Conservative MP for Newton Abbot Anne Marie Morris has backed government plans to halt asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats.

Announced only recently, the Illegal Migration Bill has already proved controversial.

Football pundit Gary Lineker condemned what he views as language "not dissimilar to that used in Germany in the 1930s", and there have also been protests across the country.

But Home Secretary Suella Braverman told Parliament on 13 March the asylum system has become "overwhelmed" and that "people are dying, and we need to stop it".

Anne Marie Morris MP, whose constituency includes Dawlish, said: "This legislation is necessary because these individuals are crossing the Channel having been through France.

"Clearly, if an individual illegally enters the UK via a safe country where they could have claimed asylum, they are not seeking refuge from imminent peril but are picking the UK as a preferred destination over others.

"Voluntarily making a risky journey from a safe country should not be acceptable queue-jumping."

The bill is currently making its way through the House of Commons.