I know this country is an open, tolerant and generous place. And I am proud of the fact that we have always offered sanctuary to those fleeing peril.
This is, after all, the country that gave refuge to Ukrainians after the Russian invasion and Afghans after the evacuation of Kabul, and honoured our historic commitments to the people of Hong Kong.
But the public also rightly expect that we can control our borders, determining who can enter and who must leave.
Today, that is not the case. In recent years, the pace and scale of illegal migration has been profound. In an increasingly volatile and more mobile world, huge numbers of people are on the move. While some are refugees, others are economic migrants, seeking to take advantage of the asylum system. Even some genuine refugees have been passing through other safe countries searching for the most attractive place to seek sanctuary.
The pressure placed on local communities has been profound. The burden borne by taxpayers has been unfair. More than 100,000 people now live in asylum accommodation, funded by the taxpayer.
Unless we act, we risk losing popular consent for having an asylum system at all. In a country that is seeing division stirred up on our streets, we will not bring unity unless we restore order to our borders.
For that reason, I have today set out the most significant and comprehensive changes to our asylum system in a generation.
These reforms bear down on illegal migration. They tackle the factors that draw people on to small boats to make perilous Channel crossings. They ensure that we enforce our rules more robustly, returning illegal migrants who have no right to be here.
My goal is to ensure there are legal routes into this country for those who are truly fleeing peril, and for whom this is the first safe country they have encountered.
As we restore control to our borders, I will therefore open new, capped, safe and legal routes for genuine refugees. While these will be modest at first, they will grow in time.
Crucially, they will make community sponsorship the norm for the resettlement of refugees. Community and voluntary organisations will be able to sponsor refugees to come to the UK and support them when they arrive. This will ensure that communities that have the capacity and desire to accept refugees will be able to do so. As the Homes for Ukraine scheme shows, the British people’s capacity for this generosity is deep.
At the same time, we will open new legal routes for students and those in work. We will ensure war doesn’t cut short their chances in life, and we will welcome those here who can contribute to our national life. While refugee status for those who come here will be temporary, those who come via legal routes will have a faster and easier path to becoming permanent citizens.
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I know that some of these measures will face opposition. But this is a moral mission for me. I know that a country without secure borders is a less safe country for those who look like me.
Dark forces are stirring up anger in this country, and seeking to turn that anger into hate. We must take the opportunity we have to stop that from happening. And I know we can.
The true nature of this country is openness, tolerance and generosity. We want to provide sanctuary to those in danger. We want to be a Greater Britain, not a littler England.
To do so, we must restore order and control.
Shabana Mahmood is the home secretary
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