DAY 34 · PROPOSAL 33 · PART XV · POLICY 36
Secure the Border.
Register arrivals. Check identity and health. Decide claims lawfully. Enforce outcomes.
The core idea
Manifesto 1.1 proposes a clear, controlled process for people arriving illegally by small boat.
Every person would be registered, medically assessed, security checked, held in secure accommodation, given access to a functioning asylum process and provided with a lawful determination.
Those granted asylum would enter the UK’s refugee settlement system. Those whose claims are rejected would be removed to a safe country, subject to applicable international legal obligations and individual legal rights.
The six-stage process
1. Registration
Record identity, arrival details and biometric information through a controlled government process.
2. Medical assessment
Identify urgent health needs, vulnerability, safeguarding risks and public-health requirements.
3. Security checks
Check identity, criminality and security information using lawful intelligence and data systems.
4. Secure accommodation
Maintain control while protecting safety, dignity, welfare and access to essential services.
5. A functioning asylum process
Provide access to information, representation and individual consideration.
6. A lawful determination
Grant protection where justified or pursue lawful removal after a rejected claim becomes final.
Why a functioning process matters
A credible border and asylum system must combine control with legality.
Delay, poor casework and unclear responsibility can undermine public confidence, prolong uncertainty and make both protection and removal harder.
Speed matters, but only alongside accurate decisions, humane treatment and due process.
- Every arrival should enter one controlled process with identity, health and security checks.
- Claims should be decided on their individual facts rather than by assumption, nationality or political pressure.
- People who qualify for asylum should enter an organised refugee settlement system.
- Rejected claims should lead to lawful removal once rights, reviews and applicable obligations have been exhausted.
- Secure accommodation must meet safety, welfare, medical and safeguarding standards.
- Adequate caseworkers, interpreters, legal capacity and tribunal resources are needed to reduce avoidable delay.
- Clear rules, published performance data and accountable leadership are essential for public confidence.
- Detention, casework, safeguarding and removal activity require independent inspection and transparent review.
A citizen-led starting point
No automatic prejudgment
Irregular arrival does not replace the need for an individual, lawful asylum decision.
No open-ended detention
Powers, reviews, vulnerability rules and alternatives must be clearly defined and scrutinised.
Evidence before scale
Arrival forecasts, processing times, estate capacity and workforce requirements must guide delivery.
Publish the results
Decisions, delays, appeals, detention, removals, safeguarding and value for money should be reported openly.
Resourcing the system honestly
The master manifesto records an indicative annual envelope of £1–2 billion for the immigration system as a whole.
This is not a final cost for this proposal and must not be presented as one.
Secure accommodation, asylum decisions, appeals, refugee settlement and removals all have separate capital and operating requirements that need detailed modelling.
Costs and capacity that must be modelled
- Reception sites, biometrics, interpreters, medical teams, security checks and secure data systems.
- Suitable accommodation, staffing, healthcare, food, transport, safeguarding, maintenance and independent inspection.
- Trained caseworkers, country information, quality assurance, legal advice and timely initial decisions.
- Judicial capacity, legal aid, interpreters, evidence handling and effective appeal processes.
- Housing coordination, English-language support, integration, employment access and local-service funding for refugees.
- Travel documents, escorts, transport, safe-country agreements, monitoring and post-decision case management.
A staged delivery test
Lawfulness
Map every stage against domestic law, international obligations, individual rights and court oversight.
Capacity
Show the accommodation, casework, tribunal, settlement and removal capacity required at different arrival levels.
Workforce
Publish recruitment, training, retention and productivity plans for every agency involved.
Value for money
Compare costs, delays and outcomes with realistic alternatives before expanding infrastructure.
Questions for scrutiny
- What registration, biometric and identity checks are necessary, proportionate and secure?
- How quickly can medical and vulnerability assessments be completed without missing safeguarding risks?
- Which security checks are operationally realistic, and how should unresolved identity concerns be managed?
- When is secure accommodation justified, how often should detention be reviewed and what alternatives should be available?
- What special rules are required for children, families, trafficking survivors, torture survivors and people with serious illness?
- How many caseworkers, interpreters, lawyers and tribunal staff are required to deliver accurate decisions promptly?
- How should decision quality be measured alongside speed, including appeal outcomes and identified errors?
- What support should successful applicants receive through the refugee settlement system, and how should local services be funded?
- Which countries can lawfully and safely receive people whose claims have been finally rejected?
- What happens when removal is temporarily impossible despite a rejected claim?
- What capital and annual operating costs sit behind each stage, and how do they relate to the £1–2 billion system-wide envelope?
- Which performance data, inspection findings and contracts should be published for ongoing scrutiny?
The proposed direction
Proposal 33 would create one controlled process for people arriving illegally by small boat: registration, medical assessment, security checks, secure accommodation, access to a functioning asylum process and a lawful determination.
Those granted asylum would enter the refugee settlement system. Those whose claims are finally rejected would be removed to a safe country, subject to applicable legal obligations and individual rights.
Final delivery must follow evidence, expert scrutiny and transparent costing.
Source basis: Manifesto 1.1, Part XV, Policy 36, “Small boats and illegal immigration”, Major Promise 33—Secure the Border, and Budget 3.1. The £1–2 billion figure is an indicative annual envelope for the immigration system as a whole, not a settled cost for this proposal.