Suella Braverman’s Tory conference speech on ‘hurricane’ of illegal migration coming to the UK, fact-checked
Suella Braverman warned of a “hurricane” of illegal migration coming to the UK in an impassioned speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.
The Home Secretary also said she was surprised the Human Rights Act, brought in by Labour in 1998, was not called the “Criminal Rights Act” as it inhibits action on asylum seekers.
The speech, dubbed “Suella uncut”, was given to a packed-out room and the audience gave her a lengthy standing ovation.
Here, i breaks down some of the key claims, facts and figures from the address.
Claim: Too many overseas students were bringing their dependents here to the UK
True or false: Misleading
The Home Secretary said that “too many overseas students were bringing their dependents here to the UK” so the route has been changed so the student visa is “not a route for whole families to live and work in the UK”.
From January 2024, international students will no longer be able to bring dependants on UK visas, unless they are doing a PhD or similar postgrad research degree.
Under current rules, only students enrolling on full-time postgraduate courses lasting nine months or longer can bring family members with them to the UK.
These students can bring their partner and any children under the age of 18, and must prove they have at least £680 per month to support each of their dependents.
According to statistics from the Home Office, about 136,000 visas were granted to dependants of sponsored students in the year ending December 2022, a more than eightfold increase from 16,000 in 2019.
A cap on the number of children that international students can bring to the UK risks “driving postgraduates to study elsewhere” while making only a limited impact on migration, education experts previously told i.
James Pitman, a managing director at international education company Study Group, said it would be a “rare exception” for postgraduate students to bring up to six dependants with them.
“In most cases, the only students permitted to bring a partner and children are postgraduate mature students, including those pursuing PhD studies. Many of these students and their dependents are sponsored by governments that the UK government wishes to maintain good relations with,” he added.
Universities UK also said measures making it harder for foreign students to study in the UK would ultimately push away valuable postgraduates who make a “huge contribution to research and the skilled economy”.
Claim: Albanian illegal migrant numbers down by 90 per cent
True or false: Likely true
There was a steep rise in the number of Albanian nationals crossing the Channel in 2022, driving up the overall increase in arrivals that year, according to The Migration Observatory.
The number of Albanians crossing in small boats fell by 88 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period a year before.
Although these figures are slightly outdated, it is likely that this claim still rings true.
Claim: Small boat crossings are down 20 per cent compared to last year
True or false: True
The total number of small boat arrivals so far this year is around 23 per cent below the equivalent number at this point last year, according to Home Office figures.
More than 25,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year, the statistics show.
472 people made the crossing on Monday, taking the provisional total for 2023 to 25,330. There were 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
Just over 33,000 people had made the crossing by 2 October 2022, compared with 25,330 detected so far in 2023.
Claim: We struggle to confiscate their phones when they arrive on beaches
True or false: Misleading
The Home Office does struggle to confiscate mobile phones from asylum seekers but that is because the policy was deemed unlawful by the high court.
Last year, the high court ruled that the Home Office’s blanket policy of immigration officials taking phones from all asylum seekers arriving on small boats was unlawful.
A report in The Guardian last year stated that the policy operated between April and November 2020 and the court heard it involved the confiscation of thousands of mobile phones.
The UK’s surveillance watchdog found the Home Office’s blanket policy of seizing thousands of asylum seekers’ mobile phones caused “significant harm”.
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office has since written to a large group of asylum seekers to say they can bring the case before a specialist surveillance tribunal.
Claim: Labour wants to open our borders to migration
True or false: False
Ms Braverman drew migration battle lines between the Conservatives and Labour ahead of the next general election.
She said Labour “doesn’t believe we have the right to keep people out” and suggested the party would “open our borders”.
She hit out at a key British human rights law, claiming she was surprised it was not called the “Criminal Rights Act”.
She suggested the Human Rights Act, introduced under the last Labour government, was among a series of laws and regulations which had “enmeshed” the Government’s effort to tackle the small boats crisis in the English Channel.
Keir Starmer has outlined how his party would deal with the migration crisis, vowing to treat people smugglers like terrorists and cooperating with the EU.
The party has ruled out reversing Brexit but said the plans are focused on a deal with the EU involving the UK taking a quota of asylum seekers in exchange for being able to return people who cross the Channel.
The plans also involve funding for more asylum casework to help clear the backlog of more than 175,000 asylum seekers awaiting an initial decision on their application.
