Secretary a duty to detain and remove those illegally arriving in the United Kingdom to either Rwanda or another “safe” third country.

Sunak is also looking to house a number of migrants aboard the Bibby Stockholm barge and at former RAF bases in Essex and Lincolnshire.

GB News has approached the Home Office for comment.