Tag: Priti Patel

The speech made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, in Kigali, Rwanda, on 14 April 2022.

I am delighted to be here in Kigali, Rwanda alongside our friend and partner Minister Dr Vincent Biruta.

I would like to express my personal thanks to him and his team for the constructive way in which they have worked with my team over many many months to achieve and deliver this partnership.

The UK has a long and proud development history with Rwanda. Our shared interests have resulted in strong economic and development growth lifting millions out of poverty, but also resulted in growing manufacturing and technology sectors, which are generating jobs and sustainable growth for generations to come.

I know at first hand that your country, Minister is a regional and international leader. You are on the global stage, very much yourself more often than not but also hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the World Telecommunication Development Conference, and the Sustainable Energy for All Forum.

Your national leadership is the African voice on international initiatives, which really speak to and seek to find solutions to regional and international challenges.

I am very honoured to be here, and the United Kingdom is delighted to be working ever more closely with Rwanda.

We have many, many interests in common, and we face many of the same challenges. I want to turn to one of those challenges now.

The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions.

There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.

Evil people smugglers and their criminal gangs are facilitating people into Europe, resulting in loss of life and huge costs to the UK taxpayer.

The tragic loss of life of people in the Channel and in the Mediterranean at the hands of these evil smugglers must stop.

And today, our approach as two outward-looking countries has led to the signing of a new international partnership – which is a world first. It is a migration and economic development partnership with the country of Rwanda and UK.

This will see some of those arriving illegally in the UK, such as those crossing the channel in dangerous small boats, relocated to Rwanda to resettle and rebuild their lives in ways in which the minister has just outlined.

More than 28,000 migrants crossed the channel last year by small boat in very dangerous and perilous conditions

The UK asylum system is collapsing under a combination of real humanitarian crises and evil people smugglers profiteering by exploiting the system for their own gain.

Criminals are exploiting the hopes and fears of migrants, pushing them to make dangerous journeys to the UK with fictitious and false promises that they can settle in the UK if they make it.

This has devastating consequences for the countless men, women, and children who have tragically lost their lives or lost loved ones on perilous journeys.

It is also deeply unfair, because it advantages those with the means to pay people smugglers over vulnerable people who cannot.

Global systems and conventions have failed to address this global crisis.

The world has changed and renewed global leadership is required to find new innovative solutions to this growing problem.

Today the United Kingdom and Rwanda have signed a joint new migration and economic development partnership to put an end to this deadly trade in people smuggling.

This is part of the United Kingdom’s New Plan for Immigration to control our borders, protect our communities, stop dangerous illegal migration, help the world’s most desperate people, and welcome international talents to the UK.

It is the biggest overhaul of our immigration system in decades, underpinned by our Nationality and Borders Bill, which will soon become law.

Our country, the United Kingdom, has always extended the hand of friendship to those in need.

In recent years alone, we have proudly welcomed tens of thousands of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, and BNOs from Hong Kong.

Rwanda has one of the strongest records of refugee resettlement and in recent years and as the minister has just said, Rwanda has resettled over 100,000 refugees.

It has an established record of welcoming and integrating people, such as those from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, but also including, for example, people from Libya evacuated under the EU’s Emergency Transit Mechanism, in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency and the African Union. Rwanda is also a State Party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the seven core UN Human Rights Conventions.

Border control is fundamental to national sovereignty. Uncontrolled immigration reduces our capability and capacity to help those who most need our support. It puts intolerable pressure on public services and local communities.

And at home, as the Prime Minister has said today, because the capacity of asylum system is not unlimited, the presence of economic migrants – which these illegal routes introduce into the asylum system – inhibits our ability to support others in genuine need of protection.

The British people are fair and generous when it comes to helping those in need, but the persistent circumventing of our laws and immigration rules and the reality of a system that is open to gaming and criminal exploitation has eroded public support for Britain’s asylum system and those that genuinely need access to it.

Putting evil people smugglers out of business is a moral imperative. It requires us to use every tool at our disposal – and also to find new solutions.

That is why today’s migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda is such a major milestone.

It is also very much in keeping with our vision for a Global Britain that harnesses the potential of new relationships and stimulates investment and jobs in partner countries.

