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A Tory MP has warned of a “wave” and “swarm” of migrants coming to the UK as the Commons debated the government’s controversial legislation to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel.

MPs have been discussing the Illegal Migration Bill tonight as it goes through its latest parliamentary stage before it can become law, as around 100 protesters gathered outside to voice their opposition to the plans.

While some Tories have hit out against “lefty lawyers” for making action on those arriving difficult, other opposition MPs have insisted the UK is “not swamped by refugees” and merely has an “incompetent government”.

The bill’s controversial proposals, which home secretary Suella Braverman has admitted may not adhere to international human rights laws, aim to stop people from making the perilous journey to the UK by boat after more than 45,000 people took the route from France last year.

But with clauses allowing the detention and swift removal of asylum seekers, it has received condemnation from refugee charities and opposition parties, who said the plans were “costly”, “unworkable”, and “promise nothing but more demonisation and punishment of asylum seekers”.

The government was forced to promise some changes to the bill late in the day after some of its own backbenchers threatened to rebel over the role of the courts and the introduction of new safe and legal routes.

But other amendments by opposition parties failed to get enough support to influence the legislation.

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Arrivals ‘make a nonsense’ of immigration system

Speaking during the debate, Tory MP Sir John Hayes echoed words Ms Braverman had used about migrants and asylum seekers, which caused a backlash against the minister earlier this year.

He said the bill offered the chance to “deal once and for all with the matter of the boats arriving in Dover”.

The MP for South Holland and The Deepings in Lincolnshire added: “And I do use the words ‘tide’, ‘wave’… I think the home secretary described it as a ‘swarm’… of people coming here who know they are arriving illegally, who know they are breaking the law.

“For they know they have no papers or right to be here and therefore make a nonsense of an immigration system which must have integrity if it is to garner and maintain popular support.”

Influential Brexiteer John Hayes has been awarded a knighthood
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Sir John Hayes is part of a group of Tory MPs pushing for tougher measures in the bill

Continuing his speech, the veteran backbencher added: “It isn’t too much to make that simple statement, is it? It isn’t too much to expect a government maintains lawful control of our borders?

“And yet I hear constantly… that somehow that is militant, unreasonable, extreme. It is anything but those things.

“It is modest, it is moderate, it is just, it is virtuous to have a system which means that people who come here come here lawfully and the people who come here seeking asylum are dealt with properly.”

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Rebels on two fronts for the government

Sir John was among a number of Tory backbenchers who had been threatening to rebel against the bill if it did not include tougher measures to block the courts, especially the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), from intervening on deportation decisions.

Sir Bill Cash warned of “judicial activism” over the policy, while Jack Brereton spoke of “activist lefty lawyers” blocking the removal of migrants.

Danny Kruger echoed those arguments and called for “no more pyjama injunctions in the middle of the night” from the ECHR.

But fellow Tory Laura Farris said her colleagues “should be very wary of quick fixes”, adding: “We said throughout the Brexit debate we would be taking back control of our borders, but it is more complex than that.”

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What is new small boats bill?

The rebel group calling for tougher measures on court intervention had promised not to push an amendment containing its plans to a vote after conversations with ministers over the weekend, who apparently promised to act on their concerns.

And immigration minister Robert Jenrick ensured the amendment’s withdrawal after his speech wrapping up the debate, promising to “engage closely with colleagues” ahead of the next stage of the bill.

He added: “We are united in our determination this bill would be a robust bill, that it will be able to survive the kind of egregious and vexatious challenges that we have seen in the past, and that it will enable us to do the job and remove illegal immigrants to safe third countries like Rwanda.”

However, the government was facing dissent from its own ranks on two fronts.

Other Conservatives from the more liberal wings of the party were calling for the government to create and improve safe and legal routes for those seeking asylum in the UK – a move which would likely have gained the support of opposition parties who plan to vote down the bill.

Tory MP Tim Loughton said he would push his own amendment to a vote unless he got “some substantial reassurances from the government” that new routes will be introduced as part of the bill.

Tim Loughton says the Brexit deal means trade envoys have been leading other governments 'up the garden path'
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Tim Loughton brought forward an amendment

Earlier, Mr Loughton told the Commons: “We need to be ruthless against the people smugglers who benefit from this miserable trade.

“[And] we want to continue to offer safe haven for those genuinely escaping danger and persecution and in a sustainable way.

“And that is why safe and legal routes is the obvious antidote to this problem.”

The Tory MP added: “I think this bill is a genuine attempt to get to grips with [the small boats issue].

