IMAGINE we could see headlines like these in the national media – ‘Asylum hotel bill cut by £1-billion’, ‘35,000 people with no right to remain deported’, or ‘Foreign criminal removals increased by 14 per cent’.

I say imagine, because that’s what this government has actually delivered – but you probably wouldn’t know it from national news reporting in a post-truth era.

I don’t mind repeating myself – this government inherited an immigration system absolutely broken by the Conservatives, and exacerbated by a hard Brexit which was the brainchild of Nigel Farage and saw us leave the Dublin Agreement on returns.

So, it’s extremely important to deal in the facts and contextualise this problem. I will never downplay the importance of tackling this issue, but the fact remains - particularly after our Labour Government reduced the asylum hotel budget - that the overall cost is just 0.2 per cent of our total public spend – though of course this is still too high.

In parallel, nearly half of Brits think the number of irregular arrivals is higher than regular migration when, in fact, arrivals on these boats represent less than four per cent of overall migration.

Equally, I am not afraid to call out those people whose well-meaning values might incline them to defend unfettered border crossings. Clearly, the situation we have now is not good for social cohesion – and nor is it right from a humanitarian perspective. This is often a perilous or even simply poor choice for the individuals, often sold as a dream to far too many – with the global cost of displacement estimated at around $20 billion a year by the IDMC.

I was pleased to hear the measures set out in the Home Secretary's statement to the House last week, following news over the weekend that there were just 55 channel crossings in August - the lowest August total since 2019. 

We’re delivering a series of measures to tackle illegal immigration at every stage.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which I supported through Parliament whilst the Tory and Reform architects of the problem voted against, will help to strengthen our ability to tackle these gangs and disrupt their ability to carry out small boat crossings.

We will also strike at the heart of the criminal networks that threaten our security, have committed an extra £100 million to border security and are recruiting 300 more officers for the National Crime Agency.

Under the new UK–France treaty, the first direct returns of small-boat arrivals will begin later this month. And we will create a new, fully independent appeals body to slash asylum wait times.

While we implement these new measures, refugee family-reunion visas will be paused while we ensure fairness and consistency across the system – since there’s near universal approval that families should be kept together whenever possible, and that these people should be prioritised over single individuals.

By the end of this Parliament in 2029, the Tory experiment of asylum hotels will have been shut down in a controlled and orderly manner. We’ll do this by driving down the numbers overall and cutting asylum waiting times to 24 weeks. We’re also boosting detention and returns – and delivering a more cost-effective 1,000-bed expansion at Campsfield and Haslar, with the beds coming online in the next few months.

Offering sanctuary is at the heart of Britain’s tradition, but our system must operate under clear, enforced rules, with control and compassion - not chaos or exploitation.

This government is delivering results on irregular migration - a far cry from the hollow, populist rhetoric that delivers little but division.