Contributions
3,765 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationMy hon. Friend asks an excellent question and the answer is yes: that is what we have done over the past few weeks and what we will continue to do, and our Albania deal builds on…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationWe have in fact safely settled more than 23,000 people from Afghanistan in this country. The hon. Member talks about safe and legal routes and actually, in the last year, we…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI thank my right hon. Friend both for absolutely championing the issue for his constituents and for the advice that he has provided to the Home Secretary and me, given his…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationYes, our plan is to clear the initial asylum backlog by the end of next year. It is about 117,000 on currently published statistics. The hon. Member talked about the Government…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationHaving been on those doorsteps in Middlesbrough South with my right hon. Friend, I know he speaks the truth and he is right to highlight this issue for his constituents. We will…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationWe were the first country in the world, thanks to the leadership of my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), to pass the Modern Slavery Act 2015, with a dedicated…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI am confident that our legislation will deliver the asylum system that we want to see, and I can tell my hon. Friend that it will come very early in the new year. We want to…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI agree with all of that, and that is what the reforms I have announced today will deliver. The best way to do that is to ensure that the pressure on our system is not…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for the work she did in bringing about the Modern Slavery Act: she deserves praise and credit for that. She is right: as I mentioned, the…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationAs I said earlier, on the Conservative Benches we believe in sovereignty. When it comes to controlling our borders, we will of course act in line with our legal obligations, but…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationThe Government take their obligations towards children extremely seriously. Of course it is right that they are treated differently, and that is why the Immigration Minister has…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationFirst, I thank my right hon. Friend for his engagement with us and his specific suggestions on tackling the issue of Albanian migrants—I hope he is pleased by what he has heard…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationOur legislation will ensure that if someone comes to this country illegally, they will not have the right to stay here. It is a simple proposition; it is a fair proposition; and…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI thank the Chair of the Select Committee for her excellent questions; they are the right questions to focus on. We have redesigned the entire process for caseworking on an…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationMy hon. Friend is absolutely right; the Rwanda policy is an important part of our approach to tackling this problem, because it must be the case that if someone comes here…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationMy right hon. and learned Friend obviously has expertise on this issue. He is absolutely right about that process and the help that it can provide. He will be pleased to know that…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI just gently point out to the hon. Lady that the backlog now, difficult though it is, is half as big as it was under the last Labour Government. Unlike then, we will not resort…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI thank my hon. Friend for his support of our approach. The new small boat operational command will bring together our civilian capabilities, our military and the NCA in a more…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationMy hon. Friend makes an excellent and very clear point. At issue today is illegal migration, which has significantly increased in the past couple of years and is putting…13 Dec 2022HANSARDIllegal ImmigrationI share the frustration of my hon. Friend and his constituents that their local hotel, like so many others, is currently being used to house illegal migrants. That is wrong and we…13 Dec 2022