Shortly before Christmas, I took to the streets of Workington town centre and invited west Cumbrians to come and talk to me about immigration. It’s a subject some politicians avoid like the plague, but I don’t want to duck the big issues. I can only represent your interests in Parliament if I’m listening carefully to what you think and what you want me – and the government – to do.
The message came through loud and clear: you want illegal immigration stopped and our borders controlled. People aren’t opposed to legal migrants who contribute to our NHS, our care homes and our communities – quite the opposite. You know that without those workers, public services in West Cumbria would struggle. I also heard real sympathy for genuine refugees who arrive through safe and legal routes. But you are rightly fed up with a broken system that has allowed criminals to exploit vulnerable people, undermine law and order, and leave taxpayers footing the bill for those who have no right to be here.
So let me spell out what this government is doing – and why I think you’ll welcome it. We are going after people-smuggling gangs, accelerating the return of those with no right to stay, and fixing the chaotic asylum system we inherited.
You may not have seen it splashed across the front pages, but just last week Adem Savas was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined £346,000 for his role as the single most significant supplier of boats and equipment to Channel-crossing gangs over the past five years. His kit was used in half of all crossings in 2023 alone. This conviction followed a joint UK-Belgian operation launched by this government to smash the gangs – exactly as we promised at the election.
And that’s not all. Our Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, which became law in December, has given law enforcement unprecedented powers: accessing smugglers’ phone data, creating new offences for supplying boats and engines, and criminalising the online promotion of illegal crossings. One of those new offences – endangering life at sea – was used for the first time earlier this month to arrest an 18-year-old who piloted a boat carrying 46 people across the Channel.
We’ve secured a deal with France that has returned just shy of 200 people who crossed illegally and we will be ramping this up . We’ve worked with Germany to pass new laws that could jail smugglers storing boats there for up to ten years. We’ve led the world with the first sanctions targeting more than two dozen key figures in smuggling networks. Hundreds of people working illegally – including nine here in West Cumbria – have been arrested. We’re expanding “deport now, appeal later” for foreign national offenders. And since the election, 50,000 people have been returned.
These are real examples of real action.
To those in West Cumbria who want illegal immigration stopped: I hear you, I agree with you, and this government is delivering. It’s time to restore control, uphold humanity, and make the system work – for communities and for those truly in need.
Josh MacAlister MP 