The House of
Commons has spoken. The Conservative Party has come together. The
Rwanda Bill has passed.
It’s now for
the Lords to pass this Bill too.
This is an
urgent national priority.
The treaty
with Rwanda is signed.
And the
legislation, which deems Rwanda a safe country, has been passed
unamended in our elected chamber.
There is now
only one question…
…will the
Opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the
will of the people as expressed by the elected
House…
…or will they
get on board and do the right thing.
It is as
simple as that.
We have a
plan – and the plan is working.
Last year was
the first year the number of small boat arrivals went
down.
Not just down
by a bit – down by a third compared to boat crossings in the
year before.
And that’s in
the context of arrivals being up by 80% in Europe over the same
period.
But to really
solve this problem, we need a clear and effective
deterrent.
So people
know that if they come here illegally, they will be detained and
swiftly removed.
That’s what
this Rwanda Bill delivers.
With all
their efforts to block this Bill, the Labour party have shown
they simply do not get it.
Their
priority is not stopping the boats but stopping the planes
removing people who have no right to be here.
They may talk
the talk. But they have no plan.
If they were
in charge – there would be no treaty; no Bill…
…12 months
progress would be squandered.
It would take
us back to square one.
And I can
tell you this for certain – small boat arrivals would go back
up.
It would mean
giving a green light to criminal gangs of people smugglers
that they can keep their deplorable, illegal trade
going.
It would mean
spending millions more everyday housing illegal migrants in
hotels in our communities.
And it will
mean more people are likely to lose their lives by tragically
drowning in the channel.
That’s the
consequence of having no plan.
That’s why we
have to stick our plan.
That’s why
the House of Lords must past this Bill.
It is time to
take back control of our borders and defeat the people
smugglers.
It is time to
restore people’s trust that the system is
fair.
We are making
progress to stop the boats.
But now it is
it is past time to start the flights.
Thank
you.