UK migration bill impractical and morally unacceptable, says Justin Welby

The archbishop of Canterbury has attacked the government’s flagship illegal migration bill as “morally unacceptable” legislation that will “damage the UK’s interests and reputation at home and abroad”.

In a blistering attack upon Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman’s plan, Justin Welby said it would not fulfil the prime minister’s pledge to “stop the boats”, ignored the key causes of the movement of refugees, and could break the system of international cooperation, which promised to help those fleeing war, famine and conflict.

“[The bill] is isolationist, it is morally unacceptable and politically impractical to let the poorest countries deal with it alone and cut our international aid,” he said. “This is an attempt at a short-term fix. It risks great damage to the UK’s interests and reputation at home and abroad, let alone the interests of those in need of protection or the nations who together face this challenge.”

In his first intervention during a House of Lords debate on the bill, Welby said it did not address the two key causes of international migration: the climate crisis and war.

The archbishop cited forecasts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimating that the climate crisis alone would lead to at least 800 million more refugees a year by 2050.

“Even if this bill succeeds in temporarily stopping the boats – and I don’t think it will – it won’t stop conflict or climate change,” he said.

The bill could lead to the breakdown of the international pledge to aid refugees, he said. “The UNHCR has warned that it could lead to the collapse of the international system to protect refugees. Is that what we want the United Kingdom’s contribution to be in our leadership?” he said.

“It ignores the reality that migration must be engaged with at source as well as in the Channel,” he said.

He acknowledged that reforms to immigration laws were needed to “destroy the evil tribe of traffickers” facilitating the small boat crossings. But, he said: “The tragedy is that without much change, this is not that bill.”

The bill instead treats traffickers as “rationally trained economic actors and not appalling criminals”, he said, adding that the government should not delay setting up “safe and legal routes” for people seeking asylum in the UK. “There must be safe, legal routes put in place as soon as illegal or unsafe routes begin to be attacked. We cannot wait for the years that will take place before that happens.

“My Lords, this bill is an attempt to short-term fix. It risks great damage to the UK’s interests and reputation at home and abroad, let alone the interests of those in need of protection.”

Welby said he planned to table amendments to the bill at committee stage, which would include plans that he said were missing in the current bill to combat people traffickers and to update the 1951 UN refugee convention.

He concluded: “As one might expect from these benches, in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus calls us to welcome the stranger. That call has been part of the history and culture in this country for centuries, and was part of the drive for the Modern Slavery Act. I urge the government to reconsider much of the bill, which fails to live up to our history, our moral responsibility, and our political and international interests.”

The bill received the backing of Lord Howard of Lympne, the former Conservative leader and a former home secretary, who said measures in the legislation were vitally needed because of the France’s refusal to agree a returns deal.

He said the “first duty of a government is to protect the borders of the state” and the bill “represents the best available means of achieving that objective”.

Howard acknowledged there were “legitimate arguments” in favour of introducing more safe and legal routes for refugees, but he said they were “irrelevant” to the need to introduce fresh measures to prevent crossings.

“Whatever the arguments in favour of safe and legal routes, they are, I repeat, irrelevant to the main provisions of the bill,” he said.