Suella Braverman has said she is "utterly serious about ending the scourge of illegal migration" as she addressed Parliament.
The “shocking” incident at a new Border Force immigration centre in Dover is not being treated as a terrorist incident, the Home Secretary has said.
Making a statement in the Commons, the Home Secretary said about the incident at Western Jet Foil on Sunday: “Officers established that two to three incendiary devices had been thrown at the Home Office premises.
“The suspect was identified, quickly located at a nearby petrol station and confirmed dead. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit attended to ensure there were no further threats. Kent Police are not currently treating this as a terrorist incident.
“Fortunately, there were only two minor injuries. But this is a shocking incident. And my thoughts are with all of those who are affected. I have received regular updates from the police. While I understand the desire for answers, investigators must have the necessary space to work.”
Suella Braverman says she is 'utterly serious about ending the scourge of illegal migration' as she addresses Parliament
House of Commons
The Home Secretary said she has “never ignored legal advice” in relation to the use of hotels to house migrants crossing the channel.
Suella Braverman told the Commons: “I foresaw the concerns at Manston in September and deployed additional resource and personnel to deliver a rapid increase in emergency accommodation.
“To be clear, like the majority of the British people I am very concerned about hotels but I have never blocked their usage.
“Indeed since I took over 12,000 people have arrived, 9,500 people have been transferred out of Manston or Western Jet Foil, many of them into hotels.
“And I have never ignored legal advice, as a former attorney general I know the importance of taking legal advice into account.”
She had earlier claimed that housing migrants in hotels was costing the taxpayer “£6.8 million a day”.
Ms Braverman was heckled by Labour MPs, before adding: “Let them try. I know that I speak for the decent, law-abiding, patriotic majority of British people from every background that wants safe and secure borders."
House of Commons
It comes as the Channel crossing crisis deepened, amid growing concern over the conditions in which migrants are being held while waiting to be processed once they arrive in the UK, and after one of the sites in Dover was firebombed.
So far this year close to 40,000 people have made the treacherous journey from France, crossing the world’s busiest shipping lanes in dinghies and other small boats, provisional Government figures show.
She later stressed her commitment to stopping the surge of migrants arriving in the UK.
She said: "I am utterly serious about ending the scourge of illegal migration and I am determined to do whatever it takes to break the criminal gangs and fix our hopelessly lax asylum system.
“That is why I am in government, and that is why there are some people who would prefer to be rid of me.”
Ms Braverman was heckled by Labour MPs, before adding: “Let them try. I know that I speak for the decent, law-abiding, patriotic majority of British people from every background that wants safe and secure borders.
“Labour is running scared that this party might just deliver them.”
