Lord Heseltine calls for 'Marshall Plan' to help poor countries to reduce immigration

Lord Heseltine said fewer people would move to the UK if Britain spent more on aid as part of a «moral» approach to immigration policy Photo: Viktor Shimanovich/Future Publishing via Getty Images

UK should lead new 'Marshall Plan' for developing countries to reduce immigration to UK, Lord Heseltine says.

Former cabinet minister says fewer people will move to UK if the UK and Western countries spend more on aid as part of a «moral» approach to immigration policy.

He also said that Europe should build a «protective barrier» around itself to reduce the migration flow, which, in his words, “is in its infancy compared to what future generations will have to face.”

Speaking to the Lord Speaker's Corner podcast, he said: “The only reliable solution is a double solution. One of them is to build a wall — a ring, a protective barrier — around Europe.

«Many would consider this an immoral reaction to poverty outside.

“But if you combine that with the Marshall aid program, as the Americans did after World War II, and come to an agreement with the countries from which the immigrants come from, to create conditions that will convince them to stay there, then you have an effective policy, and you have a moral policy.»

An anti-Brexit Conservative colleague added: «There is no British immigration solution that does not affect Europe.»

Latest immigration figures released by the Home Office cases in May show that in the year ending June 2022, 1.2 million people arrived in the UK and 557,000 people emigrated from the UK, bringing the total number of arrivals to 606,000.

«Stop boats»

Rishi Sunak has vowed to bring the total net migration rate in the UK below the 500,000 he «inherited».

He also vowed to «stop the boats». ”crossing the English Channel with illegal migrants.

Ministers are also trying to pass the Illegal Migration Bill in Parliament, which would place a legal obligation on the government to detain and deport people who arrive in the UK illegally.

But the government is facing strong opposition in the House of Lords, where colleagues forced the Home Office to introduce mitigation clauses for children and pregnant women.

Robert Jenrick, Immigration Minister, said he was not going to make any more compromises.

«It's a frivolous or adult way of debating to say 'we don't want this, we don't want to want this' rather than coming up with an alternative,» he said.

» The UK has the most comprehensive plan to combat illegal migration of any European country.”