A BILL to serious reduce illegal migrant crossings and end international laws holding the UK back from turning boats back to France, looks likely to now be passed into law, after MPs gave it their backing today.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the legislation, named the Nationality and Borders Bill will “break the business model” of people trafficking gangs facilitating illegal crossings into the UK – as the country recorded the highest daily number of people sailing across the Channel on Monday.
The bill puts forward the most extensive changes to the UK’s immigration system in history, and includes a series of measures, from professional assessments of the age of asylum seekers to laws that will make it easier for migrants to be deported.
The bill, which passed its second reading in the Commons this evening by 366 votes to 265, will give Border Force officers the powers to turn back migrant boats attempting to cross the Channel from France and use “reasonable force, if necessary”.
Prison sentences for those who enter the country without permission will increase from six months to four years and a maximum of life imprisonment for convicted people smugglers will be introduced.
