Thursday, March 16, 2023
Discriminatory legislation and careless talk will cost lives
The Labour MP, Jess Phillips makes a very powerful and accurate point while speaking in the House of Commons about the Tory government's illegal immigration bill.
As the Mirror reports, Phillips asked the PM what she should say to the next trafficked woman who is being repeatedly raped and who comes to her for help.
Her remarks follow the government's announcement that its illegal Immigration Bill will withdraw protection under modern slavery laws to those who don't enter the UK via legal routes:
When the policy was unveiled last week, Mr Sunak posted his support for the legislation and said people arriving in small boats "can't benefit" from modern slavery protection.
At PMQs Ms Phillips told MPs: "I've worked for years with women brought here illegally as sex slaves, raped by 30 men a day.
"Last week the Prime Minister tweeted that these victims would be denied access to support from our modern slavery system - a tweet that traffickers will hold up to these women and say 'See, no-one will help you'."
Ms Phillips, a shadow Home Office minister, continued: "The biggest increase in the last 10 years has been from the huge increase in British adults and children trafficked for sex and crime within Britain. Not a number they should be proud of."
She asked: "How exactly will I help the next woman I meet, brought here illegally, from being repeatedly raped if she, as he tweeted, is denied access from our modern slavery (system)?"
Condemnation of this bill has been cross party, with the paper quoting former PM and Home Secretary, Theresa May as well as Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper who described it it as a "traffickers charter"
She [Cooper] branded the Tory plan a "con", fuming: ."It will lock up children and remove the support and safe refuge for women who have been trafficked and could well deny citizenship from people like Mo Farah."
And Mrs May - herself a former Home Secretary - piled the misery on Ms Braverman, saying: "Anybody who thinks that this Bill will deal with the issue of illegal migration once and for all is wrong."
The former PM has warned modern slavery victims will be "collateral damage", saying: "The Home Office knows this Bill means genuine victims of modern slavery will be denied support."
It would be nice though if Labour had a viable and humane alternative to managing asylum. Instead we get key spokepeople tweeting their opposition while still playing into the toxic 'small boats' rhetoric.
As the Mirror reports, Phillips asked the PM what she should say to the next trafficked woman who is being repeatedly raped and who comes to her for help.
Her remarks follow the government's announcement that its illegal Immigration Bill will withdraw protection under modern slavery laws to those who don't enter the UK via legal routes:
When the policy was unveiled last week, Mr Sunak posted his support for the legislation and said people arriving in small boats "can't benefit" from modern slavery protection.
At PMQs Ms Phillips told MPs: "I've worked for years with women brought here illegally as sex slaves, raped by 30 men a day.
"Last week the Prime Minister tweeted that these victims would be denied access to support from our modern slavery system - a tweet that traffickers will hold up to these women and say 'See, no-one will help you'."
Ms Phillips, a shadow Home Office minister, continued: "The biggest increase in the last 10 years has been from the huge increase in British adults and children trafficked for sex and crime within Britain. Not a number they should be proud of."
She asked: "How exactly will I help the next woman I meet, brought here illegally, from being repeatedly raped if she, as he tweeted, is denied access from our modern slavery (system)?"
Condemnation of this bill has been cross party, with the paper quoting former PM and Home Secretary, Theresa May as well as Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper who described it it as a "traffickers charter"
She [Cooper] branded the Tory plan a "con", fuming: ."It will lock up children and remove the support and safe refuge for women who have been trafficked and could well deny citizenship from people like Mo Farah."
And Mrs May - herself a former Home Secretary - piled the misery on Ms Braverman, saying: "Anybody who thinks that this Bill will deal with the issue of illegal migration once and for all is wrong."
The former PM has warned modern slavery victims will be "collateral damage", saying: "The Home Office knows this Bill means genuine victims of modern slavery will be denied support."
It would be nice though if Labour had a viable and humane alternative to managing asylum. Instead we get key spokepeople tweeting their opposition while still playing into the toxic 'small boats' rhetoric.
