Small boats plan ‘racist’, says ex-Home Office adviser as Theresa May joins backlash

Rishi Sunak’s planned crackdown on migrants arriving by small boats is “heartless” and “racist”, a former Home Office advisor has said.

It comes as former Tory PM Theresa May joined the backlash against the bill – warning that modern slavery victims will be “collateral damage”.

Nimco Ali, who quit as an adviser on violence against women in December, condemned the government’s failure to open up safe and legal routes for refugees.

Ms Ali, who came to the UK three decades ago, said her own family would be criminalised by home secretary Suella Braverman’s planned ban on asylum claims by unauthorised arrivals.

“As a former refugee of colour, if we can provide generous help to Ukrainians escaping war then I think we need to look at ensuring that we also provide routes to anyone escaping conflicts,” she told The Guardian.

Ms Ali added: “If we can find room for a white child but not a black child, who are coming here in similar circumstances, it is racist. It is really painful if we believe that people can seek refuge if they come from Europe but not elsewhere.”

The former adviser – who campaigned for the Tories in 2019 and a close friend of Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie – said Mr Sunak would not win the next general election if Suella Braverman is home secretary.

“He is in danger of losing younger people, floating voters and undecided millennials,” she said. “Suella Braverman wants the government to look tough but it will instead make us look cruel and heartless which I don’t think the PM is.”

Ms May condemned the current plan to detain and detain unauthorised arrivals during a debate in the Commons on Monday evening – insisting anybody who believes the new proposals will deal with “illegal migration once and for all is wrong”.

She condemned the “blanket dismissal” of anyone facing persecution who arrives by the English Channel, telling the Commons: “By definition, someone fleeing for their life will more often than not be unable to access a legal route.”

The former PM said the government has yet to provide evidence that modern slavery laws are being “abused” by people Channel crossers – noting that statistics suggest “nearly 90 per cent of modern slavery claims are found to be valid”.

Raising her concerns about genuine trafficking victims, she added: “As it currently stands, we are shutting the door to victims who are being trafficked into slavery into the UK.”

Ms May said she is expecting to hold further talks with Downing Street to resolve issues with the bill, including in connection with modern slavery.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas expressed her outrage at the deportation plan by ripping up a copy of Ms Braverman’s bill in the Commons. She said the “immoral, deeply cruel and divisive” legislation breaks international law.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the bill was a “con that makes the chaos worse” and “will lock up children”, arguing it would only add to the number of migrants in hotel accomodation.

The Illegal Migration Bill passed its second reading by 312 votes to 250, with the majority of Tory MPs backing the plan at its initial stage.

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But several senior Tories have indicated they would not support the bill in its current form – including equalities committee chair Caroline Nokes, net zero adviser Chris Skidmore, ex-justice secretary Robert Buckland and ex-minister Stephen Hammond.

Ms Nokes she was “deeply troubled” at the prospect of a policy “criminalising children and pregnant women” – saying the bill gives her “absolute horror”. She also compared it to “Donald Trump’s caging of children” on TalkTV last night.

No Tories voted against the bill, with Ms Nokes and others choosing to abstain. Senior Tory MP Simon Hoare said many colleagues were only voting for the bill on the “good faith” expectation it can be amended.

Mr Buckland also said the government would have to water down the bill to avoid a revolt by Tory moderates – making clear he and others were opposed to the detention of unaccompanied children.

“I think a lot of us who decided to allow the principle of the bill to go forward yesterday were doing so upon the basis that this bill will need further work,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Right-wing Tory MPs are reportedly considering an attempt to further toughen the bill with an amendment on leaving the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Mr Buckland warned against any effort to use the legislation as a “battering ram” against the convention.

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One former Tory minister told The Independent the plan to allow child detention was “sickening” – fearing it will give immigration officers the power to restrain minors, as well as opening up the possibility of their removal on deportation flights.

The Refugee Council has said the legislation allows the deportation of unaccompanied children if returning them to their country of origin is deemed safe – an idea downplayed by the home secretary.

Ms Braverman said “only in limited circumstances, such as for the purposes of family reunion, we will remove unaccompanied asylum seeking children from the UK”.

She said the focus would be on removing adult men under the age of 40. “But we must not create incentives for the smugglers to focus on people with particular characteristics by signposting exemptions for removal,” she added.

Ms Braverman accused some of her critics of “grotesque slurs”, adding: “The worst among them, poisoned by the extreme ideology of identity politics, suggest that a person’s skin colour should dictate their political views.”

Claiming her plans were “backed by the majority of the British people”, she added: “I will not be hectored by out-of-touch lefties ... And I will not back down when faced with spurious accusations of bigotry.”