I’LL END FREE MOVEMENT
Patel vows to bring in a new points system for migrants after Brexit
PRITI Patel has vowed to end free movement of people after Brexit and introduce an Australian-style points-based system for migrants.
Miss Patel positioned herself yesterday as the heir to Margaret Thatcher – and warned she would ‘take no lectures’ from the metropolitan liberal elite over her stance on immigration.
As Home Secretary at a ‘defining moment’ on the brink of leaving the EU, she spoke of having ‘particular responsibility when it comes to taking back control’.
Miss Patel said that ending the Brussels diktat of free movement would allow the UK Government to create a new immigration system: ‘One that works in the best interests of Britain. One that attracts and welcomes the brightest and the best.
‘One that supports brilliant scientists, the finest academics and leading people in their fields. And one that is under the control of the British Government.’
Australia’s points-based system is credited with keeping numbers under control while ensuring enough skilled workers are allowed in to fill labour shortages.
Applicants for work visas are assessed according to a series of criteria including age, skills, professional experience, fluency in English and qualifications.
Ardent Brexiteer Miss Patel – the child of Ugandan Asian parents – also took a swipe at those who criticise her tough immigration policy and say that voting to leave the EU was fuelled by racism. She said: ‘This daughter of immigrants needs no lectures from the north London metropolitan liberal elite.’
Delivering her keynote address, Miss Patel said: ‘Only the Conservative Party is driven by the people’s priorities and that means backing our police, our communities and our great country.
‘That’s the lesson I took from the person who inspired me to join our Party; a Conservative Prime Minister first elected 40 years ago, this year. Margaret Thatcher knew that if you made the British people your compass, if you took time to understand their lives and their priorities, then your direction would always be true.’
To rapturous cheers, the Home Secretary made clear her support for the police – insisting law and order was ‘central to our DNA as Conservatives’ – as Baroness Thatcher had done as Conservative leader.
Miss Patel’s comments were also interpreted as a rebuke to Theresa May who as Home Secretary had a notoriously fractious relationship with the police. She said more had to be done to recognise the ‘bravery, commitment and sacrifice’ of police officers, as well as equipping them with the kit and powers vital to clamp down on law-breaking.
Miss Patel also promised a £20million package to disrupt and dismantle ruthless county lines gangs which exploit children by forcing them to become drug mules.
Although the investments will be made in forces in England and Wales, the funding she promised will tackle an issue that affects Scots communities. Police Scotland has warned that English county lines drug gangs are expanding their operations north of the Border.
Powerful cartels have a grip in areas including Aberdeenshire, the Lothians, Ayrshire and the Borders.
Children as young as nine are said to have been trafficked from as far afield as the Midlands to Scotland.
The cartels have targeted NorthEast Scotland in particular. Last year, Aberdeen South Tory MP Ross Thomson said crime gangs from Wolverhampton had infiltrated the community, coercing young people into selling drugs.
Showing her commitment to the issue, Miss Patel pledged to ‘remove the grip’ crime kingpins held on terrified communities.
To rapturous applause, the Home Secretary added: ‘Let the message go out today. To the British people – we hear you. To the police service – we back you. And to the criminals, I simply say this: we are coming after you. We stand for the forces of right and against the forces of evil. We stand for the law-abiding majority, not the criminal minority.’
‘We stand for the forces of right’