Another lazy and inaccurate accusation thrown at the government is that Labour is not taking immigration seriously.

Last week I sat in the House of Commons listening to a debate about what Labour is doing to reduce small boat crossings. It should be remembered that small boat crossings actually make up just a tiny fraction of total immigration into the UK.

But let’s consider the facts for a moment, rather than hot air. The nations from which the highest numbers of small boat crossers have come this year have been Afghanistan and Iran, by far. Five consecutive Conservative home secretaries cut the number of people assessing asylum claims and today tax payers pay millions to house these people until their claims are assessed.

Britain has always been and I believe always will be a tolerant and compassionate country. We have always tried to help those in strife abroad and set up safe route schemes such as Homes for Ukraine, Hong Kong humanitarian visas and the Syrian resettlement programme. And we need to demonstrate this tolerance and compassion once again by sorting out the ‘perma-backlog‘ of asylum seekers, which was created by unworkable laws and gimmicks, as asylum seekers were used as political pawns in a cruel and dangerous Conservative game.

You only have to consider the abject incompetence of the Rwanda scheme – a scheme wasting hundreds of millions of pounds which even if fully operational would only have tackled fewer than one percent of the asylum seekers arriving. It is this that has resulted in asylum seekers being housed in hotels at taxpayers expense.

I am delighted that this Labour government is taking a proactive approach to the issue, targeting the criminal gangs who are profiting from this human trafficking. Our new Border Security Command, which has already increased the number of returns by 23 per cent year on year, is proving that a combination of a sensible proactive approach to the issue and closer collaboration with our international partners is working to not only tackle the backlog of asylum seekers that are coming to our country seeking a better life or safety from the dangers they have left behind, but as a result reducing the burden on UK taxpayers.

We will go after those that are using the UK to money-launder ill-gotten gains, with beefed up security services. Whether you like it or not, the key to success in dealing with small boat crossings is tighter cooperation with our European allies.

I will continue to support the government in solving this crisis and ensuring that those that come to this country seeking asylum do so through safe routes, and in turn will share with us the skills, culture and hard work that they bring, The kind of people that today help run our NHS, care for our elderly, drive our busses and taxis, pick fruit and vegetables from our fields, teach our children, run our shops and restaurants, and are helping to make Britain a healthier, happier place.

Perran Moon

Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth