Starmer pledges to ‘rebuild Britain’s broken asylum system’
Keir Starmer has pledged that Labour would ârebuild Britainâs broken asylum systemâ if elected at the next general election.
Speaking at a press conference in Dover, the Labour leader said:
I believe in a rules based asylum system. I believe that a system that processes claims quickly and humanely, that finds ways without squeamishness or cruelty to detain and remove people who have no right to be, is essential for security, fairness and justice. It is a form of deterrence in itself.
Because until we are seen around the world as a country that has a firm grip of the processes at our border. Until weâre busting the Home Office backlog, arriving at decisions quickly without a fuss, so we can return people who have no right to be here then yes, Britain will be seen as a soft touch.
And it goes without saying we do not have that effective deterrence of our borders at the moment. Our rules based asylum system isnât working. Ask anyone in this part of the world, that much is obvious.
He says Labour will âsave taxpayers billionsâ by setting up âa new fast track returns and enforcement unit that will make sure the courts can process claims quickly.â
He says âI have no doubt that the British people fully support a rules-based asylum system. No doubt that the fair-minded majority want a system that secures Britainâs borders, and uphold this countryâs fine tradition of providing sanctuary to people fleeing persecution.â
Starmer adds âWe have to restore integrity and rules to our asylum system. We have to clear the backlog so we can return people swiftly.
Key events
Larry Elliott
Our economics editor Larry Elliott offers this analysis of the latest GDP figures:
When you are in as deep a political hole as the current government you seize on any good news and there was plenty for Jeremy Hunt to choose from in the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. The figures were proof that the economy was returning to âfull health for the first time since the pandemicâ, the chancellor said.
Yet when people look back on the early months of 2024 they will probably remember the relentlessly awful weather rather than a time when the economy was cooking with gas. Boom-boom Britain it certainly isnât.
Britainâs growth performance during the current parliament has been extremely weak. National output as measured by gross domestic product is only 1.7% above pre-pandemic levels and adjusted for a rising population per capita, growth has actually fallen â by 1.2%. As things stand, this is on course to be the first parliament in living memory to have seen falling living standards over the term.
Read more of Larry Elliottâs analysis here: Latest GDP figures offer some better news â but boom-boom Britain it ainât
Starmer has finished his press conference now.
Keir Starmer has been asked about whether providing âsafe and legalâ routes is part of the plan. He cites schemes for people from Hong Kong and Afghanistan, then continues on to say:
The really most effective way to stop the crossings is to break gangs that are running this in the first place because they are making a huge amount of money exploiting very vulnerable people. And theyâre doing that with thinking that theyâve got impunity.
He criticises the government for claiming that international courts are preventing them from deporting people. He says:
I think itâs a mistake to think that itâs the international instruments such as the European convention on human rights that are the problem. By the end of this year, thereâll be 100,000 people whoâve arrived whose claims canât be processed. That means they canât be returned. Thatâs not the European Convention that says that. Thatâs just the governmentâs not processing the claim.
He says âWhy are people who come here from Bangladesh not being processed? Sitting here, not going back? The government isnât doing it. This is not difficult territory. Itâs actually, get on, roll your sleeves up, process the claims, and get this system functioning properly. We shouldnât overestimate and talk up the difficulty here. Itâs basic competence. Seriousness, not gimmicks.â
Starmer: Labour should be ‘less tribal’ and ‘carry as many people with us as possible’
Keir Starmer has said Labour should be âless tribalâ in inviting people into the party who want to undertake the serious work he says needs to be done to renew the country.
He says:
If weâre to renew our country, we do need to ensure that we carry as many people with us as possible. And I genuinely think most reasonably-minded people, who may not be into politics all the time ⦠[want] a better country, for their family for their community, and they want the country to go forward.
I want a decade of national renewal where people say, I may not have always voted Labour, but I actually think this is a good serious proposition about improving outcomes.
