Howard unveils Tory asylum policy
Tory leader Michael Howard has outlined his party’s policy on asylum and immigration today in Burnley.
The northern town witnessed race riots in 2001 and a corresponding upsurge in support for the British National Party (BNP), which now holds several seats in the borough.
Mr Howard said that three years ago Burnley suffered “serious disturbances that shocked us all”.
He added: “I want to address directly what I see as a stain on our democratic way of life: the British National Party.”
“This is not a political movement. This is a bunch of thugs dressed up as a political party,” he asserted.
He pointed out that Britain is a “stronger and better country” for having migrants – and that his father is one of them.
But the Tory leader added: “You cannot have a credible immigration policy if anyone can circumvent it by entering our country illegally, uttering the words ‘I claim asylum’ and be allowed to stay here even if they have no genuine claim.”
To rectify this he said: “No one should be allowed to claim asylum when they reach Britain” and that requests should be processed abroad.
The government moved this week to shore up its immigration policy amid fears that people from Eastern Europe – so-called “benefit shoppers” – may flood Britain when ten new countries join the EU in May.
But Mr Howard said: “The government refuses to acknowledge the scale and urgency of the problem. It has shown itself quite incapable of dealing with it. As a consequence, the Government is tolerating a state of affairs in which entire communities live in the shadows, beyond our reach and beyond our help.”
