Labour’s white flag on illegal migrants
LABOUR was accused of ‘running up the white flag’ last night after pledging to scrap controls on illegal immigration.
Diane Abbott said she would close two main detention centres, axe migration targets and force officials to prove suspects were in Britain without permission.
The shadow home secretary also vowed to scrap the requirement for bosses and landlords to carry out checks on a worker or tenant’s right to be in the country.
Miss Abbott said it was Jeremy Corbyn’s ambition to ‘reframe’ public debate on the issue. The Labour leader later tweeted his support.
Tories said the proposals would wreck efforts to deal with the estimated million illegals in Britain.
‘Diane Abbott has confirmed what we already know – that Labour will have an open-door policy where anybody who wishes to come to our country can do so,’ said Andrew Bridgen MP.
‘Labour are running up the white flag on illegal
immigration and declaring an amnesty for those here illegally.
‘Under Labour, there will be no such thing as an illegal immigrant because anyone who wants to come to our country will be made welcome.’
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘Labour’s plans would demolish policies – under successive governments – that are vital for tackling illegal immigration. Completely the wrong approach.’
Immigration minister Caroline Nokes warned against closing any detention centres, saying it could put communities at risk.
Labour politicians have focused on immigration controls after revelations about the treatment of the Windrush generation and the resignation of Amber Rudd as Home Secretary. Last year, a former Home Office chief said Britain was home to more than a million illegal migrants. David Wood, who was head of immigration enforcement, said few of them were ever likely to be sent home.
Both Tory and Labour governments have brought in measures to tackle the problem. At the Home Office Theresa May introduced a ‘hostile environment’ policy. But, at an Institute for Public Policy Research event yesterday, Miss Abbott said Labour would try a fresh approach. A Labour government would shut two of the main detention centres, Yarl’s Wood in Bedford and Brook House near Gatwick airport. The remaining centres would be returned to local authorities, she added. Labour would also end indefinite detention by restrict- ing it to 28 days and introducing a system of ‘reporting and monitoring’.
A key plank of Miss Abbott’s strategy would involve shifting the burden of proof to the Home Office to establish if a person was in the country illegally.
Critics pointed out this could encourage illegal immigrants to tear up their papers so officials would not be able to prove they had no right to remain.
Those who come under investigation over their status would be granted ‘proper’ rights of appeal.
‘If we are going to deprive people of the right to be here, we must be clear that they do not have the right to live here,’ said Miss Abbott.
Labour would also end the minimum income stipulation for migrants to bring a spouse from abroad and always allow children to join them.
‘If Labour under Jeremy Corbyn cannot begin the process of reframing the debate on migration I think Jeremy would feel he had failed,’ she said. Mr Corbyn said: ‘We’ll end Theresa May’s “hostile environment” that has ruined the lives of so many Windrush citizens.’
On Labour’s plan to close two of Britain’s main immigration detention centres, Mrs Nokes said: ‘Immigration detention is a vital tool in helping ensure those with no right to remain in the UK are returned to their home country.’