TORY MIGRATION BILL IS 'MORALLY UNACCEPTABLE'

Archbishop's blistering attack on 'divisive, populist, short-term fix'

- DAVE BURKE

LOCKING up refugees who reach the UK by small boats was branded "morally unacceptable" in a fierce attack by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Justin Welby led a storm of protest in The Lords against Home Secretary Suella Braverman's draconian Illegal Migration Bill.

He said the legislation, to detain and remove those arriving illegally, "fails to live up to our history, our moral responsibility and our political and international interests".

He said: "It's morally unacceptable and politically impractical to let the poorest countries deal with the crisis alone and cut our international aid.

"This bill is attempt at a short-term fix. It risks great damage to the UK's reputation at home and abroad, let alone the interests of those in need of protection or the nations who together face this challenge.