Contributions
2,215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Net Migration FiguresI do not think fiddling the figures is the answer to this challenge. The public want to see us delivering actual results and bringing down the numbers. Of course, universities and…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresAccording to the Office for National Statistics, the figures are starting to fall—although the ONS’s methodology itself keeps moving around, so one has to treat that with a degree…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresIn recent years we have given thought to the concept of creating a more regional system, but it is difficult to create in practice—I would welcome ideas from the right hon. Lady’s…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresMy hon. Friend speaks for my constituents as well as his—he represents a constituency near mine—in saying that the British public want us to get on with the job and bring down the…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresWe are very concerned about some of the issues that have arisen out of the Court in Strasbourg, including the so-called pyjama injunctions of the kind that blocked a flight to…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresMy right hon. Friend and I are at one on this issue. He is right to say that there are two challenges: the sheer number of people coming in, and the types of people coming into…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresFirst, I would say politely to the hon. Gentleman that it is only because we left the European Union that we have the levers at our disposal to control net migration. It is…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresI support my hon. Friend in his lobbying and campaigning for the Government to take this issue seriously. He speaks for millions of people across the country who see the levels of…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresI think the right hon. Lady is rather overdoing the hyperbole. We are on course to meet our manifesto commitment to increase the number of nurses here in the UK. A significant…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresWe do control the levers of our immigration system, so we have the ability to make determinations on individuals who come from different countries around the world. We do not…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresMy hon. Friend raises a number of issues, all of which are worthy of consideration and which the Home Office is working through at present. It is certainly true that a very…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresFortunately, immigration is a reserved matter, and we do not intend to leave it in the hands of the hon. Lady and her colleagues in the SNP Government. As she knows with respect…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresIf the hon. Gentleman is arguing for higher levels of net migration than we see today, I suspect that he is a lone voice in the country. We are seeing substantial numbers of…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresAs ever, my hon. Friend makes a number of important points. The health and social care visa has not worked as well as even its proponents would have wished. Not only have far more…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresThere has been no fearmongering whatsoever on the Government side of the House. There has been a simple and clear articulation of the view of the British public—including, I…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresThe most recent published data from the Office for National Statistics estimated that net migration in the year to June 2023 was at 672,000. That places untold pressure on housing…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresOn that front, I can give my right hon. Friend good news. The visa service and the Passport Office are performing in a way in which they have not performed for many years, and are…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresThe right hon. Gentleman obviously missed our announcement earlier in the year where we added various fishing occupations to the shortage occupation list. That was as a result of…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresI am grateful to my right hon. Friend and agree with everything he says. It is absolutely critical that we get a handle on this issue. The points he makes about social care are…28 Nov 2023HANSARD Net Migration FiguresI have made an open offer to local authorities that want to provide asylum accommodation. None have come forward so far, but if the hon. Lady’s local authority wants to provide…28 Nov 2023