Net Migration
(Wrexham) (Con)
1. What steps she is taking to reduce net migration.
(Bury North) (Con)
19. What steps she is taking to reduce net migration.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
Net migration is too high, and this Government are determined to
bring it down. Indeed, that was one of the reasons why I voted
and campaigned to leave the European Union in 2016. Last month, I
announced measures to reduce the number of student dependants
coming to the UK, which has soared by 35%, and to stop people
transferring from student visas to work visas. We expect net
migration to return to sustainable levels over time, and
immigration policy is under constant review.
The Labour-Plaid coalition in Cardiff has declared Wales a
“sanctuary for all.” The world is welcome. However, its Ukrainian
super-sponsor scheme fell apart due to a lack of accommodation
and planning, with families still crammed into single rooms. What
discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Welsh Labour
Government about the collapse of their super-sponsor scheme? Does
she know how many families are still inappropriately placed?
We are very proud of this country’s track record on providing
sanctuary to people in need, and I am very proud of the support
that the Government have given to Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s
barbaric war. But when it comes to broader accommodation costs
relating to asylum seekers, it is clear that we are spending far
too much—£6 million a day, or £3 billion a year—on housing asylum
seekers in hotels.
My hon. Friend raises a very important point. She speaks frankly
to Labour’s abject failure to offer any viable plan for support.
Labour is naive about the problem, and it is unrealistic about
the solution. Labour has no idea and no plan, and it is letting
Wales down.
Do the Government have any plans to amend the minimum salary
requirement for the skilled worker visa scheme?
We always keep the salary threshold under review but, as I said,
net migration is too high and we need to get overall numbers
down. How do we do that? Well, employers need to recruit more
people who are already here, rather than advertising abroad so
much. We also need to get more people off welfare and back into
economic activity, and our welfare reforms will help with that
objective. We cannot ignore the pressure that record levels of
people coming to the UK puts on housing supply, public services
and community relations. That is why we need to focus on lowering
net migration.
(Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
Of course, net emigration is the problem in some parts of the UK.
Will the Home Secretary pay attention to the plight of our
economy in the lakes and dales, where almost two thirds of
businesses are failing to meet demand because of a lack of
workforce? I have been speaking to the Minister for Immigration
about a youth mobility visa scheme, negotiated bilaterally with
other countries in Europe, to solve our economic needs so that
our hospitality and tourism industries can survive. How is the
Home Secretary getting on with those discussions?
Migration is a very complex issue, and of course we have to
balance the needs of the labour market. That is why we are very
pleased to support well-crafted youth mobility schemes. There is
one with India, and I have just come back from New Zealand, where
we have expanded our youth mobility scheme. They are great
schemes that allow the exchange of young people, who can come
here to serve and work in our economy.
(Strangford) (DUP)
It is very clear that the issue of migration must be settled and
sorted out. At the same time, it is important to note that those
who have come from eastern Europe, the middle east and Africa are
contributing to the economy of my Strangford constituency. I
think the Secretary of State is committed to ensuring that
continues, but what discussions has she had with the Northern
Ireland Assembly to ensure that we continue to have the workers
we need?
No single measure can control net migration, but as the Prime
Minister has been clear, net migration is too high. That is why I
recently announced a series of measures aimed at reducing the
number of student dependants, which has risen exponentially over
the past few years, and ensuring that students come here in a
more proportionate and balanced way.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
(Normanton, Pontefract and
Castleford) (Lab)
Will the Home Secretary wish the deputy chairman of the
Conservative party, the hon. Member for Ashfield (), a speedy recovery from the
terrible bug that I understand has, this morning, prevented him
from launching an entirely different Conservative immigration
policy from the policy of the Conservative Home Secretary? Does
she agree with him that social care visas should be cancelled—yes
or no?
The sorry fact of the matter is that Labour wants open borders
and unlimited migration. There is a malaise descending upon the
Labour party, and it does not even know what it thinks. Labour’s
has said that he wants more
migration. Labour’s party chairman has confirmed that numbers
could rise under a Labour Government. When the shadow Home
Secretary was asked whether she wanted net migration to rise or
fall, she, in the characteristic style we have come to know and
love, could not even answer the question. That is what we always
get with Labour—
Mr Speaker
Order. May I just say that you have no responsibility for the
Labour party and, in fairness, this is Home Office questions?
The Home Secretary could not answer the question: does she
support her own social care visas or not? She spent all weekend
briefing that she agrees with her Back Benchers, but today she
cannot even answer the basic question. Making up stuff about the
Labour party will not help her when her party has been in power
for 13 years and when work visas have doubled, exactly because
the Government have failed to tackle skills shortages or issues
in the labour market.
This is total chaos. We have a Rwanda policy that is not removing
anyone; an impact assessment that says her policies will not work
and will cost much more; a 50% drop in removals of foreign
criminals—the inspector says this is because the Home Office
cannot even identify who can be removed; a record number of
people in hotels; a record high asylum backlog; and Back Benchers
writing the Home Secretary’s immigration policy because they do
not think she is up to the job. It has been a humiliating few
weeks for the Home Secretary—
Mr Speaker
Order. Sorry, but you are not going to take advantage of me in
that way—that is totally unfair. I cannot pull one side up and
allow the other to take advantage of it. I expect all the Back
Benchers to be able to get their questions in today. This is
about everybody having the same opportunity to get involved, so
please do not do that again.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. We all know that only the Conservative
party and this Prime Minister have a serious plan to stop the
boats and stop illegal migration, and that Labour stands for only
one thing: open borders and unlimited migration. Labour Members
would rather spend their time campaigning to block the
deportation of foreign criminals than back our Illegal Migration
Bill. They are on the side of the criminal gangs, not on the side
of the British people.
