Diana Johnson MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  As I said at the outset, whoever perpetrates a crime will be held to account, and there will be consequences. I hope I have been clear that that includes people who are making asylum applications, as well as the wider general public. People have to be held to account.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  I welcome the tone of the hon. Lady’s contribution. This is a serious issue; I fully agree with her on peaceful protest, but it is totally unacceptable when that steps over into violent disorder, as we saw last summer, for example. She will know that there is a huge effort going in to deal with the backlog we inherited from the previous Government—to speed up the process so that those people who should not be in our country are swiftly removed, and those refugees and asylum seekers whose claims are accepted can get on with the rest of their lives.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  I totally disagree with what the hon. Lady said. Violent disorder is not a symptom—it is criminal. It is thuggery; it is attacks on our brave police officers. There is no reason or excuse for what happened last summer or for any violent disorder that may happen in future. It is criminal, it should be prosecuted, and people should face the full consequences of the law.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  The Government have been taking action over the past 12 months to deal with the issue of illegal working. There have been 10,031 illegal working visits, leading to 7,130 arrests—a rise of 48% and 51% respectively compared with the year before. That marks the first 12-month period in which more than 10,000 visits have taken place to start to tackle illegal working in this country.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  There was no proper management of public safety risks posed by individual asylum seekers, and migrants could work illegally in the gig economy with few sanctions for the companies responsible. This Government are gripping the situation and turning the system around. We have removed 5,179 foreign national offenders in our first year in office. Just to put that in perspective for the benefit of the House, that is more foreign criminals than were removed in the entire 20 months when the right hon. Gentleman was the Minister for Immigration.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  As I have just set out in great detail, we have a plan. Let me say respectfully to the hon. Gentleman that the plan that the previous Government had resulted in four volunteers, I think, going to Rwanda. A general election was called; the then Prime Minister decided to call a general election. Why did he not let the scheme operate if it was such a success? That is the real question. Why did they go to the country if they were just about to have an enormous success with Rwanda?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  What I can tell the hon. Lady is that we inherited a huge backlog of claims for asylum. One of the important parts of dealing with the backlog is processing those claims and determining whether people have an asylum claim that can be successful; if it is not, they should then be returned. That is the whole purpose of closing the hotels, as we will speed up the processing of the applications.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  I am happy to pass on that issue to the Immigration Minister.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for those comments. It might help the shadow Home Secretary if I say that the number of hotels has gone down under this Labour Government. [ Interruption. ] Despite what the shadow Home Secretary says, the number of hotels has gone down since the Government came into power.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  Excuse, excuse, excuse. I would say that the same pattern is true of illegal working—but actually it is even worse. In the first quarter of this year, we delivered more raids, more arrests and more fines for illegal working than the shadow Home Secretary managed in the entire time he was Immigration Minister. We did more in three months to crack down on illegal working than he managed in 20. Now—

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  I have absolutely no idea; it is for the shadow Home Secretary to explain that one. Clearly, I would expect all hon. and right hon. Members in the House to want to do everything to keep our communities safe.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  Absolutely—I am very happy to give that assurance. I know that my hon. Friend has been raising these issues for some time, so I am happy to do that.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  The number of hotels has come down. The aim is to reduce the overall bill by £1 billion, but the number of hotels has come down since we came into power.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend will know that the Immigration Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle), who I believe gave evidence to the esteemed Home Affairs Committee on which he sits, is looking at that issue. A number of companies have been reported in the press as employing or using people in particular from asylum hotels—I know the shadow Home Secretary has taken a particular interest in this—and the Minister is working very hard to ensure that those companies are held to account, and that the new provisions we are bringing in to ensure that the gig economy is treated in the same way as other employers, who have to check individuals’ immigration status, are followed through. There is much more to do, but certainly I know the Immigration Minister is working hard on this.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  There was no proper management of public safety risks posed by individual asylum seekers. [ Interruption. ]

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Lady says that there is no plan. First, we are working with source and transit companies to stop dangerous journeys before they begin. Secondly, we are stepping up law enforcement, with new powers, more National Crime Agency officers and specialist units in France to disrupt smuggling gangs. Thirdly, we are strengthening border security, with more patrols, drones and legal challenges to stop overcrowded boats. Fourthly, we have secured a new returns agreement with France—something that the shadow Home Secretary could not achieve—so that people arriving illegally by small boat can be sent back, while also accepting a matching number of eligible applicants through a safe route. Finally, we are cracking down on illegal working and reforming the asylum system to close loopholes exploited by gangs and ensure fair, controlled migration. That looks like a plan to me—that is a plan.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  Again, that is a matter for each individual Opposition Member to explain to their constituents. I know that this is an issue that people care about. Opposition Members will have to explain their decision to their constituents, including in Croydon.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  To the right hon. Gentleman’s specific question, this is about not granting asylum to those who are convicted of a registered sexual offence, so it is not recognising that they have an asylum claim. That is the issue we are legislating for at the moment. The right hon. Gentleman and I understand that there are certain countries in the world to which it is difficult to return individuals—I fully appreciate that—but we are setting out in legislation a clear note that asylum will not be granted to those who are convicted of registered sexual offences.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  Let me repeat to the House that any allegation of crime or sexual assault—including by individuals in the asylum system—is incredibly serious and is to be treated so by the authorities and by the Government. I regret the tone that the shadow Home Secretary is taking on such a serious and important matter. I also gently remind him to look at his record and that of the Conservative party on this issue. More than 400 asylum hotels were in operation at their peak, housing over 50,000 people at a cost of almost £9 million a day. Enforced returns were down 50% on 2010. Returns of foreign national offenders had fallen by a thousand. Criminal smuggler gangs were able to exploit our weak border security—

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises a really important point. After the disorder last summer we did see communities spontaneously coming together and wanting to say that what had happened in their local area was done not by the majority but by a very small number of people. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been working with local authorities on rebuilding community cohesion—which for many years under the last Administration was not seen as important at all—because it is so important that all parts of our society feel safe and valued. Through community cohesion, we stop those who wish to divide and pit people against each other, and recognise the valuable role that all parts of society and our communities play.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  As I have said a number of times, this Government are committed to closing all hotels by the end of this Parliament. Fewer hotels are open now than when we came into power last July.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  Yes. My hon. Friend puts it very well. Within this, there are people fleeing persecution in other parts of the world. This country, as we all know and have heard many times in the House, recognises our role in the world to offer a safe haven to such people. I fully endorse what he says.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman may know that a great deal of work has been undertaken since the disorder of last summer to ensure that intelligence is gathered from the online space, as well as the offline space, and that all the authorities are prepared and ready if there is any sign of disorder again. Just to reiterate, all of us in this House would recognise that peaceful protest is an important part of a democratic society, but not when it crosses over into the disorder and mayhem we saw last year when criminal acts were perpetrated by individuals.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  As the House will be aware, on Tuesday 8 July an arrest was made by Essex police following incidents that took place in Epping earlier that day, and a man was subsequently charged. His trial is due to start on 26 August, and he has been remanded in custody until that time. These are very serious allegations and it is vital that criminal justice procedures are able to run their course—Superintendent Tim Tubbs of Essex police has said that “the last thing we want is for any public discussion to hinder an ongoing prosecution.” I thank Essex police both for its swift response on that case and for handling the protests in Essex yesterday evening and in previous days with diligence and professionalism. Criminal activity of any kind is totally unacceptable, wherever it occurs and whoever it is perpetrated by. As outlined following the recent Casey report, we are improving joint protection arrangements between the police and immigration enforcement linked to the asylum system. We are clear that where crimes are committed, every effort must be made to catch, prosecute and punish those responsible. Let there be absolutely no doubt: foreign nationals, including asylum seekers, who abuse our hospitality by breaking our laws should expect to be removed from this country. In the first year of this Government, 5,179 foreign national criminals were removed from the UK—a 14% increase on the previous year. That is important progress, but we want to go further. Through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are changing the law to ensure that individuals convicted of any registered sexual offence are not granted asylum, and we are legislating to allow for the tagging of any migrant considered to pose a threat to public safety or national security, as well as strengthening our crackdown on illegal working. But we must go further to end hotel use. This Labour Government inherited an asylum system in chaos, with 400 hotels in use at the peak in 2023 at a cost of almost £9 million a day. We are changing that, clearing the asylum backlog and increasing returns to end the use of asylum hotels all together by the end of this Parliament. Alongside those actions, we are mounting a comprehensive and wide-ranging effort to tackle small boat crossings, including the intensified co-operation and pilot returns scheme with France outlined by the Home Secretary in her statement last week. There is no quick fix for the chronic problems this Government inherited, but, for the first time in years, there is now a serious and sensible plan to restore order and proper management to the asylum and immigration system. Let me state plainly to the House that we expect rules to be respected and enforced, and we expect the law to be followed. When it is not, we expect those involved to face the full force of the law. We are taking every possible step to deliver the strong border security that the country needs, because nothing matters more than the safety of the British people.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source

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  Clearly that is a live matter before the courts, but I want people to be held to account for their actions. If that involves extradition, that is the right thing to do.