Working together, the United Kingdom and Rwanda will help make the immigration system fairer, ensure that people are safe and enjoy new opportunities to flourish.

We have agreed that people who enter the UK illegally will be considered for relocation to Rwanda to have their asylum claim decided.

And those who are resettled will be given support, including up to five years of training to help with integration, accommodation, and healthcare, so that they can resettle and thrive.

This agreement fully complies with all international and national law, and as part of this ground-breaking agreement, the UK is making a substantial investment in the economic development of Rwanda.

This will support programmes to improve the lives of the people in Rwanda and develop the country, economy, job prospects, and opportunities.

In addition, the UK will provide funding and expertise to implement this agreement.

As I have said many, many times, this is a global issue, with many countries struggling to address the challenges and the causes. And there is no single or simple solution.

This agreement illustrates that we can no longer accept the status quo. People are dying and the global migration crisis requires new ways to find new partnerships and to find new solutions.

It will deal a major blow to the evil people smugglers.

We know this will not be easy, we know that we will face challenges along the way, but together with the Nationality and Borders Bill, and the New Plan for Immigration, the UK will support those fleeing oppression, persecution, and tyranny through safe and legal routes, while controlling our borders and deterring illegal entry.

Our world-leading migration and economic development partnership is a global first and will change the way we collectively tackle illegal migration through new, innovative, and world-leading solutions.

Thank you.

The speech made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, in Blackpool on 19 March 2022.

Fellow Conservatives, Friends,

Two weeks ago I was in Poland – in Mediyka to be exact. On the border of Poland and Ukraine.

What I saw was a human tragedy on an epic and heartbreaking scale.

Women of all ages, with their children and grandchildren.

They had left behind their brave husbands, fathers, sons and brothers to fight for the values, our values, of freedom and democracy.

The very values which define who we are.

Their lives had been packed into suitcases no larger than the size of a case, we would take on a short break.

But, what I saw was the incredible response from our dear friends in Poland.

From their Government, their volunteers and charitable groups who on the front line had organised the most professional response to manage and welcome refugees fleeing the war.

I met members of the fire service who were working along side border officials, registering refugees and transporting them to reception centres.

I visited a reception centre, which was a local school, now a place of safety to hundreds of women and children of all ages, which provided shelter and essential support for everyone within the centre.

I met many Polish people, including young volunteers who had become frontline responders assisting with the humanitarian response, helping those in need during this time of crisis.

I saw for myself the most remarkable humanitarian work of the Polish Government and the people of Poland.

And I have to tell you, it broke my heart.

I also want to tell you, that while the people I saw, who had crossed the border from the Ukraine into Poland, were desperate and distressed, they were not broken.

Their resolve remained remarkably strong.

I will share with you what I told everyone there:

‘The British government and the people of the United Kingdom are utterly determined that Putin will fail in his war against the people of Ukraine, and that we will open our homes and our hearts to Ukrainians.’

We all share a human need to be safe. The UK will not walk by on the other side.

We will always stand for freedom and the values which are fundamental to our way of life.

Only one thing about this terrible war is simple and straightforward: who is right and who is wrong.

Putin is the aggressor. His actions are completely unjust. He has invaded a peaceful neighbour and is unleashing monstrosities upon them.

His forces are encircling cities.

Shelling hospitals, schools, and care homes.

As Hell rains upon them, Ukrainians know that the United Kingdom stands with them in their time of need.

There are forces more powerful and persuasive than the apparatus of war.

Democracy, friendship, freedom, love.

There is widespread revulsion at the war on Ukraine. The United Kingdom is working with like-minded countries to impose sanctions on Russia the like of which have never been seen before.

Putin’s cronies have hidden dirty money in our country. We don’t want it here.

I fast-tracked the Economic Crime Bill – which received Royal Assent in the very early hours of Tuesday morning.

The Bill gives us greater powers and more information to identify and investigate the illicit wealth of Russian criminals, their allies, and their proxies.

A new property register will deter those seeking to buy UK property with illicit funds and dirty money.

And the Treasury will have powers to act when financial sanctions are breached.

More than one thousand individuals and entities have already been sanctioned.

Their combined wealth is more than £100 billion.

