MONMOUTH MP and Welsh secretary David Davies has thrown his weight behind a controversial immigration bill which some have branded "deeply cruel".

Home secretary Suella Braverman's asylum proposals cleared their first Commons hurdle yesterday amid pleas from Tory MPs for amendments to protect trafficked women, children and modern slavery victims.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the legislation is needed as people arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel have “overwhelmed our asylum system”, before adding there has been “too much” immigration in recent years.

The Bill would enable powers to be granted to detain migrants for 28 days without recourse for bail or judicial review, and then indefinitely for as long as there is a “reasonable prospect” of removal.

Challenges based on modern slavery laws would be barred, and any other legal attempt to stay would be heard overseas – after they are removed.

Mr Davies took to Twitter to announce his support for the bill, writing: "I’ve just voted for the illegal migration bill to allow it to proceed to its next stage.

"It’s very simple - this country and government should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs."

The post was accompanied by an image which stated ‘Our illegal migration bill means that the only route to the UK is a safe and legal route’.

It made no mention of what the 'safe and legal route' was.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, writing on Twitter, said: “The Tories' Migration Bill is a con that will make chaos worse.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas criticised the “immoral, deeply cruel and divisive” proposal, and ripped up a copy of the Bill at the end of her speech.