Industrial Hemp Licensing
(Inverclyde) (SNP)
2. Whether her Department has had recent discussions with the
industrial hemp industry on licensing.
The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire ()
The hon. Gentleman will recall that the two of us met just a few
weeks ago, on 17 May, together with industry representatives, to
discuss hemp licensing. I thank him for taking the time and
trouble to organise that meeting. As he knows, there is a
light-touch process for licensing industrial hemp. Since 2013,
the number of hemp licences has increased from six to 134.
I recollect the conversation well. We have an opportunity within
the UK to grow hemp on an industrial scale and so feed many
growing industries that use hemp to produce environmentally
friendly products. The growth of these industries has been
hampered by overly complicated regulations and a poor application
process. Meanwhile, foreign companies are racing ahead in this
arena. To protect UK farmers and encourage UK industry, will the
Minister consider giving the licensing process over to the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and making the
process farmer friendly?
It is, of course, important to make sure that UK industry can
compete globally, and a light-touch regulatory framework is
important in that. We should be aware that some parts of the
plant contain high levels of THC—tetrahydrocannabinol—and do need
regulation, which is the Home Office’s concern. I will be meeting
DEFRA colleagues in the near future to make sure that our
approach to regulation is as light-touch as possible, because,
like him, I want to see our domestic industry flourish and I do
not want any excessive regulation.
Police Funding Formula
(South West Bedfordshire)
(Con)
3. What recent progress her Department has made on reviewing the
police funding formula.
The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire ()
The Government have said they will be reviewing the police
funding formula, and I hope to have news for the House in the
relatively near future about initiating the consultation process.
The formula is quite out of date and it needs overhauling, and we
are working on that.
The record number of 1,455 police officers in Bedfordshire and
the recent £6 million special grant are both very welcome indeed,
but does the Minister recognise that it is simply not fair or
right to go on funding a force with a series of one-off special
grants that really need to be part of core funding?
My hon. Friend makes a good point. I should take this opportunity
to pay tribute to the Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner,
, who has done a
fantastic job for the people of Bedfordshire. He advocated for
more funding via the special grant and was successful. He is a
great representative for the people of Bedfordshire and I am
pleased that he has delivered record police numbers in
Bedfordshire, just as the Government have delivered record
numbers of police across the whole of England and Wales.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Halifax) (Lab)
The chief constable of West Yorkshire police, John Robins QPM,
recently told the BBC that his force does not have the resources
that it needs to deliver the service that the public expect.
Cutting through the spin, he said that the force was down 2,000
staff and £140 million since 2010. He said his force could deal
with major incidents and crimes, but only at a cost to
neighbourhood policing. This comes from a force that was rated
outstanding in planning and the use of resources in its latest
inspection by His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire
and rescue services. Which bit of policing does the Minister
think should not be done because forces simply do not have the
resources?
The shadow Minister will know that in the police funding
settlement for this year, 2023-24, there is around about £500
million extra—in fact, it is slightly over £500 million—for
police forces up and down the country. That has enabled us to
deliver a record number of officers ever. There are 149,572
officers—about 3,500 more than there were under the last Labour
Government. In West Yorkshire, which the shadow Minister asked
about, neighbourhood crime is down by 30% since 2019 and overall
crime—excluding fraud and computer misuse, which came into the
figures only recently—is down by 52% since 2010. I am still
waiting for the shadow Home Secretary to apologise for being a
member of a Government who presided over crime levels that are
double those we have today.
Asylum Application Backlog
(Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
4. What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the
backlog of asylum applications.
(Cardiff West) (Lab)
21. What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the
backlog of asylum applications.
The Minister for Immigration ()
We are making good progress, and the latest Home Office
statistics show that asylum decisions are up, with a 35% increase
since last year in the number made. Productivity has increased,
and we are on track to have 2,500 decision makers by September,
which represents a quadrupling of the number of case workers.
Like many Members from all parties, I am constantly contacted by
refugees who are desperate to know what is happening to their
asylum claim after years of waiting, so I asked the Home Office
how many refugees in Newcastle had been waiting for one, two,
three, four and five years. The answer came back that the Home
Office does not know—it does not even record the data. Instead of
indulging in unworkable, unethical, illegal and unaffordable
flights of Rwandan fantasy, why does the Home Secretary not focus
on her day job and fix the asylum backlog?
As I just said, we are making good progress on reducing the
asylum backlog. Important though the reducing the backlog is,
however, it cannot be the totality of a plan. This is the point
that the Labour party does not seem to understand: we have to
stop the boats coming in the first place. That is the only
sustainable way to tackle the issue. Even if we grant our way out
of this problem, as the shadow Home Secretary seems to propose,
the pressures on the state still remain; they are simply
transferred to local authorities and the benefits system, and the
British taxpayer continues to pick up the bill.
The Minister has an interesting definition of being “on track”;
did the number of decision makers not fall between January and
May this year, from 1,333 to 1,280?
A constituent recently passed on to me a letter from a firm of
local solicitors that said:
“All possible avenues have been considered to avoid this
situation but regrettably, the Home Office’s long term failure to
progress asylum claims, and current Government immigration
policy, has made it financially unsustainable for”
these solicitors
“to continue Legally Aided work.”
How does it help us as MPs on both sides of the House in our
constituency offices, and how does it help with the backlog that
the Home Office says it wants to reduce, to make sure that people
do not have the legal representation they need to unblock the
system and allow progress in asylum cases?