We are not stopping there. We will introduce a second Economic Crime Bill in the next session of Parliament.

It will bring the greatest changes to the Companies Register in 150 years.

We will bring forward reforms to prevent the abuse of limited partnerships, new powers to seize crypto assets from criminals, and measures to give businesses more confidence to share information on suspected money-laundering.

No criminal or kleptocrat will be able to hide behind a UK shell company ever again.

A new Countering Kleptocracy Cell within the National Crime Agency will target sanctions evasion and corrupt Russian assets hidden in the UK.

And we will work with other countries to ensure there is nowhere else for Russian dirty money to hide.

Throughout my time in government, I’ve seen first-hand the saddest plight faced by many people around the world displaced by conflict and the horrors of war.

They include Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, Yemeni and Iraqi refugees across Europe, and people we have welcomed to the United Kingdom, including families from Afghanistan.

The UN estimates that 3 million refugees have been forced to flee the conflict in Ukraine.

Most of them, naturally, want to say as close to their homes as possible, in safe countries near Ukraine.

And that is why we are doing everything to help the refugees in neighbouring countries as I saw in Poland.

The Polish government requested concrete and practical help, rather than interference, and that is exactly what we are giving.

And we are working with the Ukrainian community in the UK so they can make contact with their loved ones so we can help them come to the UK safely.

But in the meantime, we will do everything to welcome Ukrainians here to the UK.

It is not just a moral imperative.

There is an enormous enthusiasm throughout our great country for extending the hand of hospitality and friendship.

Britain is a country that always does right by those in need.

We have a long, proud history of offering sanctuary.

That is why I launched the Ukraine Family Scheme, for Ukrainians with family ties to British nationals and people settled in the UK.

I had already announced the extension of leave for Ukrainian nationals already in the UK before Putin’s invasion.

And now those joining us through the Family Scheme will be granted the right to stay in the UK for three years, during which time they can work and access public services.

We want them to thrive here, just like the people we have welcomed from Syria, Hong Kong, and Afghanistan.

And in order to ensure they do, we will make sure they have every means to do so.

And it is not just Ukrainians with pre-existing links to the UK who are welcome.

Those with no family here can come through our Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Individuals, charities, community groups, and businesses in the UK can apply to sponsor Ukrainians and bring them to safety.

Above all, it is the generosity of the British people that is at the core of our country’s response to the crisis.

We have seen hundreds of thousands of people offer up rooms in their homes,

Funding appeals which have soared.

And behind every figure lies the story of a person or a family who can look forward to a better future because of the generosity of the British people.

We celebrate that.

But Friends, it will not have escaped your notice that our opponents claim we do not care about the needy and vulnerable.

It is the opposite of the truth.

Since 2015, We have resettled almost 25,000 men, women and children seeking refuge from cruel circumstances across the world – more than any other European country.

As Home Secretary, I have given support to British National (Overseas) status holders and their family members threatened by draconian security laws in Hong Kong, creating a new pathway to citizenship for over 5 million people with 97000 visas having been granted already.

And last summer we led the largest evacuation since Dunkirk in Afghanistan

– under Conservative leadership, the United Kingdom has and always will provide sanctuary when the lights are being switched off on people’s liberties.

This government has focused on a post-Brexit immigration system that is open to the world and is fair.

Where we welcome the best and the brightest through a points-based system

– the brilliant, dedicated doctors and nurses now able to use a fast-track visa to come and work in our NHS –

– and the brightest and best scientists and academics who now benefit from the global talent route into the UK.

This is our New Plan for Immigration in practice.

Cracking down on people smugglers means we will have the capacity to help those genuinely fleeing in fear of their lives.

Safe and legal routes – like the ones for Ukrainians displaced by Putin’s war – are preferable to the dangerous journeys across the Channel organised by criminal gangs.

We have added measures to the Nationality and Borders Bill introducing new visa penalty provisions for countries that pose a risk to international peace and security.

Accommodation and other resources are not unlimited – we will be less able to help those in most need if we do not control our borders.

All states have a responsibility to have a planned and controlled migration and asylum system.

And to sustain them, that system – all of it – must be a fair one.

This Government promised to regain sovereignty and we have made immigration and asylum policy a priority.

