Clause 53 - Deception
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
6:45 pm
Mr Richard Allan (Sheffield, Hallam, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 275, in page 29, line 13, after 'uses', insert 'material'.
This is a threshold amendment—which is another familiar brand of amendment that we regularly come across in Committee. It is designed to ensure that the threshold is appropriate to the penalty that might be enforced. In this case, although we accept that deception may be a justifiable reason for removal, removal is a major step to take, so we seek to ensure that the threshold includes the word ''material'', so that material deception is referred to, rather than simple, bald deception.
I wish the Minister briefly to outline her view of the thresholds that will be applied in this deception provision, so that we can be assured that there will be a requirement for substantive evidence to be produced before such a drastic step as removal is enforced.