“It would be much more palatable and much more workable if it contained a balance that has safe and legal routes written into the bill that comes in at the same stage.”

But again, Mr Jenrick announced changes to the plan to win over Mr Loughton and his supporters – promising to bring in new safe and legal routes next year.

The minister added: “As the prime minister has said, it is precisely because we want to help genuine refugees that we need to take full control of our borders.

“Safe and legal routes like those that we have brought forward in recent years, the safe and legal routes that have enabled almost half a million people to come into our country for humanitarian purposes since 2015, are exactly how we will achieve that.”

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‘Moral outrage’

The debate also saw critics of the bill voice their concerns.

Labour’s shadow immigration minister, Stephen Kinnock, said: “We on these benches are absolutely clear that we must bring the dangerous Channel crossings to an end and that we must destroy the criminal activity of the people smugglers.

“[But this bill only offers] headline chasing gimmicks which are the stock and trade of the benches opposite.”

He said even with the measures proposed, “the boats will keep on coming, the backlog will keep on growing and the hotels will keep on filling”, and said the plan was “not really worth the paper it is written on” and was “a dog’s breakfast”.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron also called the bill “dozy” and “dangerous”.

“We are not swamped by refugees,” he added. “We have a system, an asylum system, run by an incompetent government.

“What is maybe the most morally outrageous thing about this whole debate is that these people, whether they are genuine asylum seekers or not… they are being blamed for the government’s incompetence. What a moral outrage.”

MPs will return to the Commons tomorrow afternoon to debate the bill further.

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Second-largest population increase in England and Wales in over 75 years – mainly fuelled by migration

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Second-largest population increase in England and Wales in over 75 years - mainly fuelled by migration

The population of England and Wales has grown by more than 700,000 in the year to June 2024 – the second-largest increase in over 75 years.

The change was largely fuelled by international migration, with natural change – the difference between births and deaths – accounting for only a small proportion.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there were an estimated 61.8 million people in England and Wales in mid-2024, up from 61.1 million the year before.

It is the second-largest numerical jump since at least 1949, when comparable data began.

And it is behind only the rise of 821,210 that took place in the preceding 12 months from mid-2022 to mid-2023.

Nigel Henretty of the ONS said the population of the two countries has increased each year since mid-1982, but said the rate of population increases has been higher in recent years.

“Net international migration continues to be the main driver of this growth, continuing the long-term trend seen since the turn of the century,” he said.

Net international migration – the difference between people moving to the country and leaving – accounted for 690,147 of the estimated population increase of 706,881 people, or 98% of the total.

There were slightly more births than deaths in the most recent year, which added 29,982 to the population.

There was also a net decrease in internal migration – the number of people moving from England and Wales to elsewhere in the UK.

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‘Simmering’ division in town where hotel for asylum seekers is beacon for unrest

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'Simmering' division in town where hotel for asylum seekers is beacon for unrest

In Altrincham near Manchester, two opposing groups have gathered to throw insults at each other across the A56.

“Fascists! Racists!” shouts one lot.

On the opposing verge, they shout back: “Shame on you!”

Then both sides chant: “Whose streets? Our streets!”

Cars flash between them, some adding hoots to the noise.

It’s 5pm on Sunday and much of the nation is united watching the Lionesses in the Euro finals.

Yet here is a dual carriageway of division formed in front of what has become a beacon for unrest – a hotel housing asylum seekers.

Anti-migration protesters on opposite the hotel in Altrincham
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Anti-migration protesters opposite the hotel in Altrincham

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Counter-protesters show their support for the refugees

Sky News has been testing the mood in Altrincham since locals were first informed last November that the Cresta Court Hotel was being repurposed from accommodating short business stays and local events into lodgings for hundreds of male asylum seekers who crossed the Channel on small boats.

Over the course of eight months there have been angry town meetings, regular low-level protests and last Sunday around 80 people from each side turned up outside the hotel with banners, flags and loudspeakers.

“We stopped the Germans, why can’t we stop dinghies,” says local man Dave Haydock under a St George’s cross cap.

“We’re paying for them to be in there and there’s British people out on the streets,” added local businessman Steve, who is waving a Union Flag. “They’re not fleeing a war to come to Britain – they’re coming from France – they are coming because of all the benefits – and everyone in the UK now knows that.”

Dave Haydock speak to Sky's Jason Farrell
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Dave Haydock speak to Sky’s Jason Farrell

The demonstrators on either side of the A56
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The demonstrators on either side of the A56

Cost, benefits and risk to women are recurring themes.

