Migrants would not be dying while crossing the Channel if the Labour Government had continued with the Rwanda scheme, the Conservatives have said.
Chris Philp expressed his “complete” agreement that migrants would have “new and successful lives” if the previous government’s scheme had been enforced, after an intervention from his Conservative colleague Caroline Johnson.
It came after two migrants died trying to cross the English Channel overnight. The French coastguard said a rescue operation was launched after the pair became unconscious on a boat carrying nearly 80 migrants.
Shadow home secretary Mr Philp also told the Commons that immigration has created “social fractures” and listed nationalities he claimed have high “levels of criminality”.
Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle accused the Tories of perpetrating an “increasingly dangerous” narrative, adding: “Let us not dehumanise fellow human beings.”
Opening the opposition day debate on immigration, Mr Philp said: “High levels of immigration, especially when there is not proper integration, undermines social cohesion and a nation state, a society can’t function when you have social fractures, it can’t function properly.”
He added: “Amongst people born in the Middle East and North Africa, economic inactivity rates are 40% – that is double the rate for people born in the UK.
“Amongst people born in south and east Asia, the economic inactivity rate is 50% higher than it is for people born in the UK. By contrast, amongst those born in Australia or New Zealand, the economic inactivity rate is only half the level amongst the UK-born population.
“And I’m afraid to say, when it comes to crime and offending, there are some immigrant groups where levels of criminality are very high. For example, Afghans are 20 times more likely to commit sex offences than average. People of Congolese origin are 12 times more likely to commit violence, and Algerians are 18 times more likely to commit theft.”
Intervening, Independent MP for Islington North Jeremy Corbyn said: “When he’s finished denigrating every community that’s made their homes in this country, will he just reflect for a moment at the massive contribution made in education, in health, in transport and many other industries by people that have come to this country?”
Mr Philp replied: “High skilled migrants do make a contribution and should be welcomed, and when I was talking about those issues with social housing, with economic inactivity, with criminality, I was reading out facts.”
Dame Angela said: “I wonder if he’d take a moment just to reflect and remember the woman and small child who lost their lives today in an incident in French territorial waters.”
Mr Philp replied: “Yes, I will, of course I would. A number of people have tragically lost their lives crossing the Channel, and that is precisely why we need to stop these crossings entirely.”
He said the Government’s “borders Bill” is a “tiny step in the right direction”, but added: “We do need a removals deterrent like Rwanda, in order to prevent these crossings.”
Conservative former minister Ms Johnson intervened to say: “Does he agree with me that had the Rwanda scheme not been cancelled by the current Government, that the people who had gone there would be being cared for and setting up new and successful lives, and we would not have people dying in the Channel?”
Mr Philp said: “I completely agree.
“Had that scheme been started as intended on 24 July, the deterrent effect would by now have stopped these crossings.”
Green Party MP Carla Denyer also intervened to say she was “disgusted by the narrative coming from the party in opposition”, adding: “Does he not acknowledge the most rational, as well as compassionate, thing to do would be to provide those safe and managed routes?”
Mr Philp replied: “No, I don’t accept that. Firstly, every single person getting on one of those boats is able to claim asylum in France. They don’t need to get into one of those boats to claim asylum in the UK.
“There are plenty of safe and legal routes. And as I say, unless every single person that wants to come here is given a safe and legal route, there will still be illegal crossings.”
During Mr Philp’s speech, Oliver Ryan, who lost the Labour whip over his membership of a WhatsApp group that featured offensive comments, was accused of saying the shadow minister was “race-baiting”.
The Independent MP for Burnley exchanged words across the chamber with Conservative MP Nick Timothy (West Suffolk), who made the accusation.
Mr Timothy, a former adviser to Theresa May when she was home secretary and prime minister, said it was “undeniable that mass immigration and the radical diversity it’s brought has undermined that shared national identity”.
Pressed on the Prime Minister’s “island of strangers” speech, Dame Angela said it was not “incompatible” with Sir Keir Starmer’s previous comments on migration.
She said: “We have to have capacity to absorb the people that we allow into our country, and crucially, when it comes to small boats, we have to have the capacity to decide who comes into our country.”
She added: “We thrive, like we always have in our history, with a tolerant, multicultural society now where we strive to understand each other and get on with each other, rather than divide and seek to cause resentments, which some people have political narratives that do that, and that is all regrettable.”
