An effort on the level of the fight against slavery is required to stop illegal migration, according to Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat.
Mr Tugendhat is one of six people hoping to replace Rishi Sunak in a contest that will finish in November.
His latest comments were first reported in The Times, which obtained a recording of Mr Tugendhat speaking to Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives association on 14 August.
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According to the paper, Mr Tughendhat said: “Human trafficking is costing thousands of lives and being weaponised by the Kremlin and its proxies. The UK must show the same determination and commitment to fighting this evil trade as we did in fighting slavery.
“We need to see our military engaged in fighting this threat.
“Deaths in the Channel, the Mediterranean and the Sahara show how evil the traffickers are.
“[Vladimir] Putin’s puppets use human beings by smuggling them into Belarus and then pushing them over the border into Nato countries including Poland and Lithuania.
“We need to stand with our allies and defend Europe’s land and sea borders by deploying naval and military forces to protect ourselves and deter this cruel trade.
“We need determined leadership in the fight against those who traffic people and undermine our borders. As security minister, I commissioned work to combat the traffickers as part of a strategic, intelligence-led approach.
“Our national security today demands the same level of commitment the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron showed in the fight against slavery almost 200 years ago.
“The tools have changed but the focus remains – human trafficking is evil and we must be serious and invest in long-term commitments, not Labour’s short-term sticking plasters.”
Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly attacked the previous government – of which Mr Tugendhat was a member – for employing “sticking plaster politics”.
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Mr Tugendhat noted in his speech that the West Africa Squadron’s efforts to fight slavery cost 2% of GDP – which would be worth around £50bn a year in today’s figures.
However, allies of the MP said he was talking about the intent this showed, rather than calling to increase spending.
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Mr Tugendhat added: “I’ve had enough of this idea that it’s somehow wrong or nasty to be against illegal migration.
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong and nasty: tolerating deaths in the Channel because of illegal migration; tolerating thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean; tolerating tens, even possibly hundreds of thousands of deaths in the Sahara, and in many other places.
“That’s what’s wrong and nasty, and that’s why I’m going to stop it. The moral thing to do is to stop the illegal trade in human beings.”