Matt Vickers has launched a brutal takedown of Labour’s latest move to tackle Britain’s migrant crisis, accusing the Government of “tinkering around the edges”.
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Immigration Minister declared there are “already powers in place” to remove mobile devices from illegal migrants.
In their latest bid to crack down on illegal migration, Labour has announced that Border Force, police and immigration officials can seize migrants’ mobile phones and SIM cards without making an arrest.
However, Mr Vickers told the People’s Channel: “When it comes to those mobile phones and removing them from illegal migrants, the reality is that there was already powers in legislation to do this.
“I think the Migration Act allowed us to take electronic devices, to search them, to seize them and to do all those things.”
He added: “But the other part of that legislation that the Labour Government repealed required the Home Secretary to remove people who came here illegally. This is all tinkering around the edges.
“The only way to solve this illegal migration crisis is to remove people who come here illegally.”
Criticising the move further, the Tory minister quipped: “The migrants aren’t sat in Calais going, ‘oh my God, if I get over there, they might take one of my ten phones off me’.
Matt Vickers took aim at Labour’s handling of illegal migration policy after vowing to ‘search’ individuals for sim cards and mobile phones
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GB NEWS
“They aren’t up there trembling about this one in, one out scheme that sees 99.5 per cent of the people who’ve arrived whilst it’s been in place stay. The only way to do this is to remove them.”
Calling on ministers to implement a “common sense” approach to illegal migration, Mr Vickers explained: “People who break into this country, who come in illegally without permission, without a passport, who have no right to be here should be removed. That’s how you solve this.
“Everybody knows it’s the common sense approach, and we know that it works because we tested it when we had that agreement in place with Albania. It was one of the top places from which people were arriving in the country. We stopped those people coming.
“We removed them straight away and all of a sudden 93 per cent less of them were arriving in this country. We need a deterrent, we need it in place. Everything else is tinkering around the edges.”
Officers have also been granted expanded search powers | GETTY
Questioned by host Ellie Costello on the ECHR, Mr Vickers was asked whether he believes the convention can be “reformed” rather than exiting it altogether.
He disagreed: “No, we’ve been through this. In fact, we’ve got a huge, lengthy document prepared by some of the greatest legal minds in the country that tell you why you need to leave the ECHR to get this done.
“It tells you about the consequences and the process for doing so. When you look at stories like chicken nugget gate, when you look at people like Shamima Begum, she’s the latest story on that front, isn’t she?
“Somebody who this country, who the people, the public, the great British public have elected to Parliament to represent them, to make decisions. Those decisions should be made in there, not by the ECHR, not abroad by foreign courts.”
Mr Vickers told GB News that Britain must ‘leave the ECHR’ to ‘get a grip’ on illegal migration
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GB NEWS
He declared: “We need to leave the ECHR. We need to get a grip on it so that we can prevent people breaking in the country, but also so that we can remove people who’ve come here and committed some of the most heinous, vile crimes.”
In a statement, a Home Office spokesman said: “The number of small boat crossings are shameful and the British people deserve better.
“This Government is taking action. We have removed almost 50,000 people who were here illegally, and our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
“The Home Secretary has announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in decades, removing the incentives that bring illegal migrants to the UK and scaling up the return of those with no right to be here.”