Shadow Minister addresses the Association Annual Dinner
“Absolutely everybody who comes into our country illegally should be detained and deported”, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick MP told guests at Boston and Skegness Conservative Association’s Annual Dinner at the North Shore Hotel, Skegness.
He said: “I think it’s very simple what the answer to illegal migration is. It’s not the most complicated issue that some people like to say it is.
“Absolutely everybody who comes into our country illegally should be detained and deported. End of story. If we have to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, so be it. There’s no defence of that.”
He went on to say that reducing migration will only work if the party puts in place a “deterrent” such as sending people to a third country like Rwanda.
He added: “We’ve got to get on and do this job ourselves. That’s why you’ve got to have a deterrent.”
Mr Jenrick said the Conservative Party had “a mountain to climb” if it was to regain the trust of the public.
The Newark MP said: “I’m under no illusions of how hard this is going to be. We have a mountain to climb but we can do it.
“When we’ve lost in the past, it’s always been because we lost touch with the British public. We stopped serving the British public. That’s what’s just happened.
“We’ve got to put more money into people’s pockets, tackle migration, secure our borders, make our streets safe and clean again, give the country pride once more and make sure that we are respected in the world again.”
Mr Jenrick went on to say that the party lost to Labour last year because it hadn’t delivered on the things which it had said it would do.
He added: “Immigration was out of control, taxes were too high. Most people felt that the public services weren’t working the way they should be.”
He continued: “What I think we have got to do is be painfully honest about the things we got wrong. People have got to believe that we get it and we have changed.
“I don’t think they do right now. I think people still think that we haven’t quite learned our lessons and we’re going to have to do that quickly.”
He said the Tories needed to be clear about what they stood for.
“I was sick at the General Election of people saying ‘I don’t know what this party stands for’. We have got to make sure that we’re very clear about the principles of this party.
“Strong borders. Tough on crime. We believe in the family. We want strong defences. We believe in free enterprise and personal responsibility.”
He said that some parts of the country had become “lawless”.
“There are serious crimes, but it’s also the stuff that affects all of us in our daily lives, shoplifting, mobile phone theft, burglary, the tradesman that has his van broken into and his tools stolen.
“These are dismissed as minor crimes, no longer investigated by the police.”
Mr Jenrick said that Conservatives must target voters with a pledge to put more police on the streets.
“I want to make sure that we get police back on the streets and we clamp down on this crime.
“To say that no crime is too small, that we want to live in a high trust society, that we want to be the country that we all grew up in where our children feel safe in the playground and outside the school gates.”
More than 100 guests attended the dinner, Mr Jenrick making a particular effort to meet and talk to as many of them as possible and to answer questions. He was introduced by former Boston and Skegness MP and Association Vice-President Mr Matt Warman. A vote of thanks to Mr Jenrick was proposed by Cllr Tom Ashton, Association Deputy Chairman. The Master of Ceremonies was Mr Andrew Quickfall, Cllr Dick Edginton, Skegnesss Branch Chairman, proposed the loyal toast, Association President Mr Dudley Bryant MBE conducted a fundraising auction and Cllr James Cantwell, Association Chairman, oversaw the raffle draw.
(Photos by Cllr Julie Sadler)
