Clause 2 - Entering United Kingdom without passport
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill
3:30 pm
Mr Richard Bacon (South Norfolk, Conservative)
The Minister has provided some explanation and a degree of reassurance. None the less, she said that in subsection (1) a person potentially commits an offence. However, that subsection is a complete sentence, which says that
''A person commits an offence if when he is first interviewed by an immigration officer after arrival in the United Kingdom he does not have with him an immigration document''.
Then such a document is defined. The subsection does not say, ''potentially''; it says, ''commits an offence''. As the hon. Lady said a minute ago, the act of turning up in the United Kingdom without an immigration document is an offence, not a potential offence.
I take note of what my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) said about the danger of personal reminiscences. Nevertheless, I sought to go to Brussels a few months ago and was not able to, because I had forgotten my passport—I left it at home. Although I never left the UK, colleagues of mine say that they have, on occasion, succeeded in going to Brussels for the day without a passport. If I had got to Brussels without a passport—which is possible—according to the Bill, the moment that I returned I would be entering the UK without a passport and would have committed an offence—full stop. That is what it says at the end of subsection (1).