When the government’s Illegal Migration Bill is being discussed in the House of Commons, hundreds of protesters have assembled in front of the building to express their objections.
The bill, which was proposed last week, would forbid someone from ever requesting refuge in the UK.
Suella Braverman, the home secretary, called the legislation’s necessity “clear and urgent” and cited the rising number of tiny boats making the perilous crossing of the English Channel.
In a speech to the legislature on Tuesday, she declared: “They won’t stop coming here until the world understands that if you enter Britain illegally, you will be arrested and promptly expelled.”
But the approach taken by the government has been criticised by groups including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which said it was ‘profoundly concerned’.
The charity Refugee Action said it would ’cause misery, cost millions to the taxpayer and drive desperate people to take ever more dangerous journeys’, while the Archbishop of York described the bill as ‘cruelty without purpose’.
The large-scale protest in Parliament Square this evening is the latest show of opposition to the legislation.
Attendees carried signs saying ‘Refugees are welcome, fascists are not’ and ‘Stop the bill, care for refugees’.
During the bill’s second reading in the House of Commons this evening, the home secretary said the detention and removal element would not apply to children.
She said: ‘Given the mischaracterisation of the bill from members opposite, I would like to make a few things clear.
‘The home secretary’s duty to remove will not be applied to detain and remove unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
‘Consistent with current policy, only in limited circumstances, such as for the purposes of family reunion, we will remove unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from the UK.
‘Otherwise, they will be provided with the necessary support in the UK until they reach 18.’
At least one Conservative MP has said they will vote against the bill, with former immigration minister Caroline Nokes telling Times Radio she could not support it.
She said: ‘I didn’t vote for the last one, I won’t be voting for this one. I might be an outlier in my party but I think we have an absolute duty to treat people humanely to keep people safe.
‘I have absolute horror at the prospect.’