🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Rees. I congratulate the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) on securing this debate on the important issue of no recourse to public funds, and I thank colleagues for their interventions during the course of her remarks. A lot of points were made, which I will respond to on behalf of the Government, but first I will set the policy...
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Our approach is a balanced one. For example, many people come to the United Kingdom through the established visa routes, family routes and skilled work routes. The hon. Lady touched on the issue of safe and legal routes, and I am a strong advocate of the work that the Government have done to give sanctuary to more than half a million people since 2015. One of the commitments we made during...
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I suspect that we will disagree quite strongly in principle on this. I would argue that the policy on asylum seekers’ right to work achieves the right balance. People who come to the United Kingdom in small boats, via a route organised by evil criminals who put them to sea in unseaworthy vessels, are exploited them in the process. They hand over their money to evil criminal gangs, who have...
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I am conscious that there are still a lot of points still to get through, but I will gladly give way to the hon. Lady on this occasion.
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I definitely do want people to come here, but through legal routes and in a managed and proper way, rather than in small boats making perilous crossings of the channel. We have a responsibility—a moral duty—to put that criminality out of business. Yet again, in the last fortnight, we have seen a young girl lose her life in the channel in the most tragic of circumstances. We have to put a...
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I am very happy to take that point away. The Government’s general principle is that it is important that we have a system that provides balance. I set out the safeguards, but I am definitely very happy to engage not only with colleagues across the UK Government but with counterparts in the devolved Administrations. The immigration system generally is a reserved matter, but there are...
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Let me start by expressing the Government’s disappointment at this judgment. We continue to believe that our policy is lawful, that our approach is compatible with international law and, specifically, that the Illegal Migration Act proposals are compatible with article 2 of the Windsor framework. The Government will take steps to defend their position, including through an appeal. We have...
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I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his constructive tone as he eloquently makes his case. I note the narrative that he has advanced. The Government are considering judgment very carefully, as you would expect, Mr Speaker, and we are taking legal advice. I can reconfirm, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, that the Government intend to appeal the judgment. We have...
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✍️ Written Questions and Answers
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It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
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It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
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It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
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It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
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Data relating the performance against visa service standards are produced as part of the Migration Transparency publication. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transpar ency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration.
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The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and short-term measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers. We have made significant progress in returning 150 hotels to communities across the UK as of the beginning of May. Our statutory accommodation needs are kept under continuous review, and we will write to MPs and local...
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There are no caps on the number of international students permitted to come to the UK. The Student route is not a route to settlement. There are currently no plans to change this. Upon course completion, students may apply to extend their leave in the UK, including under work routes if relevant requirements are met. We keep all our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they...
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The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants by nationality are published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to 2023. Information on...
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