MP’s column (Gainsborough Constituency): Trade deals, human trafficking and looking at illegal entry to the country

Lincolnshire is famously the breadbasket of England. We are a prosperous county thanks to the land and the farmers who nurture it today, but before the Second World War you could walk from Lincoln to Grimsby on derelict fields and failed farms.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Jun 2021, 17:05 BST
Updated 19th Jun 2021, 09:19 BST
MP Sir Edward Leigh. EMN-210806-071759001MP Sir Edward Leigh. EMN-210806-071759001
MP Sir Edward Leigh. EMN-210806-071759001

I welcome the new trade deal with Australia, which the National Farmers Union also supports.

Our trade deals must secure new markets for our farmers and agri-tech sector to export to, but also make sure that there will be no relaxation of our high quality of standards and no importation of mass-produced wheat that would undercut our farmers.

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Time and time again I have pointed out the horrors of the human trafficking industry.

This is a criminal trade which takes advantage of some of the most vulnerable people on the face of the planet, squeezes them for cash, and puts their lives in grievous danger.

There are a number of factors which make this country more attractive than others to economic migrants.

English is the most commonly spoken second language in the world; our people are warm and welcoming and racism is rare, and we have a non-contributory system of social support.

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None of these are factors which we would seek to change, so the Government must take action on other fronts.

Diplomatically, our officials have persuaded the French to double the strength of their police presence patrolling a 150-kilometre stretch of coastline used by people smugglers.

Domestically, the Home Secretary has changed asylum application rules so that illegal entry to the UK can influence whether an application is approved or denied.

We cannot allow the Border Force to be little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants as it so often seems to be now.

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Recently in the House, I reminded ministers that the Immigration Act 1971 already gives the power to arrest and prosecute anyone who has entered this country illegally. This allows a custodial sentence of up to six months.

Ministers are working to significantly strengthen the powers against illegal entry in the 1971 act and will increase the sentencing.

But in the meantime they must use existing powers to stop the crossings and send migrants back to the last country they left.

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