“These people coming over without any documentation,” says local Clare Jones as she points in the direction of two schools. “I’m not a racist. I’m just a concerned mum. I don’t feel safe in my own community.”

A man behind a mask who didn’t want to appear on camera says the media “sneers” at these protests because the media is middle class and “this is a working-class movement”.

Altrincham is one of Manchester’s most affluent towns, but there are much poorer areas close by.

The social demographic at the protests was mixed.

On either side of the A56 I met business owners, nurses, teachers and pensioners.

Both groups were also largely made up of locals.

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Home Office threatens asylum seekers with homelessness

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A handful of social media “professional” protesters also turned up, pointing cameras at anything they could film – making selfie videos for their TikTok and YouTube followers.

A small line of police officers was in place to keep the peace.

The counter-protesters forming a line to protect the hotel. Described as “lefties” by the anti-migrant demonstrators, the counter-protesters feel that the people opposite are either “far right, fascists” or “being manipulated by the far right”.

Altrincham resident Alison O’Connell said “this is very frightening” as she pointed at the anti-migrant demonstrators. “We are just here to show support for the refugees in the hotel,” she added.

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Alison O’Connell

Counter-protester Steph Phoenix said: “Knowing personally people in the hotels, I know they are not coming for our money. These people are desperate. They don’t come over for a laugh, they are coming over because they are escaping something terrible in their own country.”

Nahella Ashraf, co-chair of Greater Manchester Stand Up To Racism, said: “There needs to be an honest conversation about what the problems are in society. Refugees are not to blame. People are worried about the cost of living crisis, but it’s not caused by refugees. By housing people in these hotels, we’ve not taken accommodation away from anyone in Britain.”

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Steph Phoenix, right, says the asylum seekers are ‘desperate’

Migrants disappeared into their rooms during the protest, some peering out of their bedroom windows.

Their voices are rarely heard in this debate.

The next day, hotel security advised them not to talk to us.

Those we did speak to all had stories of fleeing instability and threat. Some had just arrived, others had been here months.

Many were anxious about the protests, but equally not put off from their decision to come.

One said he had recently told a local who had been abusive: “I struggled to get here. It was just luck you were born here.”

The fears of increased crime expressed by residents in November don’t appear to have transpired. But Conservative councillor Nathan Evans, who called the first town meeting, says groups of men in the park, men praying in the public library and warning letters from schools to parents about groups of men near the school gates have all caused “an unease across the town”. He says he has warned the police of a “simmering issue”.

Protesters on either side don’t agree on much but both see the hotel as a symbol of broken promises from successive governments – a failure to manage migration in a way that doesn’t inflame communities. What remains is anger.

Managing and containing that anger is a growing challenge.

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How is Starmer’s government doing? Here’s what ‘end-of-term’ report from voters says

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How is Starmer's government doing? Here's what 'end-of-term' report from voters says

One year on, how’s Keir Starmer’s government going? We’ve put together an end-of-term report with the help of pollster YouGov.

First, here are the government’s approval ratings – drifting downwards.

It didn’t start particularly high. There has never been a honeymoon.

But here is the big change. Last year’s Labour voters now disapprove of their own government. That wasn’t true at the start – but is now.

And remember, it’s easier to keep your existing voter coalition together than to get new ones from elsewhere.

So we have looked at where voters who backed Labour last year have gone now.

YouGov’s last mega poll shows half of Labour voters last year – 51% – say they would vote for them again if an election was held tomorrow.

Around one in five (19%) say they don’t know who they’d vote for – or wouldn’t vote.

But Labour are also leaking votes to the Lib Dems, Greens and Reform.

These are the main reasons why.

A sense that Labour haven’t delivered on their promises is top – just above the cost of living. Some 22% say they’ve been too right-wing, with a similar number saying Labour have “made no difference”. Immigration and public services are also up there.

Now, YouGov asked people whether they think the cabinet is doing a good or a bad job, and combined the two figures together to get a net score.

John Healey and Bridget Phillipson are on top, but the big beats of Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves bottom.

But it’s not over for Labour.

Here’s one scenario – 2024 Labour voters say they would much prefer a Labour-led government over a Conservative one.

But what about a Reform UK-led government? Well, Labour polls even better against them – just 11% of people who voted Labour in 2024 want to see them enter Number 10.

Signs of hope for Keir Starmer. But as Labour MPs head off for their summer holidays, few of their voters would give this government an A*.

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