I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the problem with our asylum
system is not a lack of lawyers; there are plenty of legal
representatives around. We have had strong overall progress on
the backlog, and I am pleased to say that the early data that I
have received suggests that last week saw the best performance in
four years.
(East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)
I know how seriously the Minister takes dealing with the legacy
backlog, but, as the Home Secretary showed at the recent Home
Affairs Committee, in order to deal with that backlog in the
timeframe that the Government have set themselves it would
require at least a quadrupling of the number of cases being dealt
with as from 1 June. Even with the extra 500 staff appointed at
Stoke, that will be challenging. Will the Minister give me an
assurance that, if we have not managed to clear the backlog
before the end of the year, it will not be done by a blanket
amnesty?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. The Home Secretary, the
Prime Minister and I explicitly chose not to pursue the blanket
amnesty approach that the previous Labour Government pursued.
Instead, we put in the hard yards to improve productivity by
streamlining processes, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy,
ensuring that, where appropriate, interviews were conducted in a
timely fashion, and recruiting more decision makers. Since my
right hon. Friend the Home Secretary appeared before the
Committee, I am pleased to say that the data coming out of our
caseworking team is very strong. We are seeing significant
progress. As I just said, early indication suggests that last
week was the best for over four years.
(Gainsborough) (Con)
I am a bit mystified. Given that 95% of these applications are
successful, is it not the case that, if we speed up the process
and make it easier and easier, more and more people will come? Is
not the only solution to detain people and to deport
them—offshore them? Those who suggest anything else are living in
cloud cuckoo land and every single county will face what we face
in Lincolnshire with thousands of illegal migrants having to be
housed in unsuitable places. Let us have an answer for once.
The approach that the Home Secretary and I have taken has been
both to ensure that, where there are high grant rate
nationalities, cases are pursued swiftly, and where there are low
grant rate nationalities, such as Albanians—individuals from a
safe European country—who can and should be returned as quickly
as possible, we do just that. At this point last year, 30% of
those arriving on small boats were coming from Albania; today, it
is less than 2%. That arrangement is clearly making good
progress. None the less, my right hon. Friend makes an important
point: those who suggest that we can simply grant our way out of
this problem are, I am afraid, hopelessly naive. The idea that
the individuals coming across on small boats will, in most cases,
make a significant net contribution to our economy is wrong. The
costs to the taxpayer are very significant. The ongoing costs of
education, access to welfare and community cohesion are very
significant, which is why we need to stop the boats in the first
place.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Aberavon) (Lab)
The Government’s destruction of their own asylum system can best
be described as an act of arson and their plans to fix it are
utterly farcical. They have sent more Home Secretaries than
asylum seekers to Rwanda. They sent the Prime Minister on a
victory lap in Dover, apparently failing to notice that the
weather improves over the summer and the boat numbers increase.
And they were in such a flap about losing votes on their bigger
backlog Bill that they resorted to dragging of Siberia into the Division
Lobby. Now the Court of Appeal ruling has revealed that Rwanda is
able to process only 100 claims per year—around 0.3% of those who
arrived on small boats last year. Can the Minister tell me what
he is planning to do with the remaining 99.7%, and does he
therefore agree that the prospect of the Rwanda plan actually
deterring any migrant from crossing the channel is close to zero?
I used to say that the Labour party does not have a plan, but the
truth is that it does have a plan, but it is a plan that would
make things significantly worse. It is a plan that would ensure
more granting of cases; more safe and legal routes, so even more
individuals would come here; more hotels; and more cost to the
British taxpayer. What is so disgraceful is the level of
hypocrisy. We only have to look at the record of Welsh Labour to
see that. In Wales, the Welsh Minister for Social Justice
declared on 15 occasions in the Senedd that Labour-run Wales was
“a nation of sanctuary”, but across the same period, Labour-run
Wales accommodated 176 fewer asylum seekers. In fact, the latest
published data shows that Labour-run Wales has taken just half
the number of people that it should per capita.
Illegal Migration Bill: Devolved Administrations
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
5. Whether she has had recent discussions with the devolved
Administrations on the Illegal Migration Bill.
The Minister for Immigration ()
I have engaged regularly with the devolved Administrations on the
Illegal Migration Bill since its introduction in March, in
addition to my periodic meetings with my ministerial counterparts
on a variety of immigration issues. Most recently, I met the
Scottish Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees in May.
Looking ahead, the Bill is on the agenda for the
inter-ministerial group for safety, security and migration, which
my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary will chair
later this month.
The Bill will place restrictions on the powers of Scottish
Ministers, removing the entitlement for victims of human
trafficking and exploitation to access Scottish Government-funded
support services, and will undermine the Scottish Government’s
ability to deliver on their trafficking and exploitation
strategy. We know what route the Government’s damaging ideology
is dragging them down, but why should Scotland’s elected
Parliament and the devolved Administrations be dragged down the
same route, when it is abundantly clear that we want no part of
the hostile environment ideology?
If the Scottish Government cared so deeply about this issue, they
would accommodate more asylum seekers. The SNP Government are
accommodating just 4.5% of the total asylum population being
accommodated in the UK, when Scotland makes up 8.1% of the UK
population. I took the time to look at some of the statistics for
those local authorities in Scotland where the SNP is the largest
party: Clackmannanshire, zero asylum seekers; Dundee, zero asylum
seekers; East Ayrshire, zero; East Dunbartonshire, zero;
Midlothian, zero; North Ayrshire—want to take a guess, Mr
Speaker? —zero; North Lanarkshire, six—
Mr Speaker
Order. No, no, no—you are going to get my drift. We cannot read
out phone numbers. This is not the “Yellow Pages” advert. One or
two statistics are fine, but when we get to five I really do
worry. Let us have the SNP spokesperson.
