Stephen Metcalfe

Conservative MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock

@Metcalfe_SBET https://facebook.com/StephenMetcalfe4SBET

Asylum

The asylum system is intended to protect people fleeing persecution in their own countries. Parliament has voted on subjects including: routes via which people may enter the United Kingdom to seek asylum; the circumstances in which those seeking asylum may work; support for those seeking asylum and if to allow those claiming asylum to be removed to other countries while their claim is assessed.

Photo: Nathan Collins

Stephen Metcalfe consistently voted for a stricter asylum system

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TheyWorkForYou has calculated this MP’s stance based on votes we have grouped on this topic. Learn more.

You can browse the source data on PublicWhip.org.uk. We are in the process of moving away from using the PublicWhip and there may be some discrepancies between the two sites.

Major votes

  • On 17 Jan 2024: Stephen Metcalfe voted yes on Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill Committee: Third reading Show vote
  • On 26 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted against being more lenient when assessing if a refugee had "come to the United Kingdom directly from a country or territory where their life or freedom was threatened" and "presented themselves without delay to the authorities", not to put the onus of proof on the Government, and not to give due weight to the best interests of children and family unity, in relation to such determinations, and not to require the law to ensure refugees should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to allow those seeking asylum, and their adult dependents, to work if a decision on their application has not been made within six months. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted to enable someone to be removed from, or required to leave, the UK while their asylum application is pending. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted against UK law allowing entry to the UK to seek asylum and against UK law enabling unaccompanied children in Europe who have a family member in the UK to seek asylum in the UK. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted in favour of creating an offence of entering the United Kingdom without a valid entry clearance (if one is required), and against creating an alternative narrower offence of arriving in the United Kingdom in breach of a deportation order. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted to make it an offence to help an asylum-seeker enter the UK, even if that help is offered for free and there is a reasonable excuse for helping, subject to an exception for those acting on behalf of an organisation which helps asylum seekers for free. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted to permit treating refugees who have not "come to the United Kingdom directly from a country or territory where their life or freedom was threatened" and "presented themselves without delay to the authorities" differently from those who have. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted against "allowing asylum seekers and their adult dependents, including failed asylum seekers who have raised further submissions, to work on the same terms as a person with refugee status if a decision on their claim has not been determined within six months". Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted to permit removing someone to a safe third country whilst their asylum claim is pending. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted against allowing people who are in Europe and have a family member living lawfully in the UK to enter the United Kingdom to seek asylum. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted in favour of making it an offence to knowingly arrive in the United Kingdom without a valid entry clearance, if such a clearance is required. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted to consider asylum seekers who fail, when requested, to provide information relating to them being a victim of slavery or trafficking within a set time-limit, to have reduced credibility, unless there is a good reason for the delay in providing information. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to raise the threshold for denying an individual the 30-day recovery period for victims, or potential victims of slavery or trafficking, during which they cannot be removed from the United Kingdom, and and to allow those under 18 years to be denied the recovery period. Show vote
  • On 8 Dec 2021: Stephen Metcalfe voted for a series of changes to the law on immigration and nationality, including permitting the removal of asylum seekers with applications pending to other countries and provisions aimed at discouraging unsafe and dangerous routes of entry. Show vote
  • On 7 Dec 2021: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to exempt those facing persecution in their own countries, and others in need of international protection, from a new offence of arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance. Show vote
  • On 20 Jul 2021: Stephen Metcalfe voted for a series of changes to the law on immigration and nationality, including permitting the removal of asylum seekers with applications pending to other countries and provisions aimed at discouraging unsafe and dangerous routes of entry. Show vote
  • On 20 Jul 2021: Stephen Metcalfe voted for a series of changes to the law on immigration and nationality, including permitting the removal of asylum seekers with applications pending to other countries and provisions aimed at discouraging unsafe and dangerous routes of entry. Show vote
  • On 19 Oct 2020: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to allow those in the EU who wish to make a claim for asylum in the UK, and who would have been eligible for transfer to the UK under EU regulations, to enter the UK to make their claim. Show vote
  • On 30 Jun 2020: Stephen Metcalfe voted to remove rights for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, spouses, vulnerable adults and dependant adults to join a family member who is legally present in the United Kingdom. Show vote
  • On 22 Jan 2020: Stephen Metcalfe voted against requiring ministers to seek to negotiate with the EU to allow unaccompanied children seeking asylum to join their relatives by moving from the UK to the EU or vice-versa, and instead voted to require the Government to set out its policy on this subject. Show vote
  • On 8 Jan 2020: Stephen Metcalfe voted to remove a requirement for ministers to seek to negotiate an agreement with the EU to enable unaccompanied child refugees to join their relatives. Show vote
  • On 25 Apr 2016: Stephen Metcalfe voted against giving asylum seekers permission to work if a decision on their application takes over six months. Show vote
  • On 14 Dec 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted to support the Government's decision not to opt into a European Union response to disproportionate migration into certain states involving measures to relocate individuals in need of international protection (asylum). Show vote
  • On 1 Dec 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted to restrict the support available to failed asylum seekers and illegal migrants. Show vote

Minor votes

  • On 18 May 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to express support for a broad set of policies put forward by the leader of the Liberal Democrats. The policies in question were: providing more help to unpaid carers; tackling issues in education relating to special educational needs or disability; supporting pupils impacted by the pandemic; doing more in respect of the cost of living; cutting VAT from 20 to 17.5%; tackling violence against women and girls; providing sanctuary to refugees fleeing war and persecution; tackling the shortage of GPs and dentists; tackling longer ambulance waiting times; restoring the target of 0.7% of Gross National Income for aid, and not cutting the armed forces. Show vote
  • On 26 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to require that, so far as possible under new asylum laws, no refugees will be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom and to require a court or tribunal breaching that principle to make a declaration to that effect. Show vote
  • On 20 Apr 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to explicitly require that no refugees will be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom as a result of the operation of new asylum laws. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted not to explicitly require that no refugees will be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom as a result of the operation of new asylum laws. Show vote
  • On 22 Mar 2022: Stephen Metcalfe voted against the resettlement, in the United Kingdom, of at least 10,000 refugees per year. Show vote
  • On 1 Dec 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted in favour of making it a criminal offence for someone to work if their immigration status prohibits it. Show vote
  • On 1 Dec 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted to make it an offence to rent a home to someone who is disqualified as a result of their immigration status from occupying premises under a residential tenancy agreement. Show vote
  • On 1 Dec 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted to extend the power to deport an individual before considering an appeal on human rights grounds so it applies to all those appealing on human rights grounds against their removal. Show vote
  • On 1 Dec 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted to create criminal offences of renting a home, driving, and working, while disqualified from doing so due to immigration status; and for other measures in the Immigration Bill. Show vote
  • On 13 Oct 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted to create criminal offences of renting a home, driving, and working, while disqualified from doing so due to immigration status; and for other measures in the Immigration Bill Show vote
  • On 13 Oct 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted to create criminal offences of renting a home, driving, and working, while disqualified from doing so due to immigration status; and for other measures in the Immigration Bill. Show vote
  • On 9 Sep 2015: Stephen Metcalfe voted against greater international efforts through the United Nations to secure the position of refugees across the Middle East and against the UK playing a full role, with others, in providing sanctuary. Show vote

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