Which is why What is happening in the Channel with small boats is unsafe, unfair, and unacceptable.

The cause of this relentless flow of migrants landing on our shores are the vile people smugglers characterised by ruthlessness and greed.

I know you feel angry and frustrated about this. I am too.

This is not a challenge unique to the UK, but now we have left the European Union, Global Britain has a responsibility to act and address the problems that have been neglected for too long.

You rightly ask what am I doing to change things?

At the heart of our New Plan for Immigration is a simple principle: Fairness.

Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers.

If you illegally enter the UK via a safe country in which you could have claimed asylum, you are not seeking refuge from imminent peril,

But are picking the UK as a preferred destination.

The present maximum sentence for people smugglers is 15 years. We are changing that to life.

The use of hotels to accommodate arrivals will end and we will bring forward plans to expand the Government’s asylum estate to accommodate and process asylum seekers including for return to a safe country.

For the first time, whether you enter the UK legally or illegally will have an impact on how your asylum claim progresses, and on your status in the UK if that claim is successful.

We will also introduce a robust approach to age assessment to ensure we safeguard against adults claiming to be children.

Through these and many other measures in the Nationality and Borders Bill which will return to Parliament next Tuesday, we are bringing lasting change to a broken system which is fair to those who need our support and firm on those who abuse our laws.

The Home Secretary’s primary responsibility is the security of our nation.

Some of you may have noticed the calls for me to suspend national security processes on people, have grown louder in recent weeks.

But there are good reasons why Ukrainian refugees must come here safely and legally.

I have been asked why we couldn’t suspend security checks on people escaping Putin’s war.

Times of conflict emphasise our need to remain watchful.

I know from the briefings I receive from the Intelligence and Security Services, that instability around the world brings with it greater threats.

I sign warrants daily from our security and intelligence agencies relating to the extreme danger this country faces from all kinds of terrorism, serious organised crime, and state threats.

Only four years ago, the Russian Military Intelligence Service used a chemical weapon on British soil.

It happened in Salisbury – a beautiful city whose inhabitants would have felt completely safe.

Dawn Sturgess could never have imagined that she would lose her life to Novichok.

The truth is that a very small number of people can wreak utter havoc.

Russia has a history of covert, hostile activity.

I am afraid it is naïve and misguided to think that only men can be covert operatives –

– or that refugee flows would not be subjected to exploitation –

There are those who would come to this country who mean us harm, and who plot to strike at our way of life.

The processes that we have put in place closely follow the advice of our intelligence and security services. They mean we can help Ukrainians in need, without making our country less safe.

State threats and terrorism take many forms.

They thrive on indifference and appeasement.

And we are now seeing them supplemented by new types of targeted biological, chemical, cyber warfare, ransomware, and online threats.

Our duty is to safeguard our country’s interests and we will never take our eye off the ball when it comes to the safety and security of our country.

Getting on with the job

Rightly, our focus is on the current crisis in the Ukraine, however at home we continue to deliver on the people’s priorities, for which you, my friends, campaigned so hard in 2019.

The safety and security of our communities and citizens is paramount.

Crime has unspeakable consequences upon those whose lives are scarred by appalling acts of crime, abuse, and violence.

Our approach to crime will always be based upon seeking justice for victims and ensuring that perpetrators are subject to the full force of the law.

Since we last met in Manchester, we have continued to back our police with the funding, resources, and laws they need to keep our country safe.

Through our Beating Crime Plan we are well over half way to our target of recruiting 20,000 police officers.

We are pursuing the appalling scourge of drugs – our actions on targeting county lines and the drug gangs are working as law enforcement go after the kingpins behind these deadly supply lines.

To cut crime, we must crack down on drug use – which is why we have expanded support for drug testing on arrest.

Illegal drugs are responsible for murders, serious violence, and neighbourhood crimes.

And we will continue to reform police accountability, performance, and transparency to ensure that their focus is that of the British people – to prevent and to cut crime.

Our approach is working – crimes including theft, burglary and knife crime are down.

I will continue to be relentless in the pursuit of criminals to ensure everyone can be safe in their communities.

Friends, I began my remarks by sharing with you what I saw two weeks ago in Poland.

