May 15, 2023
4 mins read

Braverman pledges to curb migration

Home secretary is expected to say it is “not racist” to want to control the UK’s borders…reports Asian Lite News

Suella Braverman, home secretary, will on Monday reiterate the UK government’s commitment to bring down net migration as inflows are expected to hit a record high this year.

Braverman will say in her keynote speech at the National Conservatism conference in London on Monday that she campaigned for Brexit because she wanted Britain to control migration.

It is the second conference in a week involving leading figures on the Tory right who are keen to regain the political agenda after a poor performance at local elections earlier this month.

In its 2019 general election manifesto, the Conservative party promised that overall numbers would come down, but official data due this month from the Office for National Statistics are expected to instead show that net migration has hit record levels.

“We need to get overall immigration numbers down,” the home secretary will tell the conference, which will also be attended by levelling-up secretary Michael Gove, former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lord Frost, former Brexit negotiator.

Frost confirmed on Sunday that he had launched a bid to become a Conservative MP at the next general election.

“Brexit enables us to build a high-skilled, high-wage economy that is less dependent on low-skilled foreign labour. That was our 2019 manifesto pledge and what we must deliver,” Braverman will say, adding that it was not “racist” to want to control Britain’s borders.

Public concern about the scale of migration into the UK was a key driver of the “Leave” campaign in the Brexit referendum. Annual net migration fell from 306,000 at the time of vote in 2016 to 88,000 for the year to June 2020, just before Britain formally left the EU.

Since then, however, the figure has risen to 503,000 for June 2021-2022 and is expected to reach a record high this year, driven mainly by a surge in post-pandemic international study, inflows of Hong Kong residents and Ukrainian and Afghan refugees.

On Sunday, The Guardian reported that nine organisations, including the Society of Asian Lawyers and the Association of Muslim Lawyers, had written to the Bar Standards Board, urging it to investigate comments previously made by Braverman.

Braverman is a qualified barrister and still subject to certain rules governing professional conduct.

The three-day National Conservatism conference is organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation, a group led by American and Israeli rightwingers. It follows the launch event of the Conservative Democratic Organisation in Bournemouth on Saturday, a group set up after Boris Johnson was ousted from Downing Street.

Sunak faced a wave of criticism at the CDO conference, including from former home secretary Priti Patel who blamed the Tories’ poor local elections result on his leadership.

Patel told disgruntled Conservative campaigners: “If the centre of the party spent more time with us, listening, engaging, then I think it’s fair to say we would not have seen over 1,000 of our friends and colleagues even lose their seats.” 

The CDO has repeatedly denied the charge that it is a “Bring Back Boris” front group, although conference organiser Claire Bullivant’s suggestion on stage that it would benefit the party if he returned to the helm was met with cheers.

Johnson himself did not appear in person, instead sending a video message that lasted less than a minute, in which he got the name of the organisation wrong.

Ministers are reportedly braced for official figures released later in May to show net migration of between 650,000 and 997,000.

This would pass the previous peak of 504,000 in the year to June 2022, with the numbers likely to place more pressure on Mr Sunak.

Braverman will also use the speech to hit back at critics of her language. She is expected to say it is “not racist” to want to control the UK’s borders.

She will also say that there is nothing wrong with someone from an ethnic minority background making such arguments.

“It’s not xenophobic to say that mass and rapid migration is unsustainable in terms of housing supply, service and community relations. Nor is it bigoted to say that too many people come here illegally and claim asylum, and we have insufficient accommodation for them. I’m not embarrassed to say that I love Britain. No true conservative is. It’s not racist for anyone, ethnic minority or otherwise, to want to control our borders. I reject the left’s argument that it is hypocritical for someone from an ethnic minority to know these facts; to speak these truths. My parents came here through legal and controlled migration. They spoke the language. They threw themselves into the community, embraced British values. When they arrived they signed up to be part of our shared project because the UK meant something to them. Integration was part of the quid pro quo,” Braverman will say.

ALSO READ-Zelensky arrives in UK to meet PM Sunak

Previous Story

PKR 250mn of damage as protests grip Islamabad: Report

Next Story

China sentences American to life in prison on spying charges

Latest from -Top News

India, US Step Up Trade Talks

The development comes in the backdrop of the new US ambassador Sergio Gor taking charge in the US embassy is New Delhi….reports Asian Lite News India and the United States are progressing

Lanka Marks Next Phase of Indian Housing Drive

Phases III and IV of the Indian Housing Project highlight India’s commitment to supporting and empowering Sri Lanka’s Indian-origin Tamil community….reports Asian Lite News Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday

China’s Grab for Africa

China’s investments aim to strengthen its geopolitical influence and its high-tech manufacturing sector in Africa…reports Asian Lute News China is further consolidating its dominance in the rare earth elements sector by expanding

Pakistan Courts in Peril

The question now is whether Pakistan’s courts can continue to function as guardians of the law, or whether they will be reduced to instruments of control…reports Asian Lite News Pakistan judiciary’s independence
Go toTop