Debate contribution: Illegal Immigration: Impact in Northern Ireland

Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on 20 May 2025.

MLA

Mr Timothy Gaston

Party at the time

Traditional Unionist Voice

Date

20 May 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Illegal Immigration: Impact in Northern Ireland

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4964361

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The motion exposes a simple but serious truth: the United Kingdom no longer controls immigration policy across its own territory. Why is that? It is because the protocol has placed part of our nation under foreign rule. It is a matter of deep regret that some returned to Stormont having promised the public that they would not do so whilst the protocol remained. However, here we are: back in office with the protocol still in place and bedding in more and more each day. Now the House is debating a motion that confirms what many of us already know: Northern Ireland is excluded from the UK's immigration system. The Rwanda case made it clear that, when push comes to shove, it is not Westminster but Brussels that is in control. Our colonial masters in the EU now hold sway in Northern Ireland. On that basis, how the rigorous implementers in the House have lined up on immigration is not surprise. Mr Buckley summed up the attitudes of the nationalist and republican alliance in the House well when he said:

"Brits out, and everyone else in".

Despite the spin about the reset yesterday, no one even pretended that it will remove the immigration border in the Irish Sea. Let us be honest, —

— unless and until unionism gets back to the position that it abandoned after the election and refuses to implement the Union-dismantling protocol, no immigration policy will apply equally across the UK.

I thank the Member for his intervention. Absolutely, I agree, but I hope that that policy will change. The election results in England a number of weeks ago have changed the mindset of the Labour Government, and I trust that they will follow through on some of their commitments. As of today, people who arrive in the South illegally can still come across the border into Northern Ireland, with this place having no powers to stop them or even send them back across the border. On the other hand, we have the Irish Government actively checking border crossings. In the past seven months, they have sent 50 migrants back to the UK from the Irish Republic, at least six of whom were sent with a one-way train ticket to Belfast. Members, a sovereign nation must have control of its borders and, indeed, its destiny. Sadly, that is a fundamental that many in the House struggle to grasp. Mr McCrossan, you were looking in.

Not at all. If you look at the name "Gaston", you will see that my ancestors came here years ago and made this place their home. That is not the problem, and that is not what we are addressing today. The motion rightly highlights the cost of immigration. Not all of that cost is paid by Westminster; part of it is borne by the Executive.

Last September, I tabled a question for written answer to the Health Minister on translation services. In 2023-24, the Department spent £4·4m on face-to-face interpretation. Over £4 million of that was spent on translation for those who came to Northern Ireland and could not speak or understand a basic level of English. Let me be clear: no one is saying that people should be denied medical care or to come to this country to work. However, if we are spending over £4 million just to translate what a doctor or nurse has said, that shows that the system is broken. If you come to the UK, there should be an expectation that you are able to speak and understand a basic level of English. That is not —

No. It is absolutely not.

It is absolutely not. It should not be a controversial issue. That leads me to the problems that we have had in the debate today. It has been all about name-calling and mud-slinging, instead of creating the space to allow debate to happen. We cannot keep asking taxpayers who have lived here all their lives to fund translation services on that scale. Migration puts pressure on hospitals, schools and housing: that is a fact. It may not be a problem in the leafy suburbs, but if you speak to working-class people in the Province, you will hear that many of them feel like strangers in their communities. Mr Frew rightly highlighted Ballymena. Take Harryville or Clonavon: my goodness, those were once working-class areas, but houses have been bought up by landlords who have turned them into illegal HMOs, many of which are overcrowded. I trust local people, and I understand why they are unhappy. They are not racist or ignorant; they are asking fair questions about why it is happening in their areas. They are asking, "Why do people not speak to us?", or, "Why does no one speak up for us?". My goodness, the intolerance shown in the Chamber today proves the point —

— that many of you are out of touch —

— with what your communities want.

Shame on the republican/nationalist side of the House. You will pay come election time.

840 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Qualifying Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification