"We must fix the broken system, take back control of our borders and stop the boats," writes High Peak MP Robert Largan in his latest column.

At successive elections, the British people have voted for controlled borders and limited immigration. The British people believe in a sense of fairness, but the current system isn't fair and it isn't sustainable. 

The volume of illegal small boat arrivals has overwhelmed our asylum system. Last year, some 45,000 people illegally entered the UK by small boat. As a result, the asylum backlog has ballooned to over 160,000. The asylum system now costs the British taxpayer £3billion a year, with £6million a day spent on hotel accommodation alone. 

Those who arrived by small boat travelled through multiple safe countries in which they could and should have claimed asylum. Many originated from safe countries such as Albania. The vast majority – 74 per cent in 2021 – were adult males under the age of 40, rich enough to pay criminal gangs thousands of pounds for passage. 

The Government is already taking action, delivering the largest ever small boats deal with France; a new agreement with Albania; a new, permanent, unified Small Boats Operational Command with 700 new staff; tougher immigration enforcement; and a plan to clear the initial asylum backlog by the end of 2023 and move migrants out of expensive hotels. 

But the case for further action and reform of our broken asylum system is obvious and urgent. 

That's why the Government has introduced the new Illegal Migration Bill. Under this new law, anyone entering the UK illegally will be detained and removed to a safe country within weeks. They will also not be able to claim asylum in the UK or make spurious claims to frustrate their removal. 

I have no doubt that the Labour Party will fight these proposals tooth and nail. At every opportunity, they have opposed any action that would make a real difference on getting control of our borders, including opposing the deportation of foreign convicted murderers and sex offenders. 

Labour has no plan to stop the boats. Labour doesn’t want to stop the boats. 

However, I will be supporting this new Illegal Immigration Bill and working hard to get it passed into law as soon as possible. 

There is nothing compassionate about tolerating illegal entry into the UK and allowing criminal gangs to exploit our broken asylum system and the world’s most vulnerable people. 

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. But while our compassion to help may be unlimited, our capacity to do so is not. 

According to the UN, there are at least 100 million displaced people in the world who 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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