(Glasgow North) (SNP)
The Minister clearly thinks that that is a very clever line, but
he knows well that Glasgow takes more refugees per head of
population than any other local authority in the United Kingdom.
The line he is trotting out is simply wrong and it is insulting
to all those in Scotland who have opened their homes to
Ukrainians, the communities across the country who have welcomed
Syrians and the volunteers in the big cities who work with asylum
seekers every day, helping them to overcome trauma. If he wants
Scotland to do more to welcome refugees, when is he going to
devolve the power and the financial levers that would allow us to
do so?
For good reason, immigration is a reserved matter, but the
statistics I have just read out make the point as clear as can
be. The SNP tries its very best to undermine the Government’s
work to stop the boats, but it refuses to accommodate these
people when they arrive, and the costs of its fake
humanitarianism are borne by everyone but itself. That is not
just hypocrisy; it is deeply irresponsible, and the public have
had enough.
It is not the Scottish Government’s policy towards immigration,
refugees and asylum seekers that has been ruled unlawful by the
Court of Appeal. If the Minister wants the system to work and he
wants the Scottish Government to do their part, he must take more
action to clear the backlog, as we have heard; there must be
proper safe and legal rights for people to arrive; and they must
be given the right to work when they get here, because then they
can pay for their own accommodation and they will not cost the
taxpayer money.
Just the other day, the Home Office suggested to the Scottish
Government that a vessel that had been used to house Ukrainian
refugees in Leith could be used for others who are asylum
seekers—the same vessel, the same port, the same provider, the
same package. What did the SNP say? No.
Illegal Migration Bill: UN Refugee Convention
Ms Anum Qaisar (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)
6. What recent assessment she has made of the compatibility of
the Illegal Migration Bill with the 1951 UN refugee convention.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
While I am pleased that the Court of Appeal found that the
Government are not in breach of our obligations under the refugee
convention, I fundamentally disagree with the judgment that
Rwanda is not a safe place for refugees and we are seeking
permission to appeal. The Government take our international
obligations very seriously and we are satisfied that the
provisions in the Illegal Migration Bill comply with the refugee
convention. The fundamental principle remains, however, that
those in need of protection should claim asylum at the earliest
opportunity and in the first safe country that they reach.
Ms Qaisar
The Home Secretary and the Government website say that they are
satisfied that the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill
comply with the 1951 UN refugee convention. I am looking for
clarity from the Home Secretary. What exactly is it about
persecuting the most vulnerable groups, creating a hostile
environment and stripping people of their right to seek safety
that complies so well with the UN refugee convention?
As I have made clear, we take our international obligations very
seriously, and we are satisfied that the Bill complies with the
refugee convention. With respect to the hon. Lady, I will not
take lectures from the SNP on this matter. SNP Members are, as my
right hon. Friend the Member for Newark () said, the phoney
humanitarians in this debate. They are happy to support asylum
seekers as long as they are nowhere near Scotland. When they stop
opposing the vessel in Leith, which will house more asylum
seekers, then we can have a serious conversation.
(Kettering) (Con)
The UN Refugee Agency has its own asylum seeker relocation
programme: it flies asylum seekers from Libya to Rwanda in a
scheme part-funded by the European Union. How on earth can Rwanda
be deemed not to be a safe country if the UN Refugee Agency
itself is using it as a safe haven?
As always, my hon. Friend makes a powerful point, and I could not
agree with him more. The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees runs an extensive scheme in Rwanda, and supports the
resettlement of many thousands of migrants. I met some of them in
my recent visit to Rwanda. They are happy and grateful for the
generosity and welcome that Rwanda has offered them, which has
allowed them to restart their lives. I am frankly very
disappointed by the constant smears and assumptions, which are
based on outdated and ignorant views, denigrating our allies in
Rwanda. I am nothing but grateful to our partners in Rwanda for
the continued co-operation.
Street Crime by Young People
(Sittingbourne and
Sheppey) (Con)
7. What steps she is taking to tackle street crime by young
people.
The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire ()
I am pleased to report that, according to the crime survey,
violence is down by 41% and criminal damage is down by 68% since
2010. But we would like to do more. That is why we now have
record numbers of police and why we are investing in the safer
streets fund, £200 million in the Youth Endowment Fund and £170
million in violence reduction units. We have also launched our
antisocial behaviour strategy, about which the Home Secretary
will speak in a moment.
Now is a good time to put on the record an intervention made by
Mr Speaker in his capacity as the Member of Parliament for
Chorley. Thanks to his recent intervention with me and the chief
constable, Chorley town centre is one of the areas that will
receive antisocial behaviour hotspot patrols, and I am sure that
the people of Chorley are very grateful to Mr Speaker for the
intervention that he made on their behalf.
Well done, Mr Speaker!
I thank the Minister for his reply. Some young people who are
arrested because they are guilty of antisocial behaviour, or
so-called low-level crime, are released without charge because
there is a reluctance to criminalise them. Too often, those
youngsters go on to commit further multiple crimes, and are
arrested and released without charge each time. What steps will
my right hon. Friend take to end this roundabout of unpunished
crime and ensure that young people who repeatedly break the law
are not released without charge but are treated as what they
are—criminals?
