Sussex police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne has called on the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to tag asylum-seekers – “for their safety and our peace of mind”.
The proposal has been criticised by Green councillor Rachel Millward who, like Mrs Bourne, is her party’s candidate in the postponed contest to become the first directly elected mayor of Sussex.
Mrs Bourne said: “Migration from poorer parts of the world and war-torn nations will not be halted through slogans about stopping boats or smashing gangs.
“With climate change, political chaos and religious fundamentalism on the rise, it’s no surprise that European countries – and especially the UK – look like the promised land.
“While the British people have a justly proud record of welcoming those fleeing persecution, the British public is getting frustrated and angry that male economic migrants are arriving by the boatload, putting pressure on local services and costing taxpayers billions every year.
“That frustration is fermenting into anger in some quarters and creating a climate of fear and anxiety in ordinary law-abiding people living next to migrant holding centres and hotels.
“In far too many towns and villages, hotels that were once a valued social hub have been shut to locals and tourists, hollowing out communities.
“People have become genuinely fearful of the strangers parachuted into their neighbourhoods and that mistrust means that migrants and asylum-seekers will also be ostracised and afraid.
“To label people’s fears as racist is lazy and insulting. There are no doubt extremists with hateful ideologies or those who want to exploit the presence of ‘foreigners’ for political gain.
“But, for the most part, the peaceful protests we have seen by reasonable citizens are about concerns for the safety of their children, the impact on house values and the added burden on local health services.
“It’s been interesting to see the sudden outbreak of nimbyism from those liberal voices previously so enthusiastic about migration now shouting ‘not in our backyard’ when a migrant camp is opened in their quiet neighbourhood.
“Whatever we might think of the motivation of migrants, they are here in great numbers and will keep coming unless the pull factors are reduced.
“While they await processing for asylum, they are mostly economically inactive because the government does not let them work officially.
“Organised crime gangs will, however, and so will unscrupulous employers, meaning migrants are vulnerable to being recruited into criminal activity or being employed on slave wages in the black economy.
“As Sussex police and crime commissioner, I’ve seen the huge outpouring of anxiety by Crowborough residents faced with the news that around 600 male migrants will be housed at the Crowborough Army Training Camp.
“I’ve listened to the fears of people with young children near by and I’ve seen the dismay of couples buying their home right next to the site wondering if they will ever be able to sell.
“I’ve also talked to young women who are well aware of the sexual assaults committed across the UK by male migrants from starkly different cultures to our own.
“Every rape or robbery committed by a migrant will be swiftly publicised on mainstream and social media fuelling people’s suspicions of all asylum-seekers.
“People need to know that the authorities including the Home Office and their local police can keep their families and asylum-seekers safe.
“That is why I sought assurances from the Chief Constable of Sussex that the force understood the strength of feeling in Crowborough and had a plan and the resources to deal with any criminal behaviour and potential public order issues around the camp.
“I have already submitted a bid for several million pounds of extra government funding to be ready to deal with any issues around the Crowborough camp without denuding other communities of the policing they already pay for and deserve.
“This is an unsustainable sticking plaster and a whack-a-mole approach that pushes the security problem and increased cost on to local police forces.
“With thousands of people awaiting asylum processing, the potential for them to become involved in crime – as a perpetrator or victim – is inevitable, meaning police will be looking for people with very little official ID or existing digital footprint in the UK.
“Here in Sussex, we have launched the first electronic tagging pilot for persistent shoplifters and the results are promising. The police monitoring the tags can tell exactly where the offenders are and, so far, the shoplifters are changing their behaviours.
“With rights comes responsibilities so my proposal is that we explore requiring asylum-seekers – starting with male migrants – to wear an electronic tag of some form.
“This could provide them with greater freedom to travel further from migrant holding centres and could be the first step in making it more feasible to get temporary jobs.
“If migrants refused to wear a tag, it would be an indication that they are intending to abscond or are involved in unlawful activity.
“The Home Office have signalled that they will start to house male migrants in Crowborough Army Camp early in the new year despite weeks of peaceful protest and opposition from residents.
“I have a new year’s resolution for the Home Secretary – why not be bold and pilot tagging of the men due to arrive soon at Crowborough?
“You might end up being thanked by taxpayers, the police and the migrants themselves.”
Councillor Millward, deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, is also the deputy leader of Wealden District Council which covers Crowborough.
She said that asylum-seekers had been tagged during a year-long trial that started in 2022 but the move was ruled to be unlawful by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Most were fleeing danger and persecution, she said, and should be allowed to work and to be treated with dignity – not as criminals.
If they were allowed to work, she added, they would be more likely to be able to support themselves and less likely to need to be housed in places such as hotels, army barracks and other makeshift facilities.
“I’ve also talked to young women who are well aware of the sexual assaults committed across the UK by male migrants from starkly different cultures to our own.“
And did Katy tell them that the vast majority of sexual assaults are committed by white men and the vast majority of those by a man known to the victim?
Is crime an issue yes it is but you don’t solve it by tagging every male asylum seeker. But why spend money on tags on expensive ankle bracelets and monitoring systems when you can just make them wear a cheap coloured cloth shape on their clothing.
And that will solve nothing because there will be some people who will use the sight of either to bully and harass and attack the wearers without one iota of justification.
Tag police and crime commissioner not migrants!
