Italy's Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini (pictured), has pledged to prosecute those who defy a security decree aimed at curbing illegal migration.

Under the new ruling, asylum seekers can no longer apply for full residency after two years, and their access to healthcare and other public services is severely restricted. In addition, Italian ports are closed off to immigrant-rescuing ships.

Salvini accused the mayors of Palermo, Florence and Naples - who have defied the decree - of 'cashing in' on illegals, and has already placed the former mayor of Riace, Calabria under house arrest for aiding and abetting illegal immigration. He commented:

Certain mayors look back fondly on the good old times of immigration, but for them the party is over!

Those who help the illegal migrants hate Italians, and they will answer to the law and to history.

Italy's coalition government - comprising the Five Star Movement and Salvini's Lega Nord (Northern League) - came to power last year on a promise to deport 500,000 illegals.

Salvini is correct, of course, and his motto applies here in Britain, too: Those who help illegal immigrants, hate the British.

Here's why:

• By the most conservative estimates, there are around a million illegal immigrants in Britain. However, a study ten years ago based on food consumption estimated the UK population at between 77 and 80 million, around 20 million more than the official figure. So the true number of illegals may be much higher than one million.

• Illegal immigrants are, by definition, criminals. And some go on to commit really heinous crimes:

• Undocumented migrants are unknown to the authorities and therefore a security risk. It's not known how many are potential suicide bombers. According to the EU's counter-terrorism chief, the UK has more suspected jihadis than any other country in Europe: between 20,000 and 25,000, with 3,000 posing a direct threat.

• They compete with citizens for finite resources on which they have no legitimate claim, thereby degrading our quality of life. In 2013, it was estimated that every illegal immigrant costs the taxpayer around £4,250 for public services such as healthcare and education. Add to this security costs.

• Illegal immigration fuels the black economy, undercutting British workers and driving down living standards of British families.

• Immigration, both legal and illegal, takes up scarce housing, driving up rents for the poorest. 'The UK's housing crisis rests hand-in-glove with mass immigration.'

The only way to stem the flow of third-world moochers across the English Channel (and put traffickers out of business) is to send back every single truck stowaway and every single boat - which is how Operation Sovereign Borders ended Australia's migrant boat crisis.

Bear in mind that few illegal immigrants are genuine refugees, most are economic migrants - some risking their children's lives on rickety rafts just to gain access to British cash.

Even more morally contemptible are the non-governmental organisations that ferry, aid and abet the criminals, knowing the damage that illegal immigration does to Britain and the British.

A patriotic government, like Salvini's in Italy, would bring them to book.

Eventually, of course, Britain must purge foreign freeloaders already settled here. Imagine a Dunkirk-style flotilla of pleasure boats and fishing vessels, each full to the gunwhales with illegals, destined for the coasts of France and Germany.

Wouldn't that be a sight to see!