Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill Report Stage: New Clause 3

MPs voted on 12 May 2025 on New Clause 3 to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which would have placed a legal duty on the Secretary of State to publish a strategy for establishing safe and legal routes into the UK for people fleeing war, persecution or trafficking. The clause was defeated by 318 votes to 90. The vote means the Bill proceeds without any statutory requirement to set out a plan for expanding legal pathways into the UK. Supporters of the clause argued that without such routes, people in desperate circumstances turn to dangerous channel crossings, and that the absence of a strategy leaves the asylum system without a coherent humane framework. Defeating the clause preserves the government's freedom to determine immigration policy without a published legal obligation to create or expand safe routes. The 90 votes in favour came almost entirely from opposition and smaller parties. The Liberal Democrats provided 62 of those ayes, the Scottish National Party 7, the Greens 4, Plaid Cymru 3, and just 5 Labour MPs crossed the floor. The 318 votes against were driven by Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voting with the government, and 4 Reform UK MPs also voted no. The vote fell on the same day as several other divisions at report stage of the same Bill, including one on New Clause 14, which sought to disapply the Human Rights Act from immigration functions, and a third reading vote which passed 316 to 95.