Contributions
1,321 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Thank you.21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you, Mr Smith. As ever, it is very interesting to hear from you. I have two quick questions. I am slightly confused because on one hand, you speak about the necessity of…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you for your evidence, Mr Jones. I do not think that anyone would beg to differ on the need to deter and disrupt the smuggling gangs and to support safe legal routes; the…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Are both these things that you continue to pursue solutions to through agreement, or has the time come for there to be regulation, perhaps through the Online Safety Bill or…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (First sitting)Further to that point of order, Sir Roger. I may have raised it had the Programming Sub-Committee started at the time it was supposed to start. I arrived yesterday a minute before…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q You have said that you think the policy of trying to disincentivise people from making these crossings is not going to work and that, on the other hand, some of the measures…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you for your evidence so far. Earlier we heard from Jon Featonby of the Red Cross that there was only one clause in the Bill that would directly impact smugglers…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Lucy Moreton, do you want to pick up on the issue of additional work that this will create for the Home Office, in terms of having to revisit asylum applications every 30…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (First sitting)Q Anything on statelessness, or do you want to leave that to other witnesses?21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q I thank the witnesses for their evidence so far. I have a couple of follow-up questions on age assessments. You have spoken about the safeguarding issues that arise if somebody…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)It just strikes me that a lot of the pressure around these decisions, and perhaps even a degree of cynicism about where a number of age claims fall, arises from the fact that UASC…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Okay, I will give that some further thought. Councillor Roger Gough: And so will I.21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Safeguarding obviously does work both ways. Ultimately it is just imperative that we get this right. I think other local authorities have expressed some concern about this…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)We will have to see what the placeholder clauses in the Bill are replaced with, but thank you both very much.21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Finally, are there any other barriers that you would highlight, in terms of how we go about trying to tackle the smuggling gangs? Is it resources? Is it co-operation? Over the…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Q Sure. I would challenge very little of that. The issue we have on this side of the fence is that a lot of the evidence is that some of the deterrents in the Bill, which are…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (Second sitting)Sure, but our concern is that that is exactly what the Bill does, and obviously we will hear evidence from UNHCR and various others who have that concern as well. Thank you for…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (First sitting)Q How many clauses in this Bill do you think will have a direct impact on people smugglers? Jon Featonby: There are 71 clauses and four schedules in this Bill. As far as we can…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (First sitting)Q You have said, essentially, that you do not think disincentives work. I want to look at one of the Government’s attempts to disincentivise people from using people smugglers:…21 Sept 2021HANSARDNationality and Borders Bill (First sitting)Q So basically, people are waiting another six months. What impact does that and the other measures in the Bill have on local authorities that are involved in asylum work? Jon…21 Sept 2021