Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has declared that deporting illegal migrants immediately is the “only way” to protect communities from the asylum crisis. He insisted that small boat arrivals must be removed “within a week of arrival” and vowed to dismantle the legal architecture used by failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and visa overstayers to repeatedly fight attempts to remove them.
Interception off Dover coast
Mr Philp was speaking as two Border Security Command vessels and an RNLI lifeboat scrambled to a dinghy just two miles off the coast of Dover. The vessel had reached British waters unescorted and continued towards the Kent coast before being intercepted. Some 32 migrants were found on board after crossing through fog.
Addressing Tory members, Mr Philp said: “The consequence of illegal entry will be immediate removal. Because if illegal immigrants know they will quickly be deported they won’t come in the first place.”
Piddington and Rhiannon Whyte case
The Tory borders chief pointed to Home Office plans to house 1,256 asylum seekers next to the Oxfordshire village of Piddington, which is home to about 350 people. He also cited the murder of Rhiannon Whyte as an illustration of why ministers must end the small boats crisis.
Sudanese asylum seeker Deng Majek stabbed mother-of-one Rhiannon 23 times in a 90-second attack after following the 27-year-old from his asylum hotel to Bescot Road railway station in Walsall in 2024. Majek had arrived on a small boat about three months before the attack.
Leaving the ECHR
Mr Philp said: “The truth is we cannot have strong borders while in the ECHR. Successive governments have tried, and it hasn’t worked. So, the next Conservative government will leave the ECHR. That way, we can deport illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. No asylum claims. No human rights claims. Just detention followed by rapid deportation back to the country of origin or to a safe third country.”
He added: “It worked in Australia 13 years ago, and it will work here today. Tough? Yes. But here’s the truth: it’s the only thing that will work to protect places like Piddington, to protect young women like Rhiannon and to protect our borders. And we will do it.”
Closing Labour's safe routes
Mr Philp vowed on Wednesday to “immediately” close Labour’s new safe and legal routes while “illegal migration is rife”. He accused Shabana Mahmood of “opening our borders even more” by re-establishing the UK Resettlement Scheme and creating three new community sponsorship routes.
Under a Conservative government, illegal migration would have to fall to nearly zero before similar schemes are considered. Thousands of migrants are expected to arrive under Labour's new schemes every year once fully operational. Charities, faith groups and businesses will be able to apply to host people from next year.
Mr Philp warned: “Labour now also wants to bring more people here directly from Afghanistan and Gaza – where the October 7 massacre was openly celebrated on the streets. Those coming will have the right to bring in their whole extended families too. While illegal migration is rife, the Government should not be opening our borders even more – and we would close this scheme down immediately.”
Public safety crisis
More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year – including 1,000 in just two days. Some 418 people were packed into five dinghies on Sunday, while 609 asylum seekers were detected in eight vessels on Monday.
Mr Philp warned the small boats emergency has created a “public safety crisis… especially for women and girls”. He told the Conservative Party Conference: “Girls as young as 12 have been raped by illegal small boat migrants. Afghan men are 22 times more likely to commit sex offences than average – one even recently brought a 14-year-old girl he was abusing to the UK on a small boat. This is not just a borders crisis – it is a public safety crisis … especially for women and girls. And we must end it.”
The senior Tory slammed “many on the left” for throwing Britain’s borders open. He said: “Without strong borders, we are no country at all. Many on the Left think that we should let in anyone who wants to come. That every person with a claim to sympathy should be accommodated. They think only of the supposed rights of illegal immigrants. Or prioritise the rights of foreign criminals to stay here. We can’t keep on like this. It isn’t fair to the British people. The cost – financial and social – is simply too high. Borders matter. Control matters. Numbers matter.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have made progress tackling the small boats. Crossings are down significantly, and we have just recorded the lowest number of summer arrivals since 2020. We are taking action, with joint efforts preventing over 48,000 crossing attempts and seizing 1,100 boats and engines since the election. But we must go further, which is why we are boosting the number of officers on the ground in France and removing the pull factors drawing people here through illegal and dangerous routes.”