He said âIâm very pleased to welcome Natalie [Elphicke] to the Labour party. Itâs a very difficult thing to cross the floor of the House of Commons from one party to another. Nobody just does it without a huge amount of thought.â
He says his âchanged Labour party ought to be a place where reasonably-minded people, whichever way they voted in the past, feel that they can join with our projects and change the country for the better. It is an invitation that we should be less tribal, in the pursuit to invite people to our party who want to join in our project of national renewal. And Iâm very pleased to be able to extend that invitation not just to Labour voters, but people who voted for other parties in the pastâ
Keir Starmer has launched an attack on the culture war debate that surrounds immigration, and says the character of politics in Westminster has to change.
âI dragged my party away from the allure of gesture politics, and I will do exactly the same to Westminster,â he says, having outlined that he believes the current culture in Westminster ârewards the grand gesture, the big talk, while disregarding that detailed practical action that over time, moves a nation forward step by step.â
He accuses the Tories of saying they want to reform the asylum system when some of them are acting in bad faith, and simply want to shut it down entirely.
Starmer is taking questions now.
Keir Starmer accuses the government of handing out âa Travelodge amnestyâ and says he has no doubts that gangs are telling people on the French side of the Channel that they will be warmer and more secure in a hotel by travelling across the sea than by staying under canvas near Calais. He also says the current system has something about âHotel Californiaâ to it â that the Tories put asylum seekers into hotels, but then because of the lack of processing, they can never leave.
Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of âmagical thinkingâ with his plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
He said:
Itâs not hard to see why the prime minister might want a path to deterrence without the hard graft, the boring work of fixing the wider system.
But Iâm afraid like so much of what he says these days, it is magical thinking.
A symbol of the unquenchable Tory desire for the shortcut, the easy things, the sticking plaster. Gimmicks, not serious government.
Let me spell it out again, a scheme that will remove less than 1% of arrivals from small boat crossings a year cannot and never will be an effective deterrent.
Starmer pledges to ‘rebuild Britain’s broken asylum system’
Keir Starmer has pledged that Labour would ârebuild Britainâs broken asylum systemâ if elected at the next general election.
Speaking at a press conference in Dover, the Labour leader said:
I believe in a rules based asylum system. I believe that a system that processes claims quickly and humanely, that finds ways without squeamishness or cruelty to detain and remove people who have no right to be, is essential for security, fairness and justice. It is a form of deterrence in itself.
Because until we are seen around the world as a country that has a firm grip of the processes at our border. Until weâre busting the Home Office backlog, arriving at decisions quickly without a fuss, so we can return people who have no right to be here then yes, Britain will be seen as a soft touch.
And it goes without saying we do not have that effective deterrence of our borders at the moment. Our rules based asylum system isnât working. Ask anyone in this part of the world, that much is obvious.
He says Labour will âsave taxpayers billionsâ by setting up âa new fast track returns and enforcement unit that will make sure the courts can process claims quickly.â
He says âI have no doubt that the British people fully support a rules-based asylum system. No doubt that the fair-minded majority want a system that secures Britainâs borders, and uphold this countryâs fine tradition of providing sanctuary to people fleeing persecution.â
Starmer adds âWe have to restore integrity and rules to our asylum system. We have to clear the backlog so we can return people swiftly.
Starmer: ‘I don’t doubt’ government will get Rwanda flights off ground, but it is ‘neither an effective deterrent or good use of money’
Keir Starmer has said the current situation with immigration is neither âprogressive and compassionateâ, and says that the government has been dragged from being âa serious party of governmentâ and instead âon to the rocks of their own delusion.â
He said people smuggling was âa criminal enterprise,â going on to say:
We are dealing with a business that pits nation against nation, that thrives in the grey areas of our rules, the cracks between our institutions, where they believe they can exploit some of the most vulnerable people in the world with impunity. A vile trade that preys on the desperation and the hope it finds in its victims.
He listed a series of gimmick policies he said had been announced or leaked to the newspaper by the Tories, then went on to say about the Rwanda scheme:
Can [Rishi Sunakâs Rwanda plan] really be taken as a serious solution to this important challenge? I donât think so. They will get flights off the ground. I donât doubt that. But I also donât doubt that this will not work.
A policy that will see just a few hundred people removed to Rwanda a year. Less than 1% of the people who cross the sea in small boats every year. That is neither an effective deterrent or a good use of your money.
He went on to say:
We will end this farce, we will restore serious government to our borders, tackle this problem at source, and replace the Rwanda policy permanently.
