Labour’s first week in government in 14 years is a sign of things to come, and it should worry the British people. The steps they have taken in the Home Office alone are proof of what is ahead – chaos, obfuscation and open borders.
During the election, Labour talked tough but lacked substance – making just enough noises to get over the line and then deal with the problem later. But their “Ming vase” migration strategy will smash into smithereens across this Parliament, with the first cracks already showing in office.
Week one of Labour in the Home Office was chaos. Labour ministers disagreed in public about visa liberalisation, rejoining the EU and free movement. Sir Patrick Vallance, whom I have a huge amount of respect for, will have to learn quickly that the Labour hierarchy don’t want you to know what they really think behind closed doors.
Data published this week show visa applications are falling rapidly, and with it, so will net migration, thanks to action we took when I was home secretary. We introduced a series of visa curbs that meant around 300,000 people who came here last year would be ineligible this year. It was the biggest ever cut to migration.
We raised the salary threshold to get a work visa, we stopped students from bringing their dependants, we stopped health-care workers from bringing their dependants, and we said that family members coming to the UK had to be able to support themselves. These decisions were firm but fair and are already having the desired effect. Net migration is on track to halve in the next 12 months.
Labour may well claim this progress as their success, but don’t be fooled. There are many politicians out there who want to talk about migration, sound tough, describe a situation, but very few are willing to do what is necessary and right for the British public.
And the picture isn’t any better on illegal migration. Yvette Cooper managed to cause a diplomatic incident from the Home Office on day one, by scrapping the Rwanda policy.
Astoundingly, our new Home Secretary did not appear to have the courtesy to tell the Rwandans, a Commonwealth country, with whom we had signed a binding treaty and enjoyed an excellent working relationship. They were providing a valuable service to the UK, as part of a real development partnership, but that has now been thrown away along with £270m of taxpayer money, for nothing.
Without a deterrent and by granting an effective amnesty to 100,000 asylum seekers, Labour might as well be painting “welcome, people smugglers” on the white cliffs of Dover. When we said they didn’t have a plan, we meant it – and the consequences are already crystal clear.
Despite terrible weather this week, almost 500 asylum seekers crossed the channel in small boats, cramming more and more people into each boat, and four people tragically lost their lives. There is a human cost to the failure to stop this crisis. It’s a moral imperative that we stop the boats and stop the loss of life in the Channel.
The whole purpose of the deterrent is to break the business model of the people-smuggling gangs and stop people making the perilous journey, but Labour’s ideological approach will have the opposite effect. Labour should be listening to the National Crime Agency, which says we need a deterrent, before activist groups such as Care4Calais.
The Conservative Party must continue to advocate real control and bold solutions to stop the boats. We should not be squeamish and shy away from that philosophy – it is the right one and it is shared by the British people. But we need to win back their trust on our ability to deliver it.
We must get our house in order so we can be the credible alternative the British people will sorely need after a Labour government, especially if their first week is anything to go by.
That starts with proper opposition. Over the coming years, we need to hold a magnifying glass to the Labour Party on immigration because we know that they don’t have the ability or desire to control our borders. And we must be unwavering in our commitment to it, to differentiate ourselves from them by proving that we are the only serious party interested in reducing the amount of net migration and stopping illegal immigration while Labour flounder in power.
That is exactly what I intend to do.
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