Contributions
2,215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI understand the hon. and learned Lady’s point. I say two things in response. First, the premise of asylum claims being handled in safe third countries is that those countries…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillIf I may, I will give way in the first instance to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford.11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI am happy to write to my hon. Friend detailing all the support that would be available. The point that I am making is that this is the existing law, and it has existed for more…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillIt is not normal practice to state that on the face of the Bill. It goes without saying that the Government obey our international obligations, as we do with all pieces of…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI will come back to that issue later in my remarks, but let me be clear, if further reassurance is required, that the Government take our international law obligations extremely…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI would be pleased to meet my hon. Friend, as I have in the past. She knows that I have met local authority leaders in Kent on a number of occasions. I want to do everything I can…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI have been clear in answer to the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) that we provide very high quality care at all the centres in which we support unaccompanied…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillLet me answer my hon. Friend’s questions by setting out what will be contained in the statutory guidance. The operation of the exception for potential victims of modern slavery to…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillThe right hon. Gentleman is particularly knowledgeable on this issue, because he represents immigration removal centres. It is not the Government’s intention that families or…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillThe position today is that a child arrives in the United Kingdom and is immediately processed in an age-appropriate setting. We then seek to place them with local authorities.…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillIt is our intention that the statutory guidance will be provided and in place for the commencement of the Bill. I hope that that also answers the question of my right hon. Friend…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI will make some progress, because I appreciate that this is a relatively short debate. If the hon. and learned Lady does not mind, there are other questions I need to address.…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillThe changes that we are proposing in the Government amendments in lieu strike the right balance, whereby we preserve the intention of the scheme that lies at the heart of the Bill…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI do not know whether the right hon. Member has been to any of the facilities, but we provide very high-quality facilities for families and children upon immediate arrival in the…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI will not, if the right hon. Gentleman will forgive me. I feel that I have to make progress now. Lords amendments 1, 7, 90 and 93 are all the more unnecessary as the Bill already…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI understand my right hon. Friend’s position, but I hope he will accept that we intend to bring forward the statutory guidance and that it will set out the points I have just…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillWe do not need that power, so the amendment is superfluous; we already have the power to bring forward statutory guidance. It was our intention to do that. The guidance is being…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI will set out in a moment how that age-appropriate accommodation is determined in law today. I give way to my right hon. Friend one more time.11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI think that my right hon. Friend and I agree that the point at which individuals misuse the NRM is the point at which the state tries to remove them from the country. Our concern…11 Jul 2023HANSARD Illegal Migration BillI am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s interest in the Bill. She and I come at this with exactly the same concern: to protect unaccompanied children. Any genuine child who comes…11 Jul 2023