We need to welcome migrants in our city with a warm heart and a warm home.
Suicidal empathy is what’s destroying this country. Welcome them into your home if you care so much. I know you never would, though.
Suicidal apathy is what will destroy this country. Luckily, people have consistantly demostrated that in the majority, they do not follow your opinion. And that’s something we can be proud of as Englishmen.
Your home first please.
Shocking that the police and crime commissioner is now touting racist policies.
The council’s website defines racism as “when a person is treated worse, excluded, disadvantaged, harassed, bullied, humiliated or degraded because of their race or ethnicity”, so perhaps the authorities should be investigating Katy Bourne for publicly pushing for policies which would clearly treat some people worse than others based on their race or ethnicity.
The BHCC website gives clear examples of racism in action, some of which would apply if PCC Katy Bourne’s policy proposal were to be put into practice: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/equality/becoming-anti-racist-city/racism-definition.
Perhaps she’s just desperate for a headline, but either way, it’s worrying that she’s touting such dreadful and divisive policies rather than focusing on the real social issues that have exacerbated hardship for so many people, some of which in recent years can be connected directly to her party’s austerity agenda when they were in government for 14 years.
It’s always scary to see how ordinary humans can turn barbaric – especially when it suits their own agenda to do so.
Please open your own home, then we can talk.
I agree with Katy Bourne here.
There is no doubt that extremists with hateful ideologies or those who want to exploit the presence of ‘foreigners’ for political gain, such as the Police and Crime Commissioner, who is hoping to be elected as the Mayor of Sussex.
The real crisis isn’t the presence of migrants in our communities, no, it is the Home Office’s chronic failure to process claims efficiently. With backlogs stretching into years, people are left in limbo, denied the right to work, and housed in inadequate facilities. Of course, tensions rise – we’ve created the conditions for them.
Instead of treating vulnerable people like suspects, Katy should be championing to fix the root causes: clear pathways to work, faster processing, and proper integration support. When we deny people dignity, we make everyone less safe.
Tagging doesn’t solve a single one of these problems. It outsources accountability to those least able to challenge it. And while it may play well in headlines, it erodes the very trust communities need.
Er, did you mistype the first line?
Apart from that I agree with you. This is desperate stuff from someone who is just trying to outdo Reform for braindead easy-answer authoritarianism, with a side dish of racist dog-whistle.
Haha, it was an ironic twist; her own words used against her to outline exactly what you’ve described!
More waffle that costs the tax payer .
Just lock the stable door. ( Old saying hopefully I don’t have to explain this one again)
If you fly into gatwick you can’t just toss your passport and walk around the gate . Or any other country tbh .
I also had the privilege of working at Crowborough mod . In the nuclear bunker while police did riot training.
Something that clearly doesn’t make sense unless deliberately
Evidently, you didn’t work there for your insights, seeing as you’re using the saying completely backwards, Rupert. No one’s claiming tossed passports either, so another bizarre thing you’ve said – just another incoherent ramble, no data, no alternative; just low-quality, nonsensical, dog whistling.
No comment from Labour I see. They are too busy chasing the Reform vote themselves. Once again it’s the Greens standing up for basic principles of human rights.
The greens dont stand for anything in practice. Words only im afraid.
I think most parties, independents, and anyone with any sense of morality don’t need to state that utilising a method of identification associated with the actions of the Nazi Party in Germany, as described by the Conservative Mayoral Candidate here, is morally abhorrent.
tag them, that’s not what the public has been asking for, what we need is to stop putting people like Khan & Shabana Mahmood in positions of power they have no place in our government, and time and time again they have prooved they only have one agenda, which is to support the muslim community, why taking away the culture of the uk. And yes, I truly believe that if you are a muslim or any other faith than Christian, you have no place in the UK government. They need to be stripped of power and removed from government ASAP
Both of those politicians you mention are British Citizens born in the UK.
And both have been elected to office by their respective electorates.
We removed bans on specific religions from being elected to office more than 150 years ago. Jews in 1858 and Catholics in 1829.
Are you seriously advocating a reversal of that and also over turning the results of an election just because of someone’s religion?
The difference being that Jews and Catholics arent actively trying to take over the uk.
But Al, that’s just racist rhetoric. And racist rhetoric is just that. Racist.
That was the justification for the restrictions against Catholics and Jews from elected office.
That they wanted to ‘take over the UK’
Muslims do not want to take over the UK.
The greens dont stand for anything in practice. Words only im afraid.
That’s not even remotely true; the Greens have one of the clearest identities about what they stand for. The challenge is that their idealism isn’t regularly matched with a healthy dose of pragmatism; otherwise, they’d be Labour.
Can you prove that’s not remotely true .
What are the facts and what can show that proves ai is telling porkies or is this an opinion of yours again?
Your phrasing is very muddled today, so I’m going to assume you are asking how we can prove the Green Party has a clear identity.
The answer is extremely simple. Yes, and very easily. Ask any member of the public what the Greens stand for, and they’ll immediately identify at least one of their core policies, most commonly their strong stance on environmental protection, without having read a manifesto or policy document. The Green Party’s core positions are widely recognised and consistently communicated. Even their name is self-explanatory.
You could pull comments from this very site to see how widely that understanding is shared. That’s not opinion; it’s an observable, inarguable reality.