LONDON: Former prime minister Theresa May has voiced concerns over Boris Johnson’s attempts to control immigration into the UK. May cautioned that points-based immigration systems alone are “not an answer to controlling immigration”, before urging Home Secretary Priti Patel to “look very carefully” at how regional visas can operate, noting there are some “very real challenges”.
May also said there were many pieces of legislation in the Queen’s Speech which will help improve people’s quality of life. She added that those governing could have the “best headlines and the greatest oratory” but these would be of no use if they “don’t actually practically deliver for people”. Her intervention came as debate on the Queen’s Speech, which includes the Immigration and Social Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill to end freedom of movement and introduce a points-based immigration system from 2021, entered its third day.Conservative May said the Domestic Abuse Bill was an important piece of legislation, adding: “But there are many other Bills in this Queen’s Speech which will also help to improve people’s quality of life and which show that it’s the Conservatives that listen to people, but also recognise that actually it’s not about headlines — governing is about delivering practical solutions to the problems that people face day to day. “You can have the best headlines and the greatest oratory and the most arresting phrases, but they are of no use if they don’t actually practically deliver for people, and that’s what this Government is about.”
Turning to immigration, May said one of the challenges she faced upon becoming home secretary in 2010 was abuse which had arisen in the immigration system, something she claimed was “largely enabled” by Labour’s “points-based immigration system”. She said: “So, it is possible that the Home Office has come up, the best brains have come up, with the best scheme, but I would simply urge the Home Secretary and the Home Office to look very carefully at the lessons which have been learned in the past in relation to points-based systems which, in themselves, are not an answer to controlling immigration and can allow abuse to take place.” May also said she fears Government proposals will potentially see more foreign national offenders in UK prisons.
She said: “On the question of foreign national offenders, it is absolutely right to look at those cases where foreign national offenders, having been deported, are then brought back into the country, often by illegal criminal gangs.” She added: “The issue I have though, is that the result of the proposals will be that we will see more, potentially see more foreign national offenders in our prisons. “The issue of dealing with foreign national offenders in our prisons is one that every home secretary is faced with when they come into office, and I would urge the government, alongside what they are doing, to look at making sure, seeing how we can most effectively remove foreign national offenders, and also at ensuring that we have prisoner transfer schemes to replace those once we have left the EU, to replace those that are available to us within the European Union.”
Mrs May then raised concerns about the possibility of “regional visas” being given to people wanting to work in a particular part of the country. She said: “I would urge my right honourable friend to look very carefully at how that can operate logistically, because it has some very real challenges.” She told the Commons the issue has been rejected in the past by the Independent Migration Advisory Committee.
May welcomed the Police Protections Bill but said measures to protect police drivers involved in accidents while chasing criminals had been intended to be part of a wider Bill introducing sentencing reforms for dangerous driving. She said: “I am disappointed that those reforms are not in the Queen’s Speech.” May urged the Ministry of Justice to look at ensuring these reforms are introduced to “give some comfort” to parents who have lost children as a result of dangerous driving.