Read High Peak MP Robert Largan's latest column.

The University of Derby have submitted a planning application to convert High Peak Halls in Buxton into a large-scale Asylum Dispersal Centre.

Derbyshire Police have said that the location would be “unsuitable” and have said that “persons with existing vulnerabilities would be put at risk” if an Asylum Dispersal Centre were to open at the Buxton town centre site.

I am supporting our local police and opposing these plans. Buxton town centre is the wrong place for an Asylum Dispersal Centre.

This is a symptom of a much wider problem. Last year, some 45,000 people illegally entered the UK by small boat. All travelled through multiple safe countries in which they could have claimed asylum. Many came originally from safe countries like Albania. The vast majority – 66 per cent in 2022 – were adult males under the age of 40, rich enough to pay criminal gangs thousands of pounds for passage.

The asylum system now costs the British taxpayer £3 billion a year. This is totally unsustainable.

That’s why I am backing the Government’s new Illegal Migration Bill to tackle this issue. Under these new laws, anyone entering illegally will not be able to claim asylum and will be detained immediately and removed to a safe country within weeks.

Frustratingly, Labour have been fighting tooth and nail against these plans, just as they opposed the deportation of foreign convicted murderers and sex offenders.

Labour have no plan to stop the boats. Labour don’t want to stop the boats.

I am proud of the generosity of the British people and our long history of providing safe haven to the world’s most vulnerable people. Most recently, we have offered sanctuary to many people from Ukraine. But there is nothing compassionate about tolerating illegal entry into the UK and allowing criminal gangs to exploit our broken asylum system. We must act.

According to the UN, there are at least 100 million displaced people in the world who potentially qualify for asylum under our current laws. Those who advocate de facto open borders and unlimited, uncontrolled migration need to be honest about exactly what that would mean in reality.

Enough is enough. We must fix the broken system, take back control of our borders and stop the boats.

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