Following the discovery of a new type of Covid-19, the Omicron variant, of which a small number of cases have been found in the UK, our Prime Minister on Saturday announced temporary and precautionary measures to prevent its spread.
As the Prime Minister said on Saturday, the change with this
variant of the virus is significantly different to other variants that it might
- at least in part - reduce the protection of our vaccines over time.
So we need to take targeted and proportionate measures now
as a precaution while we find out more. These measures are sadly necessary to slow the
spread of this new variant, continue to protect our vaccination programme, and
support our NHS. They will hopefully ensure we will not need to take more
severe measures down the line.
These measures, which include compulsory face coverings in
shops and other retail settings, as well as on public transport, and new rules
on covid testing for all international travellers arriving into the UK, came
into force from Tuesday of this week. They will be reviewed in three weeks. By
that point we will have had time to learn more about this variant and will then
decide if further measures are required in the light of the information we
have.
Away from COVID-19, last week also saw the tragic drowning
of 27 people who tried to cross from France to the UK via a small boat.
As the Home Secretary said last week, there is a global
illegal migration crisis. The people smugglers that arrange these journeys are
criminals – they do it for money, nothing more, and I have heard terrible
stories about people who thought they would be getting to the UK another way
instead forced by gunpoint onto a boat and then set adrift across the channel.
There is no quick fix for this issue and what needs to
happen is co-ordinated international action to address the wider issues, that
lead to these criminal gangs becoming so prevalent. To keep things in
perspective, the total number of people coming to the UK to seek asylum is not
significantly higher than it was before the pandemic. What is different is that
while other routes have not been available, more people are seeking to cross
the channel via the treacherous business shipping lanes. Those arriving by this
route as more visible than by other routes which is partly why it has attracted
so much media attention this year.
More than 20,000 boat crossings have been stopped this year,
as well as 17 organised criminal groups broken up and over 400 arrests and 65
convictions secured.
But this is a much bigger and more systemic issue. As well
as continuing to offer to work with France on joint patrols and stepping up
security to actually stop the people smugglers, Brexit has allowed the
government to bring forward a New Plan for Immigration, which will be put into
law through the Nationality and Borders Bill. This is a longer-term solution
that will address many of these underlying factors to deterring illegal
migration and addressing underlying pull factors into the UK’s asylum system.
This new legislation will continue its passage through Parliament next week
when it returns to the House of Commons for its third reading.
It will bring in a range of measures, including: the
one-stop appeals process, the ability to process claims outside the country,
the ability to declare inadmissibility to our asylum system and have
differentiation for those who arrive in the UK having passed through safe
countries, and life sentences for people-smugglers.
The United Kingdom has a clear and a generous, humane
approach to asylum seekers and refugees. Channel crossings in small boats are
incredibly dangerous, and as we have seen, can end in tragedy. So we need to
work with our neighbour to stop these crossings while in the longer term reform
the broken systems which have previously allowed uncontrolled immigration
through the EU to allow people to fairly come to the UK and live here legally,
when they have a genuine reason and need to do so.
As always, my office is available for any constituents
needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel.
01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk
