Three Lincolnshire MPs sign letter asking Rishi Sunak to change asylum seeker laws

A letter signed by more than 50 Conservative MPs, including three in Lincolnshire, has called for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to clamp down on ‘bogus’ asylum seekers in response to the recent migrant crisis.

The letter, organised by former minister David Davis, has been addressed to the Prime Minister and signed by more than 50 of his fellow Conservative MPs, as fresh concerns are expressed around rising numbers of channel crossings by refugees and asylum seekers.

Mr Davis claims that the number of people who came to the UK from “safe” countries like Albania needs to be reduced in order to address issues around the migrant crisis.

It comes as more than 40,000 people are reported to have crossed the English Channel from France in small boats this year alone.

The Daily Mail reports that the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been asked to implement a ‘simple change’ to modern slavery laws that would reduce the flow of people arriving on British shores without a reason of emergency.

The proposals within the letter have been slammed by refugee charity Amnesty International, who say changes to the system could leave more people in danger upon return to their homeland.

Among those who apparently signed the letter are Chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady and former cabinet ministers Esther McVey and Dr Liam Fox – as well as three Greater Lincolnshire MPs.

The Telegraph has reported that South Holland and The Deepings member Sir John Hayes, chair of the Conservatives’ Common Sense Group and close ally of Home Secretary Suella Braverman, is among the list of Tory MPs to sign the letter addressed to the Prime Minister.

Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman, who is facing intense pressure in his constituency after it was revealed five hotels in Skegness were being used to house over 200 asylum seekers while their claims were processed, confirmed that he too signed the letter.

He said: “I did sign the letter for reasons which are made clear in the letter – when you compare the rates at which other countries grant asylum to Albanians, Amnesty’s concerns appear unlikely to be valid.”

Sir Edward Leigh, the MP for Gainsborough who faced criticism last week for his arguments against the triple lock pension rise, is the other Greater Lincolnshire MP believed to have signed David Davis’ letter.

Sir Edward told the House of Commons last month that he backs Suella Braverman in her role as Home Secretary to “reform our ridiculous human rights laws, detain these people and send them back.”

“That is the only way we are going to deal with this issue,” Sir Edward said.

“Those who constantly make these personal attacks on somebody who has made just one mistake and apologised should remember the old motto: understand and judge not.”

All eleven of Greater Lincolnshire’s MPs have been contacted to see if they’d be willing to publicly announce whether or not they signed the letter, though Matt Warman is the only one to reply by the time of publication.

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