Home Secretary Suella Braverman says new small boats legislation ‘not breaking’ international law
The home secretary has told Sky News the government’s new plan to stop small boat migrants arriving in the UK is “not breaking the law”.
Suella Braverman said she is “very confident” the measures announced on Tuesday “are in compliance with our international law obligations”.
The government revealed its new plan to stop migrants entering the UK on small boats, after more than 45,000 crossed the Channel last year.
Home secretary defends new law after UN criticism – latest politics updates
Under the plans, arrivals will be detained within the first 28 days without bail or judicial review and the majority would be unable to make claims to stop deportation until they have been returned to the country they came from or a “safe third country such as Rwanda”.
They will also be banned from claiming UK settlement, citizenship or re-entering the UK if they are removed.
The bill has come under severe criticism from opposition MPs and refugee charities, with Amnesty International and the UN Refugee Agency saying the plans would “amount to an asylum ban”.
Labour described the bill as a “con” that was no more likely to be successful than prior Tory efforts to tackle small boat migration across the Channel.
Ms Braverman admitted on Tuesday the government does not know if the plans are entirely within the conventions of international law.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Government will act now to stop boats’
But she told Sky News’ Kay Burley at Breakfast on Wednesday: “We’re not breaking the law and no government representative has said we’re breaking the law.
“In fact, we’ve made it very clear that we believe we are in compliance with all of our international obligations, for example, the Refugee Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights, other conventions to which we are subject.
“But what’s important is that we do need to take compassionate but necessary and fair measures.
“Now, because there are people who are dying to try and get here. They are breaking our laws. They are abusing the generosity of the British people.”
Ms Braverman’s insistence comes despite a statement by her on the first page of the published bill, which says: “I am unable to make a statement that, in my view, the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill are compatible with the Convention rights, but the government nevertheless wishes the House to proceed with the bill.”
And in a letter to Conservative MPs and peers urging them to back the bill, Ms Braverman insisted it “does not mean the provisions in the bill are incompatible” with the Human Rights Act.
“Only that there is a more 50% chance that they may not be,” the letter said.
“We are testing the limits but remain confident that this bill is compatible with international law.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What is new small boats bill?
Labour: ‘Govt not tackling problem’
The home secretary told Sky News the new plan is the only way to “break the model of the people smuggling gangs” who charge thousands of pounds to transport people across the Channel in small and often overpacked boats.
But Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the new bill does not tackle the cause of the problem, as she accused the government of failing to tackle the smuggling gangs.
She said there need to be return agreements with other European countries from which the gangs operate.
“They’re not actually tackling the problem,” she told Sky News.
“We think you should get return agreements in place with Europe as part of a wider agreement, particularly with France and Belgium.
“ I think if you did that then you wouldn’t need many of the things that the government has talked because that actually would be at the heart of it.”
Migrants are brought into Dover on 6 March
No dates for first removals and more detention centres
Ms Braverman said people will be able to claim asylum in the UK but “they should choose to come here through safe and legal routes” so they are not breaking the law.
“We have a very generous regime of supporting people coming here lawfully for humanitarian protection,” Ms Braverman added.
“What we can’t go on accepting is people breaking our laws.”
Under the new plan, the government has said new detention centres will be opened, including on military bases, however, Ms Braverman said she could not provide dates of when and where they will open as there are “logistical challenges” – but it will be “very soon”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Small boats crackdown ‘necessary and fair’
She also said she could not give a date for when the first failed asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda and said the government is doubling the number of asylum caseworkers by more than 2,000 to get through the large backlog of cases.
Ms Braverman said it is costing £6 million a day to house asylum claimants in hotels but could not provide details of how much the new plans will save the taxpayer.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will face Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions later on Wednesday, where he is certain to challenge him on the new plans.
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Follow live: Latest updates as flights halted
Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024