It comes as the Home Secretary will today set out her plans for massive reforms to Britain’s migration policy
It comes as the Home Secretary will today set out her plans for massive reforms to Britain’s migration policy in a bid to bring down the numbers of people entering the country and woo voters leaning towards Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
The plans include a Trump-style visa ban on African nations that refuse to take back people who have entered the UK illegally.
Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Alex Norris, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, claimed the Government’s plans will “restore order” to the UK’s immigration system and end the “golden ticket” many claim Britain gives to people making the move here.
“The Home Secretary this afternoon will announce the biggest changes to our asylum system in modern times,” Mr Norris said.
“We are in this situation where asylum claims are falling across Europe, but in the UK are up considerably.
“There is something different going on that we have to address. So our policy will have three aspects to it.
“Firstly, to reduce the reasons and the ability for people to come to this country illegally.
“Secondly, that when people are assessed to not have a legitimate reason to be in this country or commit crimes, to make sure they can be removed more easily, and then finally, to establish safe and legal routes so that people aren't coming across the continent, aren't coming across the Channel in those dangerous ways.”
Among the changes touted by Mr Norris are the route to settlement, which allows immigrants to claim benefits, being increased from five years to 20 years.
“People believe that Britain's seen as the golden ticket, that if you come to Britain, you'll be put up in a hotel, you'll be able to work illegally and then you'll be allowed to stay and after five years, access the NHS, access social housing, and we're changing that.”
Part of the reforms include limiting the number of asylum appeals a person can make to just one, where previously a person could appeal as many times as they wanted.
With these changes, if a person has their appeal rejected a single time, they will be removed from the country.
“We're an open, generous and tolerant country, but you have to have rules,” Mr Norris said.“And if people fail in their asylum application or if they commit crimes, then they need to be removed from the country.
“We've removed 50,000 since we came to office, which is a 10-year high, but we need to do much more.”
Finally, the Government will look to establish more “safe and legal” routes for migration, in theory removing the appeal of making dangerous small boat crossings across the Channel.
“When there have been safe routes, such as the Syrian scheme, the Afghan resettlement scheme, homes for Ukraine, the Hong Kong BNO scheme, things that have been orderly, been managed, actually, communities across the country have really stepped up to get involved.
“Civil society, faith groups, local authorities. But they can't do that at the moment because of the loss of control and the unfairness in the system.
“I know the British people, I know how generous, how tolerant they are, so I think actually people will lean into that, but they won't do that until and unless we have that control at our borders. And that's what this package is designed to tackle.”
The Home Secretary vowed to bring "order and control back into our system" by creating new "safe" routes for people arriving in the UK.
The changes are part of wide-ranging measures to dramatically increase deportations.
Shabana Mahmood said: “In Britain, we play by the rules. When I said there would be penalties for countries that do not take back criminals and illegal immigrants, I meant it.
“My message to foreign governments today is clear: accept the return of your citizens or lose the privilege of entering our country.”
Under the proposals, refugees will also be forced to return to their home countries as soon as it is deemed safe under the new reforms.
Earlier, Ms Mahmood pledged to end this “golden ticket” which the government said had seen asylum claims surge in the UK, drawing people across Europe, through safe countries and onto dangerous small boats.
Ms Mahmood has insisted, over recent days, that Labour has spearheaded "record levels" of immigration raids and arrests, and that nearly 50,000 people with no right to be in the UK had been returned.
Speaking with LBC on Sunday, the Immigration and Citizenship Minister Mike Tapp said the Home Secretary's "sweeping changes" to the UK's asylum system come as Brits are "fed up" with being seen as a "soft touch".
Branding immigration a "moral mission", the Home Secretary's overhaul of the UK immigration system is set to be based on the Danish asylum model – with asylum seekers who travel to the UK illegally set face a 20-year wait to gain settled status.
"Of course we must help people – it's British values, to be fair. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be firm," said Mr Tapp, speaking to LBC's Iain Dale, in for Lewis Goodall on Sunday.
"We accept that the public are fed up. We're fed up with the asylum shopping that's going on across Europe," he said.
Speaking on what this means for those who might marry and have children with an English person, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal said there would be flexibility for those who "integrating"."Of course, after 20 years, and there'll be a system where if you're contributing and if you're integrating, then that time can come down," he said.
"It's important that people that come here do contribute to society and that they integrate, because that has been a part of the problem."
