UK Borders Bill

I will give way after I have made a little more progress, as I want to make some points. The hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) did not say anything very positive about the Bill, but he was positive towards the end of his comments about measures on trafficking and facilitation. I am pleased to have his support on that, and I believe that there is cross-party support for tackling that obnoxious, heinous and damaging crime. Overall however, the hon. Gentleman’s comments were not terribly positive, and he certainly was not positive about measures that have already been taken. Annual asylum applications are at their lowest level since 1993. A majority of initial decisions are now taken within eight weeks. In 2005, 17,000 illegal immigrants were stopped crossing the channel and 30,000 at airports around the world. I am sure that he will remember that the measures were not supported by him or his party. Therefore, they should look carefully at the well thought through measures in the Bill, and they should support them if they truly believe what they say about strengthening our borders.