Andy Carter defends backing 'Stop the Boats' in the Commons

The Illegal Migration Bill, or 'Stop the Boats,' has come under fire from a number of politicians, and even the United Nations, for allegedly 'demonising vulnerable people.'

Home Secretary Suella Braverman MP wrote that the bill is not compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998, but that the Government wanted to proceed with the bill nonetheless.

Profoundly concerned by the asylum bill introduced by the UK Government to the House of Commons today. It would deny access to asylum and protection and be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention. https://t.co/2LMXOVD6CB

— Gillian Triggs (@GillianTriggs) March 7, 2023

A vote was held in the House of Commons on Monday, March 13, about whether to let the bill pass to the next stage of the process to become law - the bill passed 312 votes to 250.

Though no Conservative MPs voted against the bill, scores of Tories did not attend the vote, or abstained from voting - including former Prime Minister Theresa May, and vocal critic of the bill Chris Skidmore.

Ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel notably has no vote recorded for this bill on the Parliamentary record.

Among MPs to vote in favour of the 'Stop the Boats' bill was Andy Carter, the Conservative MP for Warrington South.

The Home Secretary has accepted that the proposed legislation goes against the Human Rights Act (Image: Parliament UK)

The UN Refugee Agency has criticised the bill, saying: "The legislation, if passed, would amount to an asylum ban - extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the United Kingdom for those who arrive irregularly, no matter how genuine and compelling their claim may be, and with no consideration of their individual circumstances."

"The effect of the bill (in this form) would be to deny protection to many asylum-seekers in need of safety and protection, and even deny them the opportunity to put forward their case.

"This would be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention and would undermine a long-standing, humanitarian tradition of which the British people are rightly proud."

Mr Carter voted in favour of the 'Stop the Boats' bill, and has defended his position (Image: Andy Carter MP)

Defending his stance to the Warrington Guardian, Andy Carter said: "The UK has always been a tolerant and welcoming nation, with more than 300,000 people using safe and legal routes to settle in the UK since 2015, we have a record of supporting those most vulnerable. 

"I’ve been pressing the Prime Minister and Home Office ministers for a long time to come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with the problem of small boats crossing the Channel, and I’m pleased that this has now been put before Parliament. 

"I’m confident that the Illegal Migration Bill represents the best way to grip this problem. I’ve also always been clear that there is no one simple solution to what is a complicated problem. 

"It will take lots of different interventions."

The Conservative MP added: “The measures in this legislation come on top of significant action the Government has already taken to tackle criminal gangs who operate across the channel. 

"We have doubled the funding for the National Crime Agency, set up a small boats operational command with more than 700 new staff working alongside our French counterparts, and introduced life sentences for people smugglers in our Nationality and Borders Act 2022 – which Labour voted against.

“Yesterday Labour again voted against measures to stop small boats, in the misguided hope that doing more of the same is the only way forward.  The difference couldn’t be any clearer – we have a plan to tackle an issue which people in Warrington care greatly about, Labour do not.”

No Labour MPs voted in favour of the bill, which includes Warrington North MP, Charlotte Nichols.

Ms Nichols has criticised the 'Stop the Boats' policy (Image: Parliament TV)

Ms Nichols told the Warrington Guardian: "This is stunt legislation that is designed to make headlines rather than solve the problem, and Ministers don’t care about demonising vulnerable people in the process.

"Every year the Conservatives trumpet new laws and shout about invasions, but none of these have made a difference."

The Labour MP continued: "Warrington’s embrace of Ukrainian and Hong Kong refugees shows that we are a better country than this government aspires to, and we can fix our asylum and border challenges without resorting to dangerous rhetoric and a bill that explicitly says on its front page that it is not compatible with our laws.

"The Government knows that these tawdry plans will be picked apart in the House of Lords; they should instead drop them now and bring forward a proper plan to fix the problem, not stoke divisions."

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