On Monday evening the Isle of Wight’s Conservative MP, Bob Seely, voted in favour of the Illegal Migration Bill.
Passing its second reading in the House of Commons, the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill has received criticism from across the chamber as well as outside Parliament.
Seely: A vocal minority may object
The MP says the Government’s Bill will deal with the increase of illegal immigrants entering the UK by crossing the channel in small boats.
Mr Seely said of the Bill,
“It’s right that the Government is taking action on small boats. The current system is unsustainable, causes harm to those that are smuggled, undermines our borders and creates excessive expense for taxpayers.
“Whilst a vocal minority may object, I strongly believe that the overwhelming majority of people will understand the importance of this Bill and support it.”
What the Bill will do
The Illegal Migration Bill has been designed to remove anyone seeking asylum, and arriving in the country through illegal means, to their home country or to “a safe third country”, Uganda in this case, whilst their claim is processed.
Inflammatory language
It was Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s language, in relation to the policy, that led to the Gary Lineker debacle at the BBC last weekend.
Lineker had tweeted that the policy for handling the small boats crisis was “beyond awful”, likening the language used to sell the policy with “that used by Germany in the 1930s”.
Overwhelming solidarity for Lineker
A few days afterwards, the BBC stated Lineker would not be presenting Saturday’s Match of the Day – initially saying it was a joint agreement. Lineker corrected that inaccuracy publicly through social media.
He went on to receive overwhelming support for calling out the policy and language used by Ms Braverman, indeed, many of his colleagues showed solidarity with him by refusing to take part in the programme on Saturday night.
Overstating number of migrants
As well as being accused of using inflammatory language, Ms Braverman has also been condemned for overstating the number of people seeking asylum, when she suggested 100 million migrants could come to UK.
Refuge Action, a charity supporting refugees seeking asylum, say that more than 320 organisations have signed an open letter to PM Rishi Sunak calling out the Government’s latest “anti-refugee Bill”.
Article edit
4.20pm 15th Mar 2023 – Spelling of Lineker corrected