He spoke about a visit he made to a camp in the UK housing asylum seekers in 2016, saying it made him feel âprofoundly depressedâ at how people were being treated, particularly children. He said âPeople had been brutally let down by governments, of course, not just in terms of the awful conditions, but also because the failure of our asylum system had encouraged a false hope.â
He says that âthese people smugglers are no better than terrorists. They are a threat to our national security and a threat to life. And itâs time we treated them as such.â
Keir Starmer said âitâs great to have you on boardâ to Natalie Elphicke.
Yvette Cooper has gone on to say:
Weâve seen the sickening images of violence on the French coast. As gangs push more and more people into these flimsy dinghies, gangs that are part of a network of organised criminals making hundreds of millions of pounds in profits.
Those networks have taken root along our borders over the last five years. We cannot let them get away with it. And that is why we have been working with and hearing from national security experts, border security experts, looking at the experiences of security of successful security operations and approaches around terrorism in the past.
She cited Keir Starmerâs experience of âgoing after terror gangs and networks as director of public prosecutionsâ
She went on to say:
We cannot just stand by while our border security is undermined and lives are put at risk. And instead of the years of Conservative gimmicks, it is time to get a grip.
She then introduced Labourâs candidate for the next election in Dover, Mike Tapp. Elphicke is stepping down at the next election.
He outlined his own experience as a former soldier who served in Afghanistan and work at the National Crime Agency. He then introduced Starmer, saying he was âthe leader we need at this time,â adding:
Somebody who rolls up his sleeves and grips a problem. Somebodywho rejects the cheap headline and the costly gimmick. He offers the leadership our country needs. The first duty of any government is to protect our borders, and with Keir Starmer, you have a patriot and a problem solver, someone who will get the job done.
Natalie Elphicke went on to say:
Nowhere is Rishi Sunakâs lack of delivery clearer on the issue of small boats. They are failing to keep our borders safe and secure. Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels so far this year.
It is clear that Rishi Sunak has failed to keep our borders secure and cannot be trusted. A fresh approach is needed. An approach that puts out his heart a commitment to border security, which tackles the criminal gangs behind the small boats crisis and saves lives.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper is speaking now.
Elphicke: ‘Labour occupies the centre ground’ in British politics
The recently defected new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke has opened this press conference in Dover by boasting that Labour occupies the centre ground in British politics. She said:
As you all know, this week I joined the Labour party to be part of the change our country needs. Under Rishi Sunak the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division. They have abandoned the centre ground and failed to deliver for the British people.
Under Keir Starmer, Labour occupies the centre ground, and looks to the future to build a Britain of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of.
Labourâs event in Dover has started with Natalie Elphicke MP speaking. Iâll bring you the key lines.
Libby Brooks
John Swinney has been talking about his governmentâs independence strategy, and insisting that the plan still stands to take winning the majority of seats at the general election as a mandate to negotiate independence with Westminster.
After scrapping the much-mocked post of minister for independence on Wednesday, Swinney has a fine line to tread in terms of strategy and keeping his partyâs independence-supporting base content and willing to get out and campaign ahead of the upcoming general election.
The scrapping of that role was a symbolic move, a signal to the general voter that the party is focused on their cost of living concerns after a year of distraction from shock arrests, policy rows and internal strife.
But Swinney also has to keep previous SNP voters onside, and stop them drifting to Labour. Given that the party agreed the majority seats strategy for the general election at its conference last autumn, Swinney doesnât have much room for manoeuvre on this, but itâs a strategy that a lot of SNP MPs are deeply unhappy about â they say itâs too confusing to explain on the doorstep, feeds opposition attacks that the SNP is obsessed with independence to the exclusion of votersâ day to day worries, and sets too high a bar.
Both Swinney and Humza Yousaf before him were keen to escape the ânever-endumâ process discussion of how a second vote could be held, and concentrate on persuading doubters by emphasising how much more could be done to ameliorate the impact of the cost of living crisis and Brexit with independence.
But one of the current problems that the SNP has is that â even though support for independence has never been higher, at roughly 50% â many supporters seem in no hurry for a second vote.
