Braverman vows to do ‘whatever it takes’ to tackle migrant crisis

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has pledged to do "whatever it takes" to deal with the migrant crisis in the Channel amid calls for the indefinite detention of asylum seekers arriving in the UK illegally.

Ms Braverman said the numbers making the perilous crossing were "wholly unacceptable and unsustainable" and that ministers would "comprehensively tackle the small boats problem".

She made her comments in a foreword to a report by the centre-right Centre for Policy Studies think tank which called for new laws barring migrants who enter illegally from ever settling in the UK.

While she said she did not necessarily agree with everything in the report, her contribution will be seen as an indication that she is sympathetic to the thinking behind it.

In other measures, the report – co-authored by Theresa May's former adviser Nick Timothy – recommended that ministers should legislate to make it impossible to claim asylum in the UK after travelling from a safe country.

It called for the overhaul of human rights laws – with the UK "if necessary" withdrawing from the european convention on Human Rights – to allow detentions and offshoring the processing of asylum claims.

And it said ministers should be looking for deals with other countries to supplement the currently stalled plan to deport migrants to Rwanda.

In her foreword, Ms Braverman said calling for action on illegal migration was not "xenophobic or anti-immigration" and that she and Rishi Sunak were committed to dealing with the issue.