'This current influx across the channel is unsustainable'

We have a proud history of welcoming those fleeing persecution or oppression and our actions during the war in Ukraine just underline that commitment.

The UK has always offered a number of legal and safe routes for refugees and migrants to enter the country and we have seen these people enrich our society and make a positive contribution.

However, these safe and legal routes cannot be undermined by the current events happening in the English Channel, in which we see the criminal gangs of people smugglers profiting from boats carrying migrants across the channel.

Rising numbers of migrants have been crossing the English Channel in recent months - with a record numbers making the journey this year. The Channel is one of the most dangerous and busiest shipping lanes in the world, what we’re witnessing is criminals profiting and risking the lives.

This current influx is unsustainable and as we now enter the winter months, I fear for the exploited illegal migrants and the life-threatening conditions they could face in attempting to cross the channel.

It’s not only about keeping the fair system the UK currently has in place with its legal routes, it’s also about protecting lives. The gangs facilitating illegal crossings of the Channel are criminals, ruthless people smugglers putting the lives of others at risk. The numbers that we have seen recently are telling of the determination of these despicable gangs to exploit people and import those who would not be allowed here legally.

Stopping the boats is the only way to break the business model of the people-smugglers and deter criminals from entering the country.

But what is now clear to me and many of my constituents is that we cannot continue to allow illegal and dangerous channel crossings.

The Welsh public are fair-minded and tolerant. But we are fed up with the continued flouting of our laws and immigration rules to game our asylum system

People have rightly had enough of the persistent abuse of human rights laws to thwart the removal of those with no right to be in the UK.

This must end. Saying so is not xenophobic or anti-immigration. It is the reality acknowledged and felt by the vast majority of the British and Welsh public. To pretend otherwise is to insult them. All countries have their limits.

42% of the illegal cross-channel migrants are Albanian, this equates to almost 2% of Albania’s male population.

As my Westminster colleague, Lee Anderson MP said, a quick search online shows flights are available from Albania to the UK for £28 one way, which begs the question – why do men go by bus from Albania then pay thousands to people traffickers to risk life and limb crossing the Channel in a small boat?

One theory is that if these young men came here legally and entered through passport control it would show exactly who they are, their age and any links to criminality

When Wales and the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, it was down to many factors but in part it was about taking back control of our country, including our borders

So of course we must do all we can for genuine refugees — no question — and on this we have a record to be proud of, better than most in the world. But these illegal crossings are very different.

They provide a route for false asylum claimants and easy money for gangs; they are dangerous; they crowd out the claims of genuine refugees who are in need of help; they are an insult to legal migrants who go through the correct routes and they are a massive burden on UK taxpayers.