Theresa May argues that an amendment should be added to exempt victims of British slavery from expulsion. Photo: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire
Theresa May led an uprising against Rishi Sunak's small boat bill on Tuesday, accusing the government of sending more people into slavery if it continues with its plans without any no change.
The former prime minister told ministers she would «strongly disagree» with them as long as they refused to protect people who were victims of modern-day slavery in the UK from deportation under the Act about illegal migration.
She was supported. former Tory leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith, who warned the government that it was «cutting off its nose to spite its face» because its modern crackdown on slavery would mean fewer prosecutions of traffickers.
Ministers also faced two rebellions more than a dozen Conservative MPs who voted against the government as they demanded stronger safeguards for the detention of unaccompanied migrant children and called for an accelerated search for new safe and legal routes for refugees.
Ms May has only voted against the government once, when she opposed Boris Johnson's decision to waive the obligation to spend 0.7% of national income on foreign aid.
Bill will «tie the hands of the police»
As an author of the Modern Slavery Act, she warned ministers that the small courts of the Bill would «tie the hands of the police» and «wipe out the good work» of her legislation unless they passed the Lords' amendment exempting victims of British slavery from expulsion.
She gave the example of a woman who was smuggled into the UK under false pretenses by a man who she thought would give her a good life but was forced into prostitution. The bill means that if she escapes, she faces deportation instead of support, Mrs May said.
“The government would respond like this: we don’t care that you were a slave in the UK, we don’t care that you were in hell, we don't care that you're the victim of a crime. » said Mrs May.
«We care that you came here illegally, even if you probably didn't know about it, so we'll detain you and send you home, even if it's in guns. The same people who sold you here in the first place, or we want to send you to Rwanda.
“I know ministers have said that this bill will stop more criminals, but I truly believe it will do the opposite with modern slavery.
«It will allow more slavers to work»
«It will allow more slave owners to work and make money from human misery, it will send more people into slavery. Without a doubt, I think that if the 56 Lords Amendment is repealed it will have an impact.”
She added: “If the government continues to disagree with the 56 Lords Amendment, then I will have to persist in my disagreement. with the government.
Former Children's Secretary Tim Lawton led an uprising against plans to detain unaccompanied children for up to eight days, and up to 28 days if their age was in dispute. He said the ministers had made no guarantees about the treatment of the detained children.
“More work needs to be done,” he said. «I therefore hope that this House will see to it that [the proposals] are returned to the Lords so that [the Government] will give further concessions.»
The government won all its votes, reversing the defeat of 15 lords but offering concessions on five others. However, his majority was reduced from 62 to 42 on key votes on child custody and modern slavery as Conservative MPs rioted. parliamentary ping-pong as it will then return to the House of Commons.
Ministers have hinted that they are prepared to take the rare step of using the laws of Parliament to overturn the Lords' decision if the peers continue to block plans.
p>Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs that the bill, as amended by the Lords, is «riddled with exceptions and exit clauses» and «simply won't work» if it becomes law as it was.
«We must send a clear signal [to the Lords] that it is now their turn to think again and respect the will of the elected house,» he said.
On Tuesday, Mr Sunak said the number of small boats crossing The English Channel, is «really a much better result than anyone expected.»
Most crossings in one day
The Interior Ministry reported 686 migrants crossed the English Channel in one day on Friday — the most in one day this year.
Mr Sunak told reporters on a plane to a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, during Tuesday. that he always expected the number of clicks to continue to rise, despite his January «Stop the Boats» pledge.
year.
“I remember when I got there people were saying what was going to happen because if you look at the growth trajectory over the past few years, the numbers have gone up very, very sharply.
«The fact that they've been falling for five months of the year, the fact that they're still going down… compared to what people expected, it's really a lot better than anyone expected.
«I've been very clear, I think the situation as it stands is unfair: it's not right and we need to take drastic action to stop the boats.»
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