Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily update on the biggest stories in UK politics

Get our free Inside Politics email

Immigration Secretary Robert Jenrick has promised a “more radical” approach to illegal immigration, after Suella Braverman was sentenced for claiming Britain was facing an “invasion” on the south coast. The Home Secretary made her alarming comments in the Commons yesterday while under pressure over overcrowding at the Manston asylum processing center in Kent, where the disease has broken out under appalling sanitary conditions. This morning Mr Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m afraid we now have to look at some more radical options to make sure our laws are right, that economic migrants are sent back quickly and that we stop people coming the UK.” The Home Secretary has previously proposed barring people arriving across the channel in small boats from seeking asylum. Ms Braverman was yesterday accused of endangering lives in the alleged “break-in”, which followed the day after the firebomb attack on an asylum processing facility in Dover. Refugee charities said her comments were “abhorrent” and “dehumanizing” to refugees and migrants, adding that she also put Home Office staff and volunteers at risk.

Basic points

Show latest update 1667296486

Suella Braverman ‘blocked migrant beds in Tory areas’ – report

LBC’s Charlotte Lynch reports that a senior Home Office source said Suella Braverman refused to approve hotel rooms for migrants from the overcrowded Manston processing facility “because they were in Tory areas”. The Home Secretary only approved three hotels last week in Labor constituencies, LBC reported sources close to Manston as claiming. Ms Braverman yesterday vehemently denied claims she ignored legal advice and rejected calls from officials to procure more hotel accommodation for migrants. He said he had agreed to use more than 30 hotels. The allegations in the LBC report raise the question of the political motivations behind the choice of hotels. Liam James November 1, 2022 09:54 1667294668

Jenrick says “more radical” approach to immigration coming

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick promised a “more radical” approach to illegal immigration. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m afraid we’re now going to have to look at some more radical options to make sure our laws are right, that economic migrants are sent back quickly and that we stop people coming to the UK. because the UK cannot continue to be a magnet for economic migrants.’ Mr Jenrick was speaking after Suella Braverman, the head of his department as home secretary, said Britain was facing “an invasion of our south coast” due to the increasing number of channel crossings. The immigration minister distanced herself from Ms Braverman’s “invasion” claim, but said the Channel crossing posed a “very, very significant” challenge. Mr Jenrick did not elaborate on the radical measures that could be taken. Ms Braverman has previously proposed barring people arriving in the canal in small boats from seeking asylum. Liam James November 1, 2022 09:24 1667292346

Chart: Channel reads as of 2020

This chart shows the cumulative successful crossings of the English Channel by people in small boats over the last three years. Interior Minister Suella Braverman has come under fire for referring to the growing number of crossings as an invasion. (PA) Liam James November 1, 2022 08:45 1667291566

The immigration minister refuses to repeat Braverman’s “invasion” claim

The Immigration Secretary has refused to repeat Suella Braverman’s claim of an “invasion” of asylum seekers across the Channel, after she was heavily criticized for her inflammatory language (Rob Merrick writes). The scandal-hit Home Secretary has been accused of putting lives at risk with far-right rhetoric – immediately echoed by Nigel Farage – a day after the Dover refugee center fire explosion Robert Jenrick was asked if he would use the word “invasion,” but replied, “In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully. “I would never demonize people who come to this country seeking a better life and I understand and appreciate our obligation to refugees.” Asked if Ms Braverman was “wrong” to use the word, Mr Jenrick told Sky News: “I think invasion is one way to describe the sheer scale of the challenge and that’s what Suella Braverman was trying to express.” Liam James November 1, 2022 08:32 1667290246

Today’s headlines: Braverman ‘inflammatory’, ‘irresponsible’, ‘incompetent’

( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )

Liam James 1 November 2022 08:10 1667289046

BP profits double amid calls for unexpected tax hike

BP has revealed that profits more than doubled last quarter (Zoe Tidman writes). The London-listed oil giant said underlying replacement cost earnings – BP’s preferred measure – rose to $8.2bn (£7.1bn), compared with $3.3bn (2.9 £bn) a year earlier. It was significantly ahead of the $6.1bn (£5.3bn) expected by market analysts. The report comes amid calls for a higher windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas giants. Liam James November 1, 2022 07:50 1667287579

Suella Braverman ‘puts lives at risk’ with ‘immigrant invasion’

Suella Braverman has been accused of endangering lives after she claimed the south coast was facing an ‘invasion’ from migrants, the day after the Dover bomb attack (Kate Devlin writes). Refugee charities described the embattled home secretary’s comments as “abhorrent” and “dehumanizing”, while Labor accused her of “grossly irresponsible” language that did not take public safety seriously. The row erupted as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came under mounting pressure over his decision to reappoint Ms Braverman to the role last week, days after she resigned for breaching the ministerial code. Liam James November 1, 2022 07:26 1667285307

Treasury ‘warns of tax hikes’ to plug economic black hole

The Treasury has reportedly warned of “inevitable” tax rises as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tries to plug a “black hole” of up to £50bn in public finances. Mr Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday agreed to freeze the thresholds at which people start paying different rates of income tax and national insurance, according to the Daily Telegraph. Mr Hunt is seeking to cover the deficit through a combination of 50% tax rises and 50% public spending cuts in his autumn statement on November 17, the paper said. The Treasury said “everyone will have to contribute more in taxes in the coming years”, without elaborating. “It’s going to be rough,” a Treasury source told the BBC. “The truth is that everyone will have to contribute more in taxes if we want to maintain public services.” Given the scale of borrowing to support energy bills and the Covid-19 pandemic, the source said the ministry “will not be able to cover the fiscal black hole through spending cuts alone”. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 06:48 1667284379

What is Manston Asylum Centre?

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under increasing pressure to ease “catastrophic overcrowding” at Britain’s main asylum processing center for Channel migrants. Ms Braverman is said to be considering plans to house asylum seekers in hotels, holiday camps and other resorts – alongside members of the public, rather than blocking entire facilities on behalf of applicants – after it emerged the Manston facility is overcrowded. The facility currently holds around 4,000 people, even though it was designed for just 1,600. The site, which opened in January at an abandoned airfield formerly used as a Firearms Training and Development Center, was supposed to be a short-term detention facility where immigrants could be housed for 24 hours and processed by Border Patrol personnel before being transferred to temporary accommodation.

What is Manston Asylum Centre?

The Kent facility opened in January and was intended for short-term detention and processing of applicants, but is already struggling with overcrowding after a high number of Channel crossings Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 06:32 1667283570

Voices | Listening to Suella Braverman is like being sucked into a viral Facebook scam

“I made a mistake, I took responsibility, I resigned,” said Suella Braverman, standing in the House of Commons dispatch box. The words she chose were a direct quote from her own resignation letter, which she sent to the former prime minister less than two weeks ago. And yet somehow, by some strange alchemy, she is still the home secretary. Here she was, praising her moral courage for admitting her mistake and doing the decent thing and resigning as home secretary, all while she was home secretary, writes Tom Peck. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar1 November 2022 06:19