Home Office borders bill could ‘create a British Guantánamo Bay,’ says senior Conservative MP

Former Brexit Secretary and Conservative MP since 1987, David Davis, has said that the Home Office’s controversial borders bill risks creating a “British Guantanamo Bay”.

Davis said that Home Secretary Priti Patel’s plan to send asylum seekers to another country while their claims are processed could create a facility comparable to the notorious US detention camp in Cuba. 

“From mountains of paperwork and chartering RAF flights, to building the required infrastructure and dealing with foreign bureaucracies, the labyrinthine logistics would involve colossal costs the British taxpayer could well do without. At worst, we could inadvertently create a British Guantánamo Bay”, Davis added. 

The controversial nationality and borders bill is due to return to parliament for debate this week and could spark a rebellion among Conservative MPs. More than two dozen Conservatives have put their name to an amendment to broaden the UK’s visa programme. 

The Home Office has said that it has no plans to expand the eligibility criteria.

The Home Office has also defended its plans for offshore asylum centres by saying it wants to “manage the UK’s asylum intake” and that it would help “deter irregular migration and clandestine entry to the UK”.