Andrea Jenkyns highlighted the pressures on public services, as well as security threats caused by people being in the country who should not be in the country.
Illegal immigration represents an “existential threat” to our society, causing wage suppression, security issues, and a strain on public services, a former minister has told MPs.
“We are facing an immigration and asylum crisis in the UK,” Dame Andrea Jenkyns told MPs in Westminster Hall on Tuesday, warning colleagues to tackle the problem, which she said had become the second-most important issue to the electorate, surpassed only by the economy.
“The British public have had enough, and they demand action from our politicians. Illegal immigration represents an existential threat to our society, culture, and security, and cracking down on the issue must be a top priority,” the former minister for skills and assistant whip said.
Dame Andrea made the remarks weeks after the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law, paving the way for illegal immigrants to be sent to Rwanda in the coming months.
However, the Refugee Council has suggested that some 115,000 immigrants will be still be “stranded” in the UK by the end of the year because the practicalities of sending people to the east African country are hampered by logistical challenges, estimating the cost of hosting those remaining at £6.2 billion a year.
£8 Million a Day to House Asylum Applicants
Dame Andrea presented the financial costs of managing illegal immigration and asylum, including £8 million a day to house asylum applicants and the £482 million the Home Office spent on enforcement last year on illegal immigration detection, prevention, and removal.
The UK has also paid France £232 million between 2014 to the end of financial year 2022/23 to police its own borders and is preparing to give French authorities £476 million over the next two fiscal years.
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Wage suppression as a result of illegal immigrants working at cheaper rates clandestinely was also raised by the former minister, as well as the strain on public services.
NHS primary care such as GPs and dentistry, state education for children, legal aid, and various kinds of local authority support can all be accessed regardless of a person’s legal status in the UK, prompting Dame Andrea to reflect on the “hundreds” of complaints she has had from constituents who cannot access those services.
Overall Cost of Illegal Immigration ‘Not Known’
Ahead of the debate, the House of Commons Library issued a briefing paper stating that the overall cost of the illegal immigrant population to the taxpayer “is not known.” The paper says that one of the difficulties in estimating is because the size of the illegal immigrant population is also “not known.” Based on 2017 estimates, the figure could be between 800,000 to 1.2 million, but “it is likely none of these estimates accurately captures the situation in 2024,” the paper said.
“That is equivalent to a city with a population 20% larger than Birmingham, or three times the size of Manchester, living in the UK illegally, utilising the many public-funded services that are available to them, regardless of a person’s immigration status—and it could be far more,” remarked Dame Andrea of the figures.
The MP for Morley and Outwood noted that the government’s impact assessment for the Illegal Immigration Act 2023 puts the cost of providing public services to UK nationals at around £12,000 a year each.
“Even the most basic calculations put the economic burden on the British taxpayer of an illegal migration population of 1.2 million at £14.4 billion. That is just shy of 10% of NHS England’s budget for this year. Imagine that cash injection on frontline services or to help people who are struggling with the cost of living,” she said.
The House of Commons Library said of the £12,000 figure in relation to illegal immigrants that “the actual cost of providing public services for an unauthorised migrant may well be different,” adding that “no estimates are available and are dependent on an individuals’ characteristics.”
Security Threats
“It is not just about the economic cost; there is also a human cost,” Dame Andrea told MPs, noting the victims who had been killed by foreign nationals who should not have been in the UK, such as 7-year-old Emily Jones from Bolton who was stabbed to death while riding her scooter in March 2020 by Albanian national Eltiona Skana.
“Her killer was a paranoid schizophrenic who arrived in Britain in the back of a lorry in 2014, and was granted asylum, despite twice admitting to lying in her application about being a victim of sexual exploitation,” she stated.
Undated image of Emily Jones (L) and Eltiona Skana (R) who was convicted of killing her in a park in Bolton, England, on March 22, 2020. (Greater Manchester Police)David Wails, Joe Ritchie-Bennett, and James Furlong were murdered in Reading in June 2020 by Libyan national Khairi Saadallah just two weeks after he had been released from prison. “He executed the men in an act of jihad,” Dame Andrea said, noting Saadallah had been granted refugee status, despite participating in the Libyan civil war in 2012.
“I could go on and on. These names should not be forgotten; they must serve as a reminder of the human cost paid for decades of failure by successive governments and by us as legislators,” she said.
Immigration minister Tom Pursglove agreed with Dame Andrea that “the financial stakes are high,” and acknowledged the “very genuine issues around security.”
“It’s upon those constituents that the real world consequences of illegal migration fall, whether through housing, waiting lists associated with housing, GP appointments, strain on public services, or, at times, challenges with community cohesion,” he acknowledged.
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