David Davis has claimed the Nationality and Borders Bill is a “deeply troubling level of Government overreach” after ministers made a last minute change to the legislation.
Writing for The House, the former cabinet minister has criticised the government for attempting to amend the new legislation to allow Home Secretary Priti Patel to strip people of their British citizenship without being notified.
The contentious bill sets out a range of new proposals aimed at overhauling the immigration and asylum system, with Patel saying it would address the “underlying pull factors into the UK’s asylum system”. But a late amendment put forward by the government would also change the long running rules around citizenship, including scrapping the requirement for people to be notified if their British citizenship is being removed.
Maya Foa, director of human rights group, Reprieve, said the proposed changes were the “brazen attempt to evade accountability for such draconian powers should not be tolerated in a democratic country”.
She added: “If you get a ticket for speeding, you receive notice of it and have the right to contest it in country. Under this clause, a person being stripped of British citizenship gets less due process than someone caught by a speed camera.
“This vast, secretive power would be entirely at the Home Secretary’s discretion, and could not be more at odds with the rule of law.” Read the full story on Politics Home.