The problem for the right hon. Member is that he has a scheme that is likely now to cost £400 million and that is only likely to cover less than 1%, and perhaps less than 0.1%, of the people arriving in this country. That is why the permanent secretary has said that there is no evidence of a deterrent. We need the practical measures to take action to go after the criminal gangs and to work with our neighbours. He says that the Government are doing that already, so how come there has been a drop of 30% in the number of people convicted for people smuggling? If they are really going after the criminal gangs when we know that people smuggling across the channel has rocketed, how come convictions for people smuggling have plummeted by 30%? That is the evidence that the Government are failing to do the basics to tackle those practical things.
Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Yvette Cooper
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 12 December 2023.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
742 c763 
Session
2023-24
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2023-12-13 21:22:44 +0000
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