Shropshire MPs' column - the latest from the county's representatives in Westminster

According to a recent poll, 42 per cent of voters say ‘immigration and asylum’ is one of the three most important issues facing the country – up from 28 per cent two years ago and second only to the economy (55 per cent).

The Labour government reacted by suddenly providing footage of suspected illegal immigrants being detained.

All governments should support the police to arrest people who are in this country illegally, and deport those with no right to be here, but this appears more like a media campaign than tackling the issue seriously.

To that end, in its last full year in office, the previous Conservative government removed 24,000 people from the UK.

Progress was slow, but progress was being made. Deportations must be part of efforts to tackle illegal migration, but prevention is better than cure.

We need real deterrents to entering our country illegally.

On day one, Labour scrapped the deterrent offered by the Conservative plan to process asylum claims in Rwanda.

Remarkably, Keir Starmer had pledged to stop the Rwanda scheme even if it was working – an insight into the ‘ideology over evidence’ mindset of this Labour Government.

Labour’s election win, helped by Reform splitting the vote, was greeted with cheers by the criminal gangs who peddle in human desperation and misery.

Since Labour was elected, illegal immigration has risen sharply.

More than 23,000 illegal immigrants crossed the Channel between 4th July and the end of 2024 – that is 5,000 more than crossed in the same period in 2023. Labour don’t have a plan.

Furthermore, Labour’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill proposes to make Britain a more attractive destination for illegal migrants.

Starmer’s Bill would make it easier for illegal migrants to get British citizenship.

It would end X-ray age assessments to stop migrants falsely claiming to be under 18.

It would also end the legal requirement – introduced by the Conservatives - for the government to deport illegal migrants swiftly on arrival.

Interestingly, when the Bill was debated in Parliament last Monday, not a single Reform MP spoke against it.

Under new Conservative plans, any individual who comes to the UK will have to wait at least 10 years before they can apply to stay in the UK indefinitely – and then a further 5 years before applying for citizenship.

Anyone who has claimed benefits while here on a work visa would have no right to stay in the UK indefinitely.

No individual who has come to this country and got a criminal record would be rewarded with the right to put down roots here.

That rule would apply to the more than 6,000 foreign criminals in our prisons.

It’s time to get tough on illegal immigration.

The Government should put ideology aside and create an immigration policy which prioritises British economic and security interests, severely punishes people smugglers, and protects the British public.

Labour are failing - and Reform MPs fail to show up.