"The Labour Party are happy to see the population figure reach 70 million, I do not support that"

David Cameron speaking to the BBC,Sunday 10th Janaury 2010

People across the constituency speak time and again about their overriding concern for the safety and security of our borders and the security of our nation. Nick de Bois stands with us in wanting to keep our country safe.

Living in an outer London borough,Enfield people know first hand how the Government has totally failed to keep our borders secure and allowed illegal immigration to flourish. We know all about the disgusting human trafficking that goes on, the bogus asylum seekers and the cruel crime syndicates that smuggle people in who have no right to be here.

We also know all too well that the Government does nothing about it and has lost control of our borders. Here is the reality of the Government's disgraceful failure to keep our nation and borders safe and secure:

• 577,000 people came to Britain in 2007 - and net migration was 237,000.  The Conservative Party want to see that figure drastically reduced
• The population has risen 1.8 million since 1997 thanks to immigration alone - There were 25,800 asylum applications in the 12 months to September 2008, a rise of 15% on the year before. The Labour government have said they are happy to see the population reach 70 million, the Conservative Party disagree.
• To cope with all this, some 65,000 new homes are needed each year, meaning even more concrete and congestion along with increasing pressure on our public services

And while they fail to stop people coming to Britain that have no right to be here, we have the crazy situation where  they arrest illegal entrants who try to leave the country, then they give bail to these same people who are being held . . . people who then, surprise, surprise, vanish and are never seen again.

We need a common sense approach to border control and illegal immigration.

Nick de Bois believes in proper border security and wants to ensure the safety and security of our nation for the long term.

The Conservative approach will ensure that we admit both the right people for our economy and also the right number of people. For economic migrants from outside the EU, we propose a two-stage process:

• The first stage is making eligible for admission those who will benefit the economy
• The second stage is an annual limit to control the numbers admitted with regard to the wider effects on society and the provision of public services
• Crack down on abuse of the student visa system where many students disappear once in Britain, becoming a burden to public services and infrastructrure. They then work illegally and some are security risks.

A Conservative Government would also apply transitional controls as a matter of course in the future for all new EU entrants.  

To enforce such controls, and to prevent illegal immigration and combat criminals who compromise our security, we need a new, integrated approach to managing our borders.

So we will introduce a dedicated Border Police Force to bring together all the agencies responsible for border control.

Unlike Labour’s Border Agency, which does not even include the police, our force will have the power to stop, search, detain and prosecute the terrorists, traffickers and illegal immigrants who currently slip through the net. Only then will we be able to start making Britain safer.