Asylum system ‘a disaster spiralling out of control’ says Duncan Smith

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith branded the asylum system “a
disaster”.

He said that, while the prime minister “talked tough” on asylum
“bogus asylum seekers escaped from one of his pathetic detention
centres when they should have been deported months ago”.

He added: “Violent crime and disorder have rocketed under this
government. And the asylum system is a disaster – spiralling out of
control.”

The Conservatives have pledged to fund 40,000 more police officers
than there were at the beginning of this year.

This would be achieved “by sorting out the shambles of Labour’s
asylum and immigration system, which costs this country £1.8bn
a year”.

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin confirmed that the current
asylum system would be replaced with quotas for genuine refugees
and the offshore processing of all claims.

Duncan Smith admitted that, although his job could be tough, it was
not nearly as tough as “seeing your children destroyed by drugs” or
“having a child with special needs and seeing their school
closed”.

“I believe we all have a special duty of care for the most
vulnerable people in our country – children, pensioners and the
poor,” he said.

He promised that a Conservative government would support the right
of people to own their homes and would extend the right-to-buy to
one million housing association tenants.

He pledged that the proceeds would be used “to end the outrage” of
children having to grow up in temporary accommodation.