Immigration is a topic that comes up a lot on the door, particularly at the moment with both the Conservatives and Reform seeking to make political hay from appearing tough on asylum seekers. However, it is Labour, as the party of government who are taking the action to tackle the criminal gangs who profit from the misery of others and push tens of thousands of people onto dangerous boats each year.

For three years, the previous Conservative Government poured all its energy and resources into trying to make the failed Rwanda scheme work, instead of focusing on the real source of the small boats problem – the organised criminality behind the highly lucrative trade in people smuggling. Over 84,000 people crossed the Channel since the scheme was announced.

The Conservative Government also collapsed our asylum decision-making system creating a record asylum backlog and then wasting millions of taxpayer money housing the increasing number of asylum seekers in hotels. At the height of asylum hotel use, the Conservatives had 400 hotels in operation at a cost of almost £9 million a day. We also inherited a huge overspend on asylum and immigration costs, and millions wasted on failed accommodation plans at Scampton and Bexhill.

This Labour Government is working hard to clean up the mess left by the last government. Starting with removals, since we came to office, 18,987 people with no right to be in the UK have been removed, the highest number since 2018 and 2,925 foreign criminals have been removed – a 21% increase on last year. Redeployment of staff from the Rwanda scheme is allowing us to start clearing the asylum backlog which will allow us to end the use of expensive hotel accommodation.

We are determined to continue that progress, which is why on Monday, we had the second reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill in Parliament. This will introduce counter-terror style powers to be used to stop people smugglers before they act, including new offences against gangs conspiring to plan crossings and supplying forged ID documents. The Bill will also make it an offence to endanger another life at sea, including by preventing offers of rescue.

Immigration will always play a role in meeting skills and labour shortages, but I want to see a British growth strategy that doesn’t rely exclusively on it. We need much better domestic skills plans, better pay and conditions and better investment in tech solutions to boost productivity.