We’ve failed to control our borders, Suella Braverman admits

Britain has failed to control its borders, Suella Braverman has said, as the Government braces for record migration figures on Thursday.

The Home Secretary said she was determined to “fix” the “crisis” over illegal migration as she signalled that a new “legal framework” will be unveiled after Christmas aimed at curbing the record 42,000 migrants who have illegally crossed the Channel so far this year.

She has previously admitted the Channel crisis is “out of control,” but went further yesterday, telling MPs: “We have failed to control our borders. That’s why I and the Prime Minister are absolutely determined to fix this problem.”

Her comments came ahead of Thursday’s official figures on overall migration which experts have predicted will return to pre-Brexit levels.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will reveal net migration in the year to June has increased sharply on 2021’s total of 239,000 with migration experts saying they would “not be surprised” if it surpassed the record high of 331,000 in 2015.

It stems from a surge in visas for foreign nationals to live, study and work in the UK, which exceeded one million for the first time in the year to June. The increase has also been fuelled by the arrival of Ukrainian and Afghan refugees and Hong Kongers, on top of a drop in the number of people leaving the UK.

The figures will raise concerns over the Government’s election manifesto pledge to bring down net migration, a promise repeated by Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister and Mrs Braverman, who told Tory conference her ambition was to reduce it below 100,000.

The total is likely to be significantly higher than the 224,000 projected for next year by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) as part of the Autumn Statement and the forecast steady decline to 205,000 a year.

It is understood, however, that Home Office ministers are pressing Number 10 on the need for measures to curb uneconomic legal migration in order to fulfil the Tories’ manifesto pledge.

These could include restrictions on the rights of students to bring in dependents, a crackdown on those who do not complete their courses but remain in the UK and curbs on foreign students on “uneconomic” low quality courses. The salary threshold for skilled workers could also be raised.

Mr Sunak has made clear that his priority is tackling illegal migration and yesterday, appearing before the Commons home affairs committee, Mrs Braverman admitted the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats was a “crisis” but said there was no “quick fix.”

'Unprecedented numbers'

She said the “unprecedented” number of migrants had made it “incredibly difficult” to find suitable accommodation and blamed Channel migrants for overcrowding at the Manston processing centre. It emerged on Wednesday that the Home Office faces five judicial reviews for alleged unlawful detention of migrants at Manston.

Asked who was at fault for the Manston crisis, Mrs Braverman said: “I'll tell you who’s at fault, it’s very clear. It’s the people who are breaking our rules, coming here illegally exploiting vulnerable people & trying to abuse the generosity of the British people.”

She said new “legal frameworks” were needed to prevent migrants “gaining and buying time in the UK” by using “spurious claims about asylum and modern slavery”.

In the Commons, Robert Jenrick, Immigration minister, said legal changes were being considered to ensure UK laws were “sufficiently robust”.

“We are in agreement that individuals should only come to this country if they are genuine asylum seekers fleeing persecution, war or human rights abuses, not asylum shoppers who pass through multiple safe countries including France, certainly not if they come from demonstrably safe countries like Albania,” he said.

“We should pursue all options including Rwanda to create the right amount of deterrence to deter people from making the crossing.”

Changes to law

It is believed one option being considered is to change the law to treat Albania like an EU country which would mean migrants from the Balkan state would not be entitled to claim asylum. They could also be barred from making last-minute claims to be victims of modern slavery.

Home Office figures on Thursday will reveal a record number of illegal migrants have reached the UK across the Channel in the year to September. So far 42,000 have crossed this year, of which 12,000 are Albanians.

They are also expected to show the cost of the backlog of more than 120,000 asylum applications has hit a record high of more than £2 billion.

MPs were told staff are being offered bonuses of up to £2,500 to stay on, new targets to triple the number of cases they process are being introduced and the number of caseworkers is being increased from 1,000 to 1,500.