What I saw there, through the acts of kindness and care, were the very universal values which we as Conservatives hold dear to our hearts.

The preciousness of freedom, safety and security which unite and bring us together.

We value the enormous benefits of living in a free and safe society and we must always be resolute in our determination to safeguard them.

What is happening in Ukraine is the saddest reminder of the depths to which humanity can sink, to strike out these values.

Our duty is to safeguard our Country’s interests and to be reliable and supportive to our friends who share our values.

It is right we do what we can to help Ukraine in its hour of need.

Not just for their peace, freedom and security.

But for the very values and freedoms we all cherish and live our lives by.

The statement made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 31 March 2022.

Today we are publishing the “Windrush Lessons Learned Review – Progress Update” which focuses on the work undertaken by the Home Office over the past two years in response to the initial Windrush lessons learned review. I am grateful to Wendy Williams as independent adviser and her team for returning to assess the Home Office’s progress since the publication of her original report in March 2020.

The initial Windrush review exposed unacceptable failings in the Home Office and an “institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the issue of race, and the history of the Windrush generation”. I accepted Wendy Williams’ findings when the original report was published and I continue to repeat both my sincere heartfelt apology to those impacted from the Windrush generation and the wider Commonwealth and my commitment to righting the wrongs so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

I published a comprehensive improvement plan in September 2020 which set out the actions we intended to take in response to the Windrush lessons learned review. I am pleased that, in reviewing progress, Wendy Williams concludes that we have risen to the challenge she set us. She states that there are several areas where very good progress has been made and structures have been put in place which should provide appropriate levels of oversight of the Department in the future. She has also seen excellent behaviour and initiatives from members of staff and teams.

I am confident that we have started to deliver the meaningful change that the Windrush generation and wider public expect and deserve from the Home Office. I also believe that we have already made significant progress in creating the culture shift that Wendy Williams challenged us to bring about. I am proud of the work that we have already undertaken in response to the Windrush lessons learned review.

We have now offered £45 million through the Windrush compensation scheme, with £37.7 million paid across 993 claims. We have also provided over 14,800 individuals with documentation confirming their status or British citizenship.

Whilst commending our overall progress and commitment, Wendy Williams has identified areas where we still need to go further. She recognises the major programme of work which has taken place, and that the scale of our ambition to achieve genuine cultural change requires ongoing reflection, commitment to constant improvement and time. I welcome this progress update and we will continue to build on the progress which has been made.

It remains our mission to make the Home Office a better place to serve the public. I am grateful to my permanent secretaries and senior officials whose dedication to improving the department and making amends remains resolute. I extend my gratitude to the civil servants in the Home Office and across government who continue to rise to the challenge that the Windrush lessons learned review has set us all, and who work tirelessly every single day in challenging and demanding roles to keep the public and our country safe. Like me, they recognise that there is much work still to deliver the vision set out in our comprehensive improvement plan. I am confident that together we can achieve that.

The Progress Update will be made available on gov.uk at: Windrush Lessons Learned Review: progress update – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The statement made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 10 March 2022.

I announced on 18 November 2021 the Government decision to establish an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005, to investigate the death of Dawn Sturgess in Amesbury on 8 July 2018, after she was exposed to the nerve agent Novichok.

The inquiry will now be chaired by the Lord Hughes of Ombersley.

Lord Hughes is a retired judge who was a former judge of the Supreme Court, as well as a Lord Justice of Appeal and vice-president of the criminal division. Lord Hughes is also a judicial commissioner to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO).

In accordance with section 3(1) of the Act, this inquiry will be undertaken by Lord Hughes alone as chair.

The Government are establishing this inquiry after careful consideration of advice from Baroness Hallett, who led the inquest, that this is necessary to permit all relevant evidence to be heard.

This is an important step in ensuring that the family of Dawn Sturgess get the answers they need.

The current inquest will be suspended after the establishment of the inquiry. The inquiry will formally start on 17 March.

I will today place a copy of the terms of reference, which remain unchanged, for the inquiry in the Libraries of both Houses.

The inquiry’s investigations will be a matter for the chair. As the sponsoring Department, the Home Office will provide support and ensure that the inquiry has the resources that it needs.