Home Secretary Priti Patel appeared on today’s Good Morning Britain where she addressed the asylum system shake-up.
Speaking to Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard, Patel was asked if she was being ‘tougher and harsher’ with the new rules.
“First of all, what I think is very important to acknowledge is that we absolutely need to do the right thing by those that are fleeing persecution. That is the right thing, it is fair and as a country we have been doing that over recent years…
“Now there is something more fundamental here about the changes we are bringing in… We want to start to address, in a way in which we have not as a country and a Government previously, illegal migration, individuals that have travelled to the UK illegally have now made up an enormous number of the asylum cases.
“To deal with that, we want to create safe and legal rules and stop people from putting their lives in the hands of the smugglers, of criminal gangs, of the facilitators… There is an enormous trade in terms of criminality and illegal migration and it is not just people who are being smuggled, it’s drugs and it’s all the things that quite frankly we cannot turn a blind eye to and our system needs to address this.” – Priti Patel
On the argument that the changes will make it easier for people smugglers to find ways around the new rules, she said: “Well, first of all, this is an enormous issue and there is no silver bullet to this at all. We have to change our posture as a country… fake passports being bought, that is exactly money into the hands of the smugglers and we have to stop that trafficking of people. We are proposing new sentences for these individuals, the gang leaders, the smugglers…”
“Yesterday we had 150 people leave France and come over in a Channel crossing illegally, putting their lives at risk, this is what people smugglers were doing. Those individuals could have and should have claimed asylum in France or other EU countries.” – Priti Patel
Good Morning Britain weekdays on ITV from 6am and catch up on ITV Hub
