The Rwanda bill passing through Parliament is crucial because illegal immigration will cost the UK £11billion unless it is brought under control, according to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer.
She told GB News: “If we don't manage to get this under control, we know that illegal immigration will cost us £11billion in the years ahead and so that's why we are that's why we're looking to tackle it.
“I should make clear that it is really important to recognise that the Government has taken a number of measures and as a result of that we've seen those illegal crossings come down by over a third already.
“This is one part of our plan but we have other plans as well which are already in operation: crossings from Albania [are] down by 90%.”
In a discussion with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she continued: “This is a very difficult problem and countries across the world are struggling with how to deal with illegal immigration.
“We are hopeful that these flights [to Rwanda] will take off in the Spring. We saw those amendments all fail in the House of Commons last night with strong majorities.
“Obviously we'll go back to the Lords but what we are doing as a Government, as a Conservative government, is trying to ensure that we deter people from taking that journey.
“We want to see illegal immigration down, we want to see people not making that crossing, and we do think that this bill will be a significant deterrent for people who would otherwise cross the Channel.”
Asked about the introduction of a new independent football regulator, she said: “I should make clear what we're doing today is making sure that fans have good clubs, have good financial plans in place, their owners are fit and proper that they don't go therefore into administration because they're properly looked after.
“What the regulator will not do is get involved in the game. That's for football, that's for the football authorities. That's for the clubs.”
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