Extract from Commons
debate on Immigration
(Glasgow North West)
(SNP):...I will quickly mention the tier 5 religious workers visa.
I have been contacted by a constituent and by many priests across
the diocese who say that they cannot get supply priests from Africa
and Indiabecause there have been changes to
the visa. I have written to the Minister about that, and she
responded that they can get a tier 2 visa. I am sorry—it is too
expensive, and the archdiocese of Glasgow can get only two of them.
It does not work. The hostile environment is also targeting faith
communities...
(Glasgow Central)
(SNP):...More recently, a case has been highlighted in the press—it
very much seems that the press is the way to go for those with a
complaint about the Home Office, and if I
were to do that the pages of all the Scottish newspapers would be
full of my constituents—of a group of blind musicians who came over
from Chennai as part of a British Council, Creative Scotland and
Scottish Government-funded project. They were asked to come over
from India as part of that project, and
two of the musicians were refused entry. These two blind musicians
were told that they did not have sufficient reason to go back
to India after the trip. Their carers
were allowed in, but these people with disabilities were not.
Because their case was highlighted in the press, the decision
magically and mysteriously changed, but it was too late because the
event had passed...
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Extract from Lords debate
to approve the Climate Change Act 2008 (2050 Target Amendment)
Order 2019
(CB): My Lords,
I declare an interest in a renewable energy company primarily
involved in the wind business, though not in Europe. It is
primarily involved with China, India and developing world;
contrary to the implication of earlier comments by the noble
Viscount, Lord Ridley, there is quite a lot of action occurring
in those countries as well as in our own.
I very much hope that we will support this order with enthusiasm
and strong cross-party support, continuing that pattern of
cross-party consensus about which the noble Lord, Lord Deben,
spoke earlier. There has been a consensus; it has been opposed by
a minority of sceptics, but the facts have continually proved
those sceptics wrong. We have to take action because it is clear
that global warming is occurring, and it is now occurring at an
accelerating pace.
In 1998 we faced, because of an El Niño effect, a year in which
temperatures soared well above the trend of rising temperature
that scientists had predicted. As a result, there was for about
eight years thereafter something of a pause in the average rise
of temperatures. At that time, many sceptics—including, I
suspect, some contributing to this debate today—leaped on that
pause and said, “Well, that proves that global warming is not
occurring”. However, the fact is that nine of the hottest years
on record have occurred since 2005 and the five hottest have been
the last five. On the current pattern of this year, it is looking
almost certain that by its end we will be saying that the six
hottest have been those up to 2019. We are facing very clear
evidence that warming is occurring.
We also have to take action because there will be extremely
harmful effects. What is going on in India has already been
referred to; I have just come back from there, where I was
engaging with many people in the Indian steel and cement
industries who are putting in place plans for radical reductions
in their carbon emissions. While I was there, the temperatures in
northern India were over 50 degrees centigrade. With only a few
degrees warming, the North Indian Plain will be essentially
unliveable for human beings. We face major challenges from
climate change, but there are other parts of the world where it
is truly life-threatening...
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