Northern Ireland Secretary grilled on Irish border 'loophole' as he vows to increase immigration enforcement

Asked by Ellie if anything can be done to stop people crossing the border from the Republic of Ireland, Mr Benn told GB News: "Well, it is a function of what's called the Common Travel Area.

"For over a century, people from the United Kingdom and Ireland have been able to live and work and travel freely across the British Isles, and every single day here in Northern Ireland, people cross that border to go to work, to shop, to visit friends, to worship, and vice versa."

He argued the legislation has brought a "huge benefit" to the people of the British Isles.

Mr Benn continued: "It's brought huge benefit to the people of the British Isles, the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and Ireland.

"So, what that means is you need to target your enforcement operation, and we already work very closely with the Irish authorities to prevent abuse of the Common Travel Area."

Pushing back on Mr Benn's remarks, Ellie stressed Britons feel "the Government is not properly grasping the political urgency of the immigration issue".

He responded: "In the last year alone, a thousand people have been removed from Northern Ireland because they do not have the right to be here. And it is that intelligence led operation, including on major travel routes, airports, bus routes, train routes and ports, that is the most effective thing that we can do because the Common Travel Area underpins, of course, the Good Friday Agreement.

"You're going to see an increase in that activity, enforcement, and raids. We have, since the election, removed almost 70,000 people who have no right to be in the country, and the Home Secretary has announced very significant changes to the immigration system.

"So we are making significant changes and we will be increasing the enforcement of operations across the country, including in Northern Ireland."

Pressing Mr Benn further, Ellie argued Britons need to see "action, not words" as concerns are growing amongst "ordinary people".

Reflecting on Monday's attack in Belfast, Mr Benn assured: "Every asylum application has to be considered individually on its merits, and in respect of the terrible scenes we witnessed on Monday night, this is an individual who has chosen to do this.

"They have been charged, it is for the court process to deal with them, but we should judge people by the contribution that they make to our society."

The Northern Ireland Secretary said the scenes being witnessed in Belfast following the attack "does not represent the wonderful place" that it is.

He told GB News: "What is so makes me so sad is that the world is looking at Northern Ireland at the moment and what they're witnessing on the streets, it does not represent the wonderful place that this is, with innovation and drive and energy and investment.

"Northern Ireland's economy is doing pretty well, it's got the lowest unemployment in the whole of the United Kingdom."

He concluded: "We want more people to see the advantages of coming to invest in Northern Ireland, because that is how we're going to improve lives for everybody."

Responding to the second day of disorder in Belfast, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said: "I want to strongly condemn the second night of disorder seen in some areas across Northern Ireland. This violent behaviour by a thuggish minority will not be tolerated.

"It was clear from the outset that those who attended were not intent on peaceful protest. Rather, they were intent on violence."

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