Scottish Liberal Democrat conference calls for UK Government to scrap Illegal Migration Bill

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today passed an emergency motion calling on the UK Government to scrap the Illegal Migration Bill which would see anyone entering the UK via small boats immediately detained and deported to another country as soon as possible.  

In particular, Scottish Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Government to:  

• Scrap the Illegal Migration Bill immediately. 
• Fix the broken asylum system by taking powers away from the Home Office and establishing a new, dedicated unit to make decisions quickly and fairly. 
• Provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary for refugees from all countries.

Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael, who moved the motion, said:  

“The Conservatives are betraying the UK’s proud tradition of helping those fleeing war and persecution. Their plans are immoral, ineffective and incredibly costly for the taxpayer. This would shame us on the world stage. You don’t demonise the desperate.

"Our asylum system is broken and the blame for that lies squarely with the Conservatives. Rather than taking meaningful action, they are trying to pass a callous small boats bill to hide behind their own incompetence and inaction. 

“The Illegal Immigration Bill will do absolutely nothing to address the criminal gangs responsible for arranging these dangerous crossings, and instead punishes the victims of human trafficking.  

“Scottish Liberal Democrats are demanding that the Government immediately scrap this legislation and reassess their heartless and unworkable approach. They must provide safe and legal routes for refugees by introducing an expanded and properly funded refugee resettlement scheme and a new scheme to resettle unaccompanied child refugees from elsewhere in Europe.”