BORDER Security Minister Alex Norris has said Labour MPs should not “defend the status quo” by opposing the government’s latest plans for control immigration.
Speaking on GB News, he dismissed claims from some Labour MPs that the government’s new immigration plans are racist: “Well, I know what they want. And again, I think it’s what your viewers want as well.
“They want an ordered system where people don’t come irregularly, where people don’t jump the queue, meaning that those who have legitimate asylum claims aren’t able to get them processed swiftly and on with their lives.
“And I know that they want one that reflects our values of compassion. I want those things too, but I say to my colleagues, I’ll be talking to them, or listening closely to them as I will across Parliament, and to the British public, that we need a system that is ordered at our borders.
“We need that control. If we don’t, we won’t have the confidence of the British public, and we will lose permission on the asylum system. So I’d ask them not to defend a status quo that isn’t working for anyone.”
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Asked about protests in Crowborough in East Sussex, where some people claim they have not been consulted about plans for a camp for migrants, he said: “Well, that’s not quite fair. We do engage with the local authorities, with the police, with the fire service, the health services, to make sure that the impact of those facilities treads as lightly as possible on the people who live in those communities permanently.
“But we need to understand the context here right now, there will be migrants getting messages, or potential migrants getting messages from human traffickers saying, come to Britain. You will be housed in a hotel, and you will be able to work in the illegal economy.
“I make no apologies for changing those two things, and that means that, rather than hotels that are in the middle of communities, they’re important economic drivers, that instead they’re being used for their initial purpose, and we’re using more austere settings, such as barracks. I think that’s the right thing to do.
“What I would say to viewers is we don’t want anybody to be supported in this way. This is a new phenomenon that came about when the previous government stopped assessing claims. So we’re churning through that backlog.
“We’re also doing the things we’re doing today to reduce the number of people seeking to come to this country illegally, and when we do that, that means we’ll get out of hotels, and we won’t have to have these facilities being used there in people’s communities.”
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer should step aside as Prime Minister, Norris said: “Keir Starmer is doing a great job. If you just take the last week, the improvements we’ve made that meant that NHS waiting lists are now falling. The first small modular nuclear reactor, which is going to change energy in this country, and now the reforms we’re doing to the asylum system that I know your viewers are so keen on.
“So, no, I know Ange well. She’s a very good friend of mine. I used to be one of her junior ministers. I know she supports the government 100% and she wants to see us succeed, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