We want to see tougher action on things such as antisocial
behaviour and public drug use; we should have zero tolerance for
any of those things. As part of the ASB strategy we are launching
instant justice, whereby people who perpetrate acts of antisocial
behaviour will rapidly—ideally within 48 hours—be made to do
clean-ups and those kinds of things in their local area, to pay
back visibly, publicly, rapidly and with enforcement. We are
trialling that in 10 police force areas, starting this month, and
it will be rolled out to every police force in the country, with
funding, by April next year. I completely agree with everything
my hon. Friend said.
(Lewisham, Deptford)
(Lab)
The Minister may not be aware that I was chair of the cross-party
Youth Violence Commission. We published an interim report in 2018
and a final one in 2020. Our first recommendation was for the
Government to adopt a public health approach to tackling violence
through regional violence reduction units and long-term
strategies. What action is the Minister taking to ensure that
violence reduction units have the long-term funding that they
need to achieve the best possible outcomes?
I agree with the approach that the hon. Lady sets out, and we
have already taken action. She asks about long-term plans. She
will be aware that the Youth Endowment Fund of £210 million is a
10-year programme, and that violence reduction units—called
violence reduction partnerships in some places—have so far
received £170 million, and receive funding each and every year,
including an allocation this year. The kinds of things that we
find work include diversionary activities for young people. In
fact, when I asked the chief executive of the YEF what the most
effective intervention is, he said that it was cognitive
behavioural therapy, which gets used as well. I repeat one
statistic that I mentioned earlier: since 2010, violence is down
by 41% and criminal damage by 68%.
(Croydon Central) (Lab)
A report today found that nearly half of women who experienced or
witnessed a crime in the past year chose not to report it because
they did not believe that the police would treat it seriously.
His Majesty’s inspector, in his latest state of policing report,
said that the police were experiencing one of their biggest
crises in living memory, there were widespread systematic
failings and they were simply not getting the basics right.
Having pushed our British model of policing by consent to the
very brink, do the Government take responsibility, do they agree
with the inspector that substantial reform is essential, and will
they back Labour’s plans to restore neighbourhood policing, halve
serious violence and raise confidence in every force—or is the
Minister happy to keep twiddling his thumbs while the criminals
get away with it?
I must say, in the gentlest terms, that my constituency neighbour
has a bit of cheek to talk about reducing crime, given that
according to the crime survey, crime levels under the last Labour
Government were around double what they are today.
[Interruption.] She shakes her head, but that is from the Office
for National Statistics, and it is the only statistically
recognised long-term measure of crime. If she does not like the
ONS figures, she can go and argue with it. She might not like
them, but those are the figures.
In relation to the hon. Lady’s serious question about RASSO—rape
and serious sexual offences—particularly on women, the proportion
being reported is much higher than it was a few years ago, which
is welcome. There is a lot more to do, which is why there is a
rape review and a rape action plan. My right hon. and learned
Friend the Home Secretary and the Under-Secretary of State for
the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire
Dales (Miss Dines), are working hard on that. Operation Soteria
Bluestone was fully rolled out at the end of June, just a few
days ago, and we have seen a significant increase in the number
of relevant charges. They are still too low, and they need to be
higher, which is why we have invested in more RASSO specialist
officers, and that work is continuing.
Antisocial Behaviour
(Weaver Vale) (Lab)
9. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle antisocial
behaviour.
(Portsmouth South) (Lab)
14. Whether her Department plans to increase police resources to
help tackle antisocial behaviour.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
Earlier in the year, I launched the antisocial behaviour action
plan, which includes increasing funding for police and crime
commissioners by over £100 million, delivering stronger and
swifter punishment, increasing police visibility in response, and
banning nitrous oxide. Antisocial behaviour is not a low-level
crime. It blights communities, and that is why the Government are
committed to tackling it effectively.
Today, to coincide with Anti-social Behaviour Awareness Week, the
all-party parliamentary group on antisocial behaviour has
published a report with the charity Resolve ASB, which
demonstrates, among other things, that 1.7 million people a day
experience antisocial behaviour. Some 58% believe that the
Government are not doing enough. Will the Home Secretary meet
members of the all-party parliamentary group and me to look at
the recommendations in that report?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his work on the all-party
parliamentary group, and I am sure that the Policing Minister
and/or I will meet him to learn more about the vital work that he
has led. May I take the opportunity to applaud the officers of
Cheshire police force in the hon. Gentleman’s area? I have had
the pleasure of meeting the excellent chief constable, Mark
Roberts. I applaud the Conservative police and crime
commissioner, , who has rolled out a scheme on
antisocial behaviour that provides more CCTV and increases the
first-responder response. There is a record number of police
officers in Cheshire, and the force has received over £3
million-worth of safer streets funding. The results are a 26%
fall in neighbourhood crime and a 17% fall in drugs offences in
Cheshire. That is common-sense policing, thanks to the police
officers and Government support.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is one of the
lowest-funded police forces in the UK, and with a decade of cuts
to youth services, antisocial behaviour has been left to thrive
under this Government. We have seen the consequences at South
Parade pier, the Camber and many other places in Portsmouth.
Neighbourhood policing is vital in cracking down on ASB, which
ruins so many lives. Therefore, what explanation can the Home
Secretary provide for halving the number of police community
support officers over the past 13 years?
The hon. Gentleman and I represent constituencies that are served
by the same police force, and I am really proud of the track
record in Hampshire. I am really proud of how the new chief
constable, Scott Chilton, has assumed his role, with a real focus
on back-to-basics policing; I am really proud of how the
Conservative police and crime commissioner, , has led initiatives so that
every community in Hampshire will have named, dedicated police
officers and PCSOs serving them, bolstering neighbourhood
policing and building confidence; and I am really proud of the
fact that Hampshire has seen a 15% fall in neighbourhood crime
since 2019—common-sense policing serving the community.
