The Government’s flagship immigration legislation has cleared its first Commons hurdle as the Tories branded the proposals the “border surrender Bill”.
MPs voted 333 to 109, majority 224, to approve the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill at second reading after earlier rejecting a Conservative amendment designed to block the legislation.
The Bill aims to introduce new offences and counter-terror-style powers to tackle people smugglers bringing migrants across the English Channel.
People selling and handling boat parts suspected of being used in migrant Channel crossings could face up to 14 years in prison and the Government wants to make it an offence to endanger another life during sea crossings to the UK.
The Bill would also repeal previous asylum legislation introduced by the Conservatives, including the scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Commons: “The purpose of this Bill is to strengthen UK border security, which has been weakened and undermined in recent years, to restore order to the immigration and asylum systems that were left in chaos, and to bring in new counter-terror-style powers for our law enforcement to go after the dangerous criminal gangs who undermine our border security and profit from putting lives at risk and who have been getting away with it for far too long.”
She accused the previous Tory government of failing to “act fast” with France and other countries to increase enforcement or to prevent “gangs taking hold”.
Tonight Labour voted to bring in counter-terror style powers to go after smuggler gangs & strengthen our borders.
— Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) February 10, 2025
19,000 people with no right to be in UK have been returned since July. We’ve increased returns to the highest rate in 6yrs because rules must be respected & enforced pic.twitter.com/t7n6qeAzhj
She added: “Instead, criminals were let off and an entire criminal industry was established along our borders in just a few short years, with tragic consequences.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp claimed Labour had brought forward the “border surrender Bill”.
Mr Philp said: “This is a Bill which removes the obligation on the Government, it cancels the obligation on the Government to remove people who have arrived illegally. I think that is a shocking move.
“It creates a pathway to citizenship for people who have entered the country illegally, that will only increase the pull factor, and it completely cancels any prospect of establishing a removals deterrent.”
Labour's Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill:
— Chris Philp MP (@CPhilpOfficial) February 10, 2025
a WEAK bill from a WEAK government pic.twitter.com/4PheHyReTx
He said the Opposition would look to amend the Bill in several areas, including a proposal to enable MPs to vote each year to decide how many visas are issued under the terms of a binding legal migration cap.
Concerns were raised by some on the Labour benches that the Bill could criminalise “genuine and valid” asylum seekers.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) said: “Many are being brought here as slaves, either for domestic service or menial unpaid work, or are being trafficked into sex slavery. This Bill could abolish their rights and their protections under the Modern Slavery Act.”
Labour MP Diane Abbott, the Mother of the House, told the debate: “If you don’t want people drowning in the Channel, the answer is to enable the processing of these asylum claims to be done in northern France, which is something the French had offered to us.”
Labour MP Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) also raised concerns the Bill would lead to the “unintended consequence” of criminalising those seeking asylum.
She said: “It is appalling that 138 people, 138 human beings, attempting to cross the Channel since summer 2019 have died. I have no doubt that my party is united in wanting to save lives, but I am concerned that this Bill, no matter how well-intentioned its aims might be, will not succeed.”
You can’t have security without secure borders.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 10, 2025
Labour’s Borders Bill will give law enforcement the powers they need to smash the criminal gangs.
My government is delivering on your priorities.
Several Labour MPs who spoke in the debate welcomed the Bill, including Jo White (Bassetlaw) who used to drive lorries between France and the UK.
She said: “We need power to take more action, and this Bill will enshrine the Border Security Command into law, enabling the co-ordination of law enforcement agencies with the sole focus of taking back control of our borders.”
She earlier said: “I had to drive trucks across the Channel and I still remember the Calais to Dover border crossings, with the dogs sent in to sniff for human trafficking and the groups of men at every service station on the road to Calais.
“My fear that my lorry might have been hijacked by someone attempting to enter our country illegally very much reflects the confusion and anger expressed by my constituents in Bassetlaw.”
Ahead of the debate, the Government released footage of migrants being escorted on to planes and deported as Ms Cooper warned it should be “governments and not gangs” deciding who gets to enter the country.
The Home Office has said it shared photos and video of removing migrants for the first time to give a better understanding of the process, as a minister defended the decision to publish footage of immigration raids on illegal workers earlier on Monday.
Some 18,987 people, including foreign criminals and those not eligible for asylum, have been returned to countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America since Labour took power in July.
According to the Home Office, 5,074 were forced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK, up 24% between July 5 last year and January 31, compared with 4,089 forced returns in the previous 12-month period.
Photos show detention custody officers escorting each individual as they walk up steps to board a charter flight.
It is understood the majority of people will board the plane unaided, but restraint techniques and equipment such as rigid bar handcuffs, waist restraint belts and leg restraint belts can be used as a last resort.
