The hon. Gentleman should read the Bill. We have been debating it for the past five and a half hours, but he does not seem to have read it. The Bill says, for the very first time, that before we create a safe and legal route we will consult with local authorities. We should all see that as a good step forward. The public are sick of hotels being filled with illegal immigrants and they do not want the wellbeing of illegal immigrants put above that of the British public. That is a crucial change we are making.
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I shall close by making the simple point that the choice ahead of us today is this: is it for the British Parliament to decide who enters this country or is it for the people-smuggling gangs? On the Conservative Benches, we believe that without border controls national security is compromised, the fabric of communities begins to fray and public services come under intolerable pressure. We believe that while we should always be generous to those in need, there are limits on how much support we can provide. We believe we should prioritise our finite resources—as my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt) said in a powerful speech—directly on those in conflict zones, not on those who are fit enough, well enough or wealthy enough to get to a safe country like France and then cross the channel. It is Conservative Members who are on the right side of the moral argument.
What of the Labour party, led by the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer)? He campaigned to close removal centres. He wants to scrap our Rwanda partnership. He is the human rights lawyer who sided with foreign national offenders over the law-abiding British public. He is the prosecutor who votes against tougher sentences for the people-smuggling gangs. It is clear for all to see that the British public cannot rely on the Labour party to stop the boats. It does not have a plan, because it does not think there is a problem. Labour Members are too naive to understand what this country is up against and what is at stake, and they are too weak to take the tough but necessary measures to deter the crossings and fix our broken asylum system. That is why we brought forward the Bill. That is the determination and commitment of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and I. We will stop the boats. This Bill begins that.