Controversial illegal migration bill passes first Commons test amid calls for changes
manchestereveningnews.co.ukControversial asylum proposals have cleared their first Commons hurdle amid pleas from Tory MPs for amendments to protect trafficked women, children and modern slavery victims.
The Illegal Migration Bill aims to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means, although it has been denounced by the UN’s refugee agency as an effective “asylum ban”.
The House of Commons voted 312 to 250, majority 62, to give the Bill a second reading. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the legislation is needed as people arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel have “overwhelmed our asylum system”, before adding there has been “too much” immigration in recent years. READ MORE: Arrests and man injured after huge fight outside pub and gun reportedly fired Ms Braverman also said she has been subject to the “most grotesque slurs” for saying “simple truths” about the impact of migration on the country.
But Conservative former prime minister Theresa May warned modern slavery victims will be “collateral damage” and have the door shut on them by measures within the Bill.
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