Clause 9 - Continuation of leave
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill
3:00 pm
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality), Home Office; Harrow East, Labour)
First and by the by, ''grace period''—as the hon. Gentleman will know, given his distinguished legal career—means absolutely nothing in legal terms. Were we to accept the amendment, which we shall not for reasons that I will come on to, it would have to be rewritten. There is no such recognised term.
Secondly, given the—I was going to say ''promiscuous'', but ''prodigious'' will probably do—nature of the Home Office's legislative schedule, I appreciate why the hon. Gentleman has not been in his place in this Committee all the time. These things blur when we are having so much fun, but I think that it was only yesterday—so I do not blame Hansard in terms of the record being produced—that I did a little exposition on section 24(1)(b) and (c) of the 1971 Act, which addressed that point. I said that we would consider the notion of whether, in primary legislation or in rules, we should address entirely the point. I took the point that if there is only one appeal and it is only invoked on a decision to remove, there would be some gap. I have undertaken to consider that matter and to address it.