Shabana Mahmood: “We are absolutely clear that where foreign nationals commit offences in the UK we will do everything in our power to…”

There is nothing fair about a system that is based upon uncontrolled, unsafe and illegal routes into this country.

I’m doing whatever it takes to secure our border.

To do so, I believe we must restore fairness to our asylum system, fairness both to those who are fleeing war and persecution, and also fairness towards those communities already here who bear the burden of supporting them.

A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly.