Tom Tugendhat: “Fight illegal migration like slavery – with the navy” | Politics news

In order to stop illegal immigration, efforts are needed at the level of the fight against slavery, says the candidate for the Tory leadership, Tom Tugendhat.

Mr Tugendhat is one of six people hoping to replace Rishi Sunak in a contest that ends in November.

His recent comments first appeared in The timeswho received a recording of Mr Tugendhat’s conversations with Chelsea and Fulham conservative Club on August 14th.

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According to the newspaper, Tughendhat said: “Human trafficking costs thousands of lives and is used as a weapon by the Kremlin and its proxies. Britain must show the same determination and dedication in fighting this evil trade as we did in fighting slavery.”

“We need to see that our military is committed to fighting this threat.

“The deaths in the English Channel, the Mediterranean and the Sahara show how vicious the traffickers are.

“[Vladimir] Putin's puppets use people by smuggling them into Belarus and then pushing them across the border.in NATO countries such as Poland and Lithuania.

“We must stand alongside our allies and defend Europe’s land and sea borders, using naval and military forces to protect ourselves and stop this cruel trade.

“We need decisive leadership in the fight against those who traffick people and undermine our borders. As Minister for Security, I have commissioned work to combat traffickers through a strategic, intelligence-led approach.

“Our national security today requires the same level of commitment that the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron showed in the fight against slavery nearly 200 years ago.

“The tools have changed, but the focus remains: human trafficking is an evil and we must take it seriously and invest in long-term commitments, not short-term Labour band-aids.”

Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly attacked the previous government – ​​of which Mr Tugendhat was a member – for its “band-aid policy”.

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Mr Tugendhat pointed out in his speech that the West Africa Squadron's anti-slavery efforts cost two per cent of GDP – which in today's terms would be around £50 billion a year.

However, allies of the MP said he was referring to the intention behind it rather than a call for higher spending.

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Mr Tugendhat added: “I am fed up with the idea that being against illegal immigration is somehow wrong or reprehensible.”

“I tell you what is wrong and abhorrent: tolerating deaths in the English Channel due to illegal immigration; tolerating thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean; tolerating tens of thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands of deaths in the Sahara and many other places.

“This is wrong and disgusting, and that's why I'm going to stop it. The morally right thing to do is to stop illegal human trafficking.”