Illegal Migration Bill has ‘too many problems for one speech’ – Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury has launched stinging criticisms of the government’s Illegal Migration Bill – saying it has “too many problems for one speech”.
Archbishop Justin Welby was speaking as the House of Lords begins debating the legislation, which the government wants to use to prevent people arriving in the UK by non-traditional means from claiming asylum.
The archbishop added he does not think the bill will even “temporarily stop the boats”, and that it does not take into account global factors.
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“It is isolationist, it is morally unacceptable and politically impractical to let the poorest countries deal with the crisis alone and cut our international aid,” he added.
The bill also looks to limit the ability of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent the deportation of asylum seekers.
The archbishop was not the only member of the House of Lords to criticise the bill, with Labour and Liberal Democrat peers also voicing strong opposition.
Labour’s criticism included quoting former Theresa May – who was present for the debate – when she said the Illegal Migration Bill will drive a “coach and horses through the Modern Slavery Act”.
But there was support for the government’s plan from Lord Howard, the former Tory Party leader, and former Tory cabinet minister Lord Forsyth.
Close to 100 peers were scheduled to speak with around six minutes allowed per person.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman today urged the Lords to “back the bill so we can get on with stopping the boats”.
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Among the criticisms was the government’s attitude to international conventions and agreements – including the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Archbishop Welby said: “The existing global convention and agreements need updating in response to the crises we face today.
“While now inadequate, what those conventions offer is a baseline from which to build a globally shared understanding of what protection must be given to refugees.
“They are not inconvenient obstructions to get round by any legislative means necessary.”
It is not the first time the most senior member of the clergy in the Anglican Church has criticised government migration policy.
The home secretary called for MPs to back the bill
The archbishop made an intervention in the Lords last December, saying that “control has become cruelty” in the migration system – adding that the country needs a system “which balances effective, accurate and clear control with compassion and dignity, a system which is based in our history and proper moral responsibilities”.
Archbishop Welby also branded the Rwanda deportation scheme “opposite the nature of God” just over a year ago after it was announced by the Boris Johnson administration.
During today’s speech, he called for some intervention – but not in the current form.
“We need a bill to reform migration. We need a bill to stop the boats. We need a bill to destroy the evil tribe of traffickers. The tragedy is that without much change, this is not that bill,” he said.
The Liberal Democrats are trying to block the bill today in the Lords, but both Labour and the archbishop say they will not support the motion as they believe it will lead to the government forcing through the legislation without the chance for the Lords to amend it.
While some amendments will be tabled today, the key votes are expected later this summer.
No one has yet been sent to Rwanda, with the Illegal Migration Bill aiming to make this easier and make legal challenges less likely to stick.
Another pillar of the plan is the hosting of people arriving in the UK at former military bases and on ships before they are ex-patriated.
One such vessel – the Bibby Stockholm barge – has just arrived in the UK for refurbishment, after which it will head to Portland on the Dorset coast, where it will host migrants.
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Jim Draper, the leader of Portland town council, told Sky News this morning that the authority “had sort of been promised some money” by the government, but had not seen any of it yet.
Mr Draper said his “small council on the south coast can’t really stand up to the might of the Home Office”, even with threats of legal action made by their own – Tory – MP, Richard Drax.
More than 100 politicians from 24 different countries, including the UK, the US and the EU, have written a joint letter condemning China over the “arbitrary detention and unfair trial” of Jimmy Lai, a tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner.
The parliamentarians, led by senior British Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, are “urgently” demanding the immediate release of the 77-year-old British citizen, who has been held in solitary confinement at a maximum security prison in Hong Kong for almost four years.
The letter – which will be embarrassing for Beijing – was made public on the eve of Mr Lai’s trial resuming and on the day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G20 summit of economic powers in Brazil.
It also comes as Hong Kong jailed 45 pro-democracy activists.
The group of politicians, who also include representatives from Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Ukraine and France, said Mr Lai’s treatment was “inhumane”.
“He is being tried on trumped-up charges arising from his peaceful promotion of democracy, his journalism and his human rights advocacy,” they wrote in the letter, which has been seen by Sky News.
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“The world is watching as the rule of law, media freedom and human rights in Hong Kong are eroded and undermined.
“We stand together in our defence of these fundamental freedoms and in our demand that Jimmy Lai be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Sir Keir raised the case of Mr Lai during remarks released at the start of his talks with Mr Xi on Monday – the first meeting between a British prime minister and the Chinese leader in six years.
The prime minister could be heard expressing concerns about reports of Mr Lai’s deteriorating health. However, he did not appear to call for his immediate release.
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Ms Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Stamford in the East Midlands, said the meeting had been an opportunity to be unequivocal that the UK expects Mr Lai to be freed.
“Jimmy Lai is being inhumanely persecuted for standing up for basic human values,” she said in a statement, released alongside the letter.
“He represents the flame of freedom millions seek around the world.
“We have a duty to fight for Jimmy Lai as a British citizen, and to take a stand against the Chinese Community Party’s erosion of rule of law in Hong Kong.
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“This letter represents the strength of international feeling and commitment of parliamentarians globally to securing Jimmy Lai’s immediate release and return to the UK with his family.”
Mr Lai was famously the proprietor of the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily in Hong Kong, which wrote scathing reports about the local authorities and the communist government in mainland China after Britain handed back the territory to Beijing in 1997.
The tabloid was a strong supporter of pro-democracy protesters who took to the streets of Hong Kong to demonstrate against the government in 2019.
But the media mogul was arrested the following year – one of the first victims of a draconian new security law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party.
His newspaper was closed after his bank accounts were frozen.
Mr Lai has since been convicted of illegal assembly and fraud. He is now on trial for sedition over articles published in Apple Daily.
World
Hong Kong jails 45 pro-democracy activists after accusing them of trying to overthrow the city’s government
Forty-five pro-democracy activists have been jailed in Hong Kong’s largest ever national security trial.
The activists sentenced with jail terms ranging from four years to ten years were accused of conspiracy to commit subversion after holding an unofficial primary election in Hong Kong in 2020.
They were arrested in 2021.
Hong Kong authorities say the defendants were trying to overthrow the territory’s government.
Democracy activist Benny Tai received the longest sentence of ten years. He became the face of the movement when thousands of protesters took to the city’s streets during the “Umbrella Movement” demonstrations.
However, Hong Kong officials accused him of being behind the plan to organise elections to select candidates.
Tai had pleaded guilty, his lawyers argued he believed his election plan was allowed under the city’s Basic Law.
Another prominent activist Joshua Wong received a sentence of more than four years.
Joshua Wong was sentenced to more than four years Pic: AP
Wong became one of the leading figures in the protests. His activism started as a 15 year old when he spearheaded a huge rally against a government plan to change the school curriculum.
Then in 2019 Hong Kong erupted in protests after the city’s government proposed a bill that would allow extradition to mainland China. It peaked in June 2019 when Amnesty International reported that up to two million people marched on the streets, paralysing parts of Hong Kong’s business district.
The extradition bill was later dropped but it had ignited a movement demanding political change and freedom to elect their own leaders in Hong Kong.
China’s central government called the protests “riots” that could not continue.
Hong Kong introduced a national security law in the aftermath of the protests.
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A woman is taken away by police outside the court Pic: Reuters
The US has called the trial “politically motivated”.
Dozens of family and friends of the accused were waiting for the verdict outside the West Kowloon Magistrates Court.
British citizen and media mogul Jimmy Lai is due to testify on Wednesday.
Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Brazil, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told China’s President Xi Jinping he’s concerned about the health of Lai.
He faces charges of fraud and the 2019 protests. He has also been charged with sedition and collusion with foreign forces.
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