It is a pleasure to contribute to this incredibly important debate. I was very happy to sign the amendments tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick)—amendments 11 to 18 and 23 to 25. I was also happy to support his amendments and the amendment from my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) yesterday. I have concerns about the Bill as it stands. I want exactly the same thing as the Minister, which is for the boats to stop, and they will only stop if we have a deterrent. I have not seen an example across the world of this situation being properly dealt with without a deterrent, and it is critically important that we have one.
5.45 pm
It concerns me that the exceptionally narrow grounds for individual appeal will not be as narrow as the Government perhaps hoped. That is potentially why we heard talk about the 150 judges yesterday, which caused me some alarm. In some respects, why are some of us on the Government Benches so cynical? Why do some of us have so many concerns that this Bill may not work in the way we hope? It is experience, and the fact that we have voted for two Bills before—the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the Illegal Migration Act 2023—that we hoped would work comprehensively but have not done so. It is right that the Government highlight the reduction in small boat crossings by a third, but it is nowhere near enough. We will not be thanked by the people of this country for not smashing those crossings comprehensively.