Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Warsi (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 17 June 2008.

Immigration: Detention Centres

Question: My Lords, is it not correct that the whole policy is back to front? If the Government got their house in order and dealt with border controls and decided what it was that Britain needed and imposed quotas based on those needs, we would not have to behave in this inhumane way in dealing with detention and every other aspect of removal. Do we not need to get our policy right and clear in relation to people coming into this country, rather than constantly focusing on trying to get them out?

Answer: My Lords, I am afraid that I disagree with the noble Baroness: we are not inhumane at all. I cannot accept that. However, she is right about us tightening the borders. Having come into this recently, I say that, over a number of years, a number of political parties have not addressed this. The party that I belong to is now addressing this very closely. We are reinforcing the controls and, in conjunction, we are looking after our borders. As I say, this is a wonderful country, and there are millions of people who would like to come here—so, my goodness, we have to make sure those borders are secure.

Secondary information