The newly appointed Suella Braverman has told Home Office officials that a top priority of hers is to ban all small boats crossing the Channel to “stop people dying and being at the mercy of people smugglers. We need to take a firm stance.” It seems unlikely that she means by offering sufficient alternative safe routes into the United Kingdom. On the face of it, the newly appointed Home Office ministers don’t seem to offer much hope of a change in policy.

Tom Pursglove has been promoted within the Home Office to Minister of State and seems to be retaining some sort of immigration brief, perhaps for authorised migration. Newcomer Simon Baynes has stepped into Pursglove’s old role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and designated the Minister for Illegal Migration. The designation of two immigration ministers is therefore continuing, we think. Other relevant changes include Kevin Foster’s move out of the Home Office to the Department of Transport and Amanda Solloway’s appointment as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, designated the Minister for Safeguarding. She is responsible for modern slavery, amongst other things.

Simon Baynes

The most surprising addition to the Home Office’s line up is Simon Baynes’ appointment in the illegal migration hotseat. The position entails tackling Channel crossings, organised immigration crime, detention estates and immigration enforcement, the Rwanda deal, Border Force, foreign national offenders and more.

Having held only a handful of roles in government since he was elected MP for Clwyd South in 2019, Baynes seems an unlikely appointment. He is a Rishi Sunak supporter and a former bookshop owner with a penchant for music. While bookshop owners do have something of a reputation for hostility, it remains unclear whether Baynes’ past experience will be helpful to him in his new role.

Tom Pursglove

On the other hand, the reappointment of Tom Pursglove, a Johnson loyalist and ardent Brexiteer, is no surprise.

Pursglove started his career working as a Parliamentary Assistant for Chris Heaton-Harris MP, widely regarded as a hardliner. He was first elected MP for Corby in May 2015 and since then he has held a variety of roles. Most notable for our purposes, he was the Minister for Justice and Tacking Illegal Migration from September 2021 to July 2022. Whilst in this role, Pursglove recommended Rwanda as a prosperous place where refugees could thrive. In a statement to the House of Commons in June, he said:

“Long-lasting change will not happen overnight; it requires a long-term plan. As I have said many times before in this House, there is no one single solution, but this Government will deliver the first comprehensive overhaul of the asylum system in decades.”

He has appeared in the news a number of times this summer, addressing most notably Ukrainian asylum seekers potential relocation to Rwanda, and the responsibility for individuals when they land in Rwanda. Following Johnson’s resignation as Prime Minister he claimed Patel had “done a sterling job”.

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In replies to written questions last week, Pursglove focused on migration queries, including bespoke immigration schemes, like the Afghan resettlement scheme. Baynes addressed questions on enforcement and asylum. This seems to fit with the recent division of work between the two roles. It is likely to take a little time over the next few weeks to clearly mark out who is doing what in the department, but it seems clear that the division of “legal” and “non-legal” migration will stick.

Pursglove singly failed in his previous role tackling illegal migration. We could say he has been promoted. Or we could say he has been replaced. Perhaps Baynes will bring some new thinking to the issue. Braverman has reportedly set a target of completely stopping small boat crossings; she is not reported to have said this must be by removing refugees to Rwanda, a policy that no-one expects would actually work on its own terms even if removals did go ahead at some point. We won’t be holding our breath for a change of approach, but maybe we will be surprised.