Dianne Abbott questioned whether Yvette Cooper was in danger of ‘sounding like she is trying to stigmatise desperate migrants’ – which she denied as he vowed to crush smugglers
Diane Abbott confronts Yvette Cooper over immigration Bill
Yvette Cooper has batted away calls for safe asylum routes to be expanded after being confronted by Labour veteran Diane Abbott.
The Home Secretary said her new border legislation will crack down on vile criminals responsible for dozens of fatalities in the Channel last year. Ms Cooper pointed to the heartbreaking death of seven-year-old Sara Al Ashimi in a crush as she defended the legislation.
Her remarks came after Ms Abbott, who was shadow Home Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, asked: “With the tides of far-right politics sweeping Europe and maybe even lapping on the shores of this country, does she accept that she has a danger of sounding like she is trying to stigmatise desperate migrants, rather than building a fair system?”
Ms Cooper said her Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will focus on tackling violent gangs who force people onto “flimsy” boats with life jackets that will not keep them safe. And she accused the Tories of “standing up for the people smugglers” by opposing her measures.
Ms Cooper said: “It’s worth understanding how extensive and how vile this criminal industry really is, because it operates from the money markets of Kabul to the hills of Kurdistan, right across Europe, through the western Balkans, across the Mediterranean. False advertising on social media while the networks channel the cash – huge supply chains of flimsy boats, weak engines, fake life jackets that wouldn’t keep anyone afloat.”
She continued that gangs “have become increasingly violent in their determination to make as much money as possible”. And she said they were “crowding more and more people into flimsy boats with women and children caught in the middle”.
Ms Cooper went on: “So if the boats fold or sink, they are the first to be crushed or to be drowned. And they provide the fuel in flimsy containers which leak. So when they mix with the salt water, they inflict the most horrific burns.
“And the gangs latest tactic is to make people wait in freezing cold water, even in January, until a boat arrives from further along the shore to pick them up.”
The new Bill, if passed, will allow phones and laptops to be seized from new arrivals, and will include measures to arrest people smugglers before dangerous journeys take place. There will also be prison sentences of up to 14 years for those who sell or handle small boat parts.
It also includes a new criminal offence of aggression or intimidation while at sea. Home Office sources said there have been instances of “floating crime scenes”, where dangerous behaviour has led to deaths on the Channel.
Ms Cooper told the Commons: “One such case was last April, when a seven year old girl died, but others on the boat refused rescue and remained on the boat to travel to the UK, even though people on that boat had died, even though many of them were complicit in the crushing and in putting lives at risk.
“We need to be able to take stronger action here in the UK. We need to be able to extradite people to return to France to face trial, but we also need powers here in the UK.”
On April 23 last year Sara suffocated after being trampled on an overcrowded boat. She was among five who died in the tragedy.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that at least 78 people died while attempting to cross the Channel last year. In a tense debate Ms Cooper slapped down a call by Mr Corbyn to expand safe and legal routes to the UK.
The expelled former Labour said: “Nobody in this house supports people smugglers. We recognise that there are some grotesque people exploiting people who are in a very vulnerable situation.
“But would she agree with me that those people that are getting on those boats are themselves desperate? Many are victims of wars. Many are victims of the most grotesque abuses, most grotesque abuses of human rights and people who themselves deserve to be treated with some respect.”
He continued: “And so, by way of balance, should we not be working out a more sustainable route of safe routes for asylum seekers, safe routes for people to gain a place of safety and recognise the massive contribution that many of these people will make to our community, our country and our society as well?”
Ms Cooper responded: “Well, the UK must always do its bit to help those who fled persecution. That’s what we have done with Ukraine, with Afghanistan and that will continue to be important.
“But no one should be making this dangerous journey on a boat across the channel and being exploited by the criminal gangs who are profiting huge amounts of money, hundreds of millions of pounds from putting lives at risk and from undermining our border security.
“Because frankly, it should be governments, not gangs, that decide who enters our country here.”
