Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

UK is compassionate, says PM after Suella Braverman invasion row

UK is compassionate, says PM after Suella Braverman invasion row

Rishi Sunak has said the UK is a "compassionate" country, after the home secretary was criticised for saying southern England was facing an "invasion" of illegal migrants.

Suella Braverman was accused of using inflammatory language by refugee charities and opposition parties.

But some Tory MPs and the ex-leader of UKIP said she was right to speak out.

Downing Street did not comment on whether the prime minister would also describe the situation as an invasion.

But Mr Sunak's official spokesman said: "The home secretary was seeking to express the sheer scale of the challenge that faces the country, with people, including a significant proportion of economic migrants, seeking to make this journey."

Ministers are under pressure to tackle the growing numbers crossing the Channel in small boats.

Ms Braverman has been criticised for overcrowding at the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent, which has reportedly led to outbreaks of disease and violence.

The prime minister's official spokesman said Rishi Sunak told his cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday that the UK would "always be a compassionate, welcoming country".

Earlier, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told the BBC politicians must be careful with their language when talking about this issue.

Charities criticised the use of the word "invasion", with the Refugee Council saying the language was "appalling, wrong and dangerous".

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale, who represents North Thanet, where the Manston centre is located, said using such "inflammatory language" was "completely unacceptable" and "might well incite an unpleasant element in British society to violence".

He told the BBC's Newshour programme Ms Braverman's insistence that she had not blocked the use of hotels to ease overcrowding at Manston was "disingenuous" and the problem was made "right at the top of the Home Office".

He claimed Ms Braverman's predecessors as home secretary had commissioned alternative accommodation but she had not, leading to a "log jam".

Asked if this was a generous way of saying Ms Braverman was not telling the truth, he replied: "Yes."

Other Conservative MPs supported Ms Braverman, with Brendan Clarke-Smith saying she was "right", adding that "we must stop people abusing our system, rather than making excuses for them".

Nigel Farage, former leader of the Brexit Party and UKIP, said in a Twitter video Ms Braverman was right to use the word "invasion" and she had "the guts to say many of these people are just not refugees".

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "No home secretary who was serious about public safety or national security would use highly inflammatory language on the day after a dangerous petrol bomb attack on a Dover initial processing centre."

The SNP said Ms Braverman's "incendiary language makes a mockery of [prime minister] Rishi Sunak's claims about so-called compassionate conservatism".

At one point over the weekend some 4,000 people were being held at the former RAF base at Manston, which is only designed to accommodate 1,600 people on a temporary basis.

Hundreds of people were moved there on Sunday after a man threw firebombs at a separate immigration centre in Dover.

The home secretary told Tuesday's cabinet meeting the Dover centre had now reopened and large numbers were being taken from Manston to other accommodation.

A report from a visit by the chief inspector of prisons in July found Manston had considerably improved but still identified issues such as no access to fresh air or exercise and a lack of beds, with people sleeping on rubber mats on the floor.

Since then, chief inspector Charlie Taylor said the situation had "significantly deteriorated".

People are only supposed to be kept at Manston for 24 hours for security and identity checks, before being moved into the Home Office's asylum accommodation system, which often means a hotel.

When the chief inspector of immigration visited last week, he found some people had been there for over a month. That included one family who had been there for 32 days, sleeping on mats in a marquee.

Migrants rest at an unnamed Home Office facility in Kent

In pictures sent to the BBC, the walls in the facility are covered in writing


At another unnamed Home Office facility, in Kent, young people sleep on the floor on padded mats with only a thin blanket for warmth.

Pictures released to the BBC show their room is sparsely decorated, with just a few books and a box of Scrabble as entertainment to help pass the time in the facility.

Writing in different languages is scrawled on the walls above a row of plastic chairs, fixed to the floor.

The BBC understands the facility is used to process unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

A record number of migrants have arrived in the UK on small boats this year, with nearly 1,000 making the crossing on Saturday, a further 468 crossing on Sunday and 46 on Monday.

The home secretary told MPs on Monday that taxpayers face "a bill of £6.8m a day for hotel accommodation" for migrants.


Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick: "We have to grip this (migration) challenge"

Suella Braverman: "There are some people who would prefer to be rid of me... let them try"


AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
×