Member's statement: Immigration
Member's statement by Mr Jonathan Buckley on .
- MLA
- Mr Jonathan Buckley
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 9 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Immigration
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5085742
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The hapless state of the UK and Ireland surrounding uncontrolled and illegal immigration has continued to be exposed. Over 50,000 people entered the UK illegally on small boats in the past year, with 1,000 arriving on Saturday alone, costing the UK taxpayer billions of pounds annually. However, it is not just the UK Government that have been hapless in their approach to the subject: there are parties in the Chamber that are part of that gathering. Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party all voted against the DUP's motion calling for the UK Government to take strong action on illegal immigration. Those parties are against taking action on illegal immigration, against taking action on the proliferation of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), against taking action on illegal immigrant hotels and against taking action on the abuse of public services by those who enter the country illegally, placing pressure on our public services, housing, health service and law and order.
I hear you shouting "Rubbish", but it is not. The facts are clear.
I hear Sinn Féin talking about the national conversation that is happening across the community. There is a conversation happening. Whether it is on the streets of Newry, Belfast, Portadown or elsewhere, people are coming together to call out what has been a dereliction of duty from nationalist parties such as Sinn Féin and the SDLP and others such as Alliance who have failed to deal with the issue and stand up for constituents because they have no lived experience of it.
Now, we have the issue about the law that permits people to come to this country and stay without deportation. Those who have come to this country and have, in some cases, been part of horrendous acts — sexual acts — of violence against women and children. What was once said in a Charles Dickens novel? It was:
"The law is a ass."
Indeed, the European Convention on Human Rights is being interpreted as such, because we have a growth of the barrister politician class, who will not stand for a single vote but will adjudicate upon laws in this land that defeat the purpose of having strong, controlled borders. It is time that parties got real on the issue, stood up for all our citizens and ensured that we have safe and secure borders and a place that is prosperous for all. Be assured that the Democratic Unionist Party will continue to do just that.
411 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers
Jev’s structured answers met every documented threshold for a qualifying culture-war activity.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.74 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Sectarian or communal antagonism (0.76); Dog-whistle messaging (0.87).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.88).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- The text adopts an antagonistic or dog-whistle framing, which qualifies even alongside legitimate scrutiny.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.53 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.76 | Yes |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.87 | Yes |
| Controversy escalation | 0.27 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.45 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.74 | Above qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.12 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.88 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.99 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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