(Preseli Pembrokeshire)
(Con)
Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that some of the
principal victims of antisocial behaviour are young people? The
Government are absolutely right to bring forward new measures to
tackle antisocial behaviour to make our streets, parks and public
spaces safer for the vast majority of young people who do not
engage in those negative behaviours.
My right hon. Friend is absolutely correct. There is such a need
for greater diversion and greater support for young people, so
that they do not spend their time loitering in shopping centres,
causing a nuisance in car parks or harassing members of the
community. That is why our antisocial behaviour action plan
commits considerable funding—over £160 million of new
funding—including for an increased police presence in ASB hotspot
areas and to support the roll-out of diversionary resources to
support young people so that they do not fall into crime and
antisocial behaviour.
Mr Speaker
Youth zones are exceptional, especially the Chorley Inspire one.
(Keighley) (Con)
Yet again, in Ilkley and Marley in my constituency, Travellers
have set up camp, caused damage and intimidated residents, which
just last weekend resulted in Ilkley pool having to close
temporarily. When they have gone, they leave a complete mess,
which all has to be cleaned up at taxpayers’ expense. Will the
Home Secretary meet me to discuss what additional support West
Yorkshire police and our local council can get to address this
ongoing issue?
My hon. Friend raises a really important point about illegal
encampments and Travellers who blight communities by causing a
nuisance and who, in some cases, threaten communities—it is
unacceptable behaviour. That is why we legislated in the Police,
Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to toughen up the powers
and measures available to the police, so that they can take more
robust steps in relation to this issue, but I am very happy to
speak to my hon. Friend about what more can be done locally.
Asylum Accommodation: Hotels
Mrs (Birmingham, Erdington)
(Lab)
10. What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the
use of hotels as contingency asylum accommodation.
(Manchester, Withington)
(Lab)
15. What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the
use of hotels as contingency asylum accommodation.
The Minister for Immigration ()
The Home Office seeks to end the use of hotels and to move asylum
seekers to less expensive, more suitable accommodation. To
support that, we are bringing into use large, disused military
sites and vessels, which will provide adequate, safe, secure,
non-detained accommodation for asylum seekers and also reduce the
pull factor to the United Kingdom.
Mrs Hamilton
I recently received an email from the Home Office that said that
the use of hotels to house asylum seekers is “inappropriate”, and
that reliance on them must be reduced. In the same email, the
Home Office informed me that it planned to increase the use of
hotel accommodation for asylum seekers in my constituency of
Erdington by 159%—the single biggest increase in the whole of
Birmingham. How on earth can the Minister expect the country to
trust him when he cannot even keep his policies consistent within
the same email?
The policy that we have adopted is one of maximising the capacity
of the hotels that we have for as long as we have them. That is
saving the taxpayer at least a quarter of a billion pounds and
reducing reliance on hotels elsewhere in the country. I do
appreciate that there are pressures on the hon. Lady’s local
authority, and I also appreciate that some Labour local
authorities, such as Westminster City Council, say that asylum
seekers must be housed in individual, ensuite bedrooms. We do not
agree with that: it is a gross waste of taxpayers’ money that
would make the UK a soft touch.
In my constituency, I have had the same experience as my hon.
Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mrs Hamilton), but
the question I want to ask is about unaccompanied asylum-seeking
children. The Home Office still has not explained how it is going
to find the children missing from asylum accommodation, so will
it set out the plans to do that and find these vulnerable people?
We have been very clear that we and the police take extremely
seriously any young person who goes missing from a hotel or any
other form of accommodation. Local police forces and Home Office
personnel treat that exactly as they would any other child going
missing and they conduct a full missing person inquiry. However,
the only sustainable answer to young people living in hotels is
to stop the boats in the first place. Doing nothing is not an
option. Doing nothing will lead to more young people living in
those hotels and being exposed to human traffickers.
(North Wiltshire) (Con)
While I do very much welcome the Minister’s determination to move
away from hotels and towards other accommodation, will he give
particular attention to the Wiltshire hotel and golf club in my
constituency? The number there has gone up: there are now 120
people there, and they are all crammed into very small
accommodation. It is not only bad from the point of view of the
golf club members and neighbouring long-term residents with them
in housing next door, but it is an extremely bad place from the
point of view of the asylum seekers. They have nowhere to go and
nothing to do. They have no education facilities and no religious
facilities. They are stuck in the middle of the countryside with
no transport, and it is quite the wrong place for them to be.
Will the Minister please give particular attention to the
Wiltshire hotel?
I am familiar with the hotel in my hon. Friend’s constituency and
the concerns he has raised. I will take a look at that, but as I
have said previously, the answer to this challenge is to stop the
boats coming in the first place. That is why we all need to
support the Illegal Migration Bill. Those who want more hotels
would oppose it. The Labour party’s policy will see more hotels,
and the shadow Home Secretary will end up with more hotels to her
name than Paris Hilton.
(North East Bedfordshire)
(Con)
I do not know how to follow that, Mr Speaker.
All Members would like to see a reduction in the number of hotels
used for asylum accommodation—I am sure that is true—but will the
Minister spend a moment to congratulate the community of
Sharnbrook, and in particular Rev. Paolo Di Leo and Councillor
Doug McMurdo, on providing a welcoming environment for people who
are put in such accommodation? I think there are signs across the
country that communities do come together in these difficult
circumstances to achieve an outcome that is beneficial for
everyone.
I would be very happy to put on record my view of the good work
being done by my hon. Friend’s constituents. He is right to say
that there are voluntary and community groups, charities and
churches right across the country that support asylum seekers
while they are in this form of accommodation, and we and our
providers facilitate that wherever possible.
Topical Questions
(Rochester and Strood)
(Con)
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental
responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
I am going to make a short topical statement. The information
that Meta and other tech companies give to UK law enforcement
helps to protect around 1,200 children and leads to over 100
arrests of suspected child abusers every month. However, Meta
plans to roll out end-to-end encryption soon, without safeguards,
and it will no longer proactively detect and alert authorities to
child grooming and abuse material on Facebook, Messenger and
Instagram Direct. This will be a huge boon to anyone who wants to
hurt a child. The Online Safety Bill will hold tech firms to
account, but indifference to abuse is intolerable. I have written
to Mark Zuckerberg—together with my right hon. Friend the
Minister for Security, the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and
Malling (), children’s charities and campaign groups—to
outline our profound concerns. Last week, I was in New Zealand at
the Five Eyes security conference where there was widespread
support for working together to ensure that social media
companies put child safety first.
Following recent knife crime incidents in my constituency and in
the Medway towns, will my right hon. Friend meet me and our Kent
police and crime commissioner, , to discuss funding and how
the Home Office can further support Kent police with the
increased challenges we are facing in Kent due to our proximity
to London?
I very much appreciate the particular challenges in Kent relating
to knife crime. That is why I am glad that since 2019, Kent has
received £5.5 million in core violence reduction unit grant
funding, and £730,000 in additional support for targeted youth
interventions. I have met the police and crime commissioner, and
Chief Constable . They are both excellent at
leading their forces, and there is now a record number of police
officers in Kent. I am sure the Minister for Crime, Policing and
Fire, my right hon. Friend the Member for Croydon South (), will meet my right hon.
Friend to discuss that issue. We have made a lot of progress, but
we can do better.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
(Normanton, Pontefract and
Castleford) (Lab)
The Home Secretary will be aware of the documentary last week on
the relationship between and others, and former KGB
officer Alexander Lebedev, and about the meeting in an Italian
villa, the ignoring of security advice on Lords appointments, and
the decision not to sanction Alexander Lebedev. Given the
importance of national security, will she tell the House whether
she has any concerns about those reports? Will she set up an
independent investigation into what happened, into who knew what,
and into how far the security risk spreads?
At the Home Office, the Minister for Security and I take
seriously the threats posed by hostile state actors. That is why
the Minister for Security is chairing the Defending Democracy
Taskforce, bringing together agencies and Departments in a
cross-Whitehall approach to tackling the serious threats that we
all face as parliamentarians and facing those in public office. I
gently remind the right hon. Lady that one of her own
parliamentary colleagues has a very dubious track record when it
comes to working with the Chinese Communist party.
(North Devon) (Con)
T2. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to ensure
that police funding reflects rurality and the huge uplift in
population experienced in remote coastal locations during the
summer tourist season?
The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire ()
As I said in response to an earlier question, the Government
intend to consult in due course on a new police funding formula,
and part of that consultation will involve looking at the factors
that should be taken into account. Those might include things
such as population and crime levels, but things such as rurality,
sparsity and seasonality, particularly seasonal tourism, are
likely to form part of the new formula. I encourage Members
across the House to engage closely with that consultation when it
comes forward, to ensure that those factors are properly
accounted for.
(Inverclyde) (SNP)
T5. I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’
Financial Interests. In recent weeks, the media have carried
stories of patients who were receiving medical cannabis on
private prescriptions, and who are now having their prescriptions
paid for by the NHS. On the surface that is a great leap forward,
but parents of children with intractable epilepsy who have been
asking for such things for years are still being ignored. Will
the Home Office consider reopening the 2018 licensing scheme to
enable those children who are already being privately prescribed
medical cannabis to have access to it via their NHS GP?
Many cannabis base compounds were moved wholesale to schedule 2 a
few years ago, enabling them to be prescribed. The question that
the hon. Gentleman asked about NHS prescription is perfectly
reasonable and fair, but prescriptions on the NHS are a matter
for the Department of Health and Social Care and for the NHS,
including the NHS in Scotland. I would be happy to pass on his
inquiry to them.
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)
T3. May I assure my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary that
the majority of my constituents in Sittingbourne and Sheppey
understand that sending illegal migrants to Rwanda for processing
is key to stopping small-boat crossings in the channel? Will she
assure them that despite concerted opposition from the Labour
party, she will deliver her plan?
The Minister for Immigration ()
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. We are
disappointed by the judgment of the Court of Appeal, but we are
determined to follow through. He is right to say that we have to
add deterrence to the system, as it is only by breaking the
business model of the people smugglers that we will stop the
boats.
(Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
T7. My constituents want community policing. , the police and crime
commissioner for Northumbria, has put in place a redeployment
programme to get an extra 134 officers into neighbourhoods, but
that will not make up for the 1,100 officers and the £148 million
that we have lost due to budget cuts. And before the Minister
mentions “plans”, that will still leave us 400 officers short.
Why have the Tories failed so badly to get police officers on to
the beat?
As I mentioned in earlier answers, across England and Wales we
now have record police numbers of 149,572. The previous peak was
146,030 in 2010, so we have 3,500 more officers than we have ever
had before across England and Wales. In Northumbria, the number
has gone up by 512 since 2015. Of course, many of the powers sit
with the PCC, including powers over the precept. It is entirely
open to police and crime commissioners to use those powers.
Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) (Con)
T4. Today, Operation Centurion has started across Lancashire,
utilising £2 million from the Government to put more police
officers on our streets tackling antisocial behaviour. In my
constituency, that means almost 2,500 extra hours of police
patrols in Padiham. It will have a major impact, but we can do
more. Can I ask the Home Secretary whether the safer streets fund
will have another round so that we can make physical changes, as
well as getting more officers on the streets?
I am delighted with the progress being made to tackle antisocial
behaviour in Burnley and Padiham. As my hon. Friend will know, we
have allocated almost £1 million to roll out pilots of ASB
hotspot response in 2023-24. A new round of safer streets will be
announced soon. I take this opportunity to thank Lancashire
police, which has launched an ASB problem-solving unit. It ran
Operation Propulsion, which involved more officers patrolling
locations dealing with motor nuisance and boy racers, and it has
had a real good crackdown on residential burglary thanks to
Operation Defender. Neighbourhood crime has fallen by 26% in
Lancashire. Tribute must be paid to Chief Constable Chris Rowley
and the police and crime commissioner, .
(Edinburgh East) (SNP)
T9. Given the exchanges earlier, I am obliged to ask the
Home Secretary whether she understands the difference between
using a cruise ship for the temporary accommodation of Ukrainian
refugees, with a shared language and experience, and who have the
right to work and are being actively relocated in the community,
and using it essentially as a prison ship for the indefinite
long-term detention of asylum seekers, who have no right to
leave, no right to work, no right to benefits and no recourse to
public funds. Does the Department appreciate the difference?
I am disappointed by the hon. Gentleman’s remarks. He knows
perfectly well that the proposition was not a prison ship. This
is a ship that will be used in exactly the same way as the SNP
Government did in Scotland, and in exactly the same way as the
Belgian and the Dutch Governments are doing in their respective
areas. If I may say, in Edinburgh today, there are 37 asylum
seekers. That is disgraceful. If the SNP cared about this issue,
it would step up, support asylum seekers and back our Bill.
(Southend West) (Con)
People in Southend West want to see a tough, but just policy on
illegal immigration that stops people unfairly jumping the queue,
that stops evil people smugglers and above all stops vulnerable
people drowning in the channel. Will my right hon. Friend
therefore agree that we must continue to send a strong signal
that it is this Government —not unelected lawyers or criminal
gangs—who will decide who comes to this country?
At the core of this question is: who decides who comes to this
country? Is it for the Government and Parliament, or is it for
people smugglers and human traffickers? Those of us on the
Government Benches know exactly which side of the debate we are
on; we want to stop the boats, and we want to secure our borders.
(Cambridge) (Lab)
The family of my constituent who fled Sudan have been stuck in
Egypt for more than two months awaiting a spousal visa. Four of
the group of five have UK passports. Can the Minister tell us how
long he would expect people to be waiting in this kind of
situation when they have suffered such distress and anxiety?
I would be happy to look into the case for the hon. Gentleman,
but I can say to him that we are processing applications in third
countries within service standards. We have closed the visa
application centre in Khartoum for obvious reasons to protect the
security of our staff and contractors, but we have teams in
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and in other close countries who are there to
support applicants, such as his constituents.
(Chipping Barnet)
(Con)
Given this morning’s U-turn by the Mayor of London on selling off
Uxbridge police station, does the Minister believe that the Mayor
should also act to save Barnet police station? If he does not,
the Mayor’s decision on Uxbridge looks like cynical political
gameplaying and interference in a by-election.
I and many other Londoners were concerned when, I think in 2017,
announced plans to close 37
police stations. Thanks to the resolute campaigning of local
councillor in Hillingdon, has executed a last-minute
handbrake U-turn under pressure, which I am sure is entirely
unconnected with the upcoming by-election. My right hon. Friend
is absolutely right that if is to have any credibility at
all with Londoners—he currently has pretty much none—he should
reverse not just that one police station closure plan but all his
police station closure plans.
(Luton South) (Lab)
Using the maximum police precept on council tax, having to tap
into half a million pounds of reserves and yet again relying on
grant funding shows that the Bedfordshire police and crime
commissioner has failed to secure the long-term funding that our
force desperately needs. Now he is off pursuing his personal
ambitions as the next Tory candidate for Mid Beds. The review of
police funding is welcome, but when will the House see it? Will
it be before the summer recess?
I cannot set out a precise timeframe—it is being actively worked
on—but I point out that Festus, the police and crime commissioner
for Bedfordshire, is doing a fantastic job for the people of that
county. It is thanks to his active, energetic, persuasive and
eloquent interventions that Bedfordshire has received these
special grants. Its base budget has also gone up by £6.1 million
this year thanks to his fantastic work.
(Haltemprice and Howden)
(Con)
Last week, Nigel Farage publicised the cancellation of his bank
account under the politically exposed persons regulation, but he
is only the latest of a number of people to have had their lives
wrecked by that regulation. Recently, Lords in the other place
tried to correct the policy, but with only partial success,
because, I understand, of pushback from the Home Office and the
security services. Will the Minister explain why that is and what
he will do about it?
The Minister for Security ()
I am delighted to be asked a question. Yesterday, the Treasury
and the Home Office came together and agreed various things that
were announced in the House of Lords: the PEPs agreement. Such a
closure on political grounds, if that is indeed what has
happened—after all, we have only the allegation of it at this
point—should, therefore, be completely unacceptable. PEPs is
there to prevent the corrupt use of banking facilities by
politicians in corrupt regimes. It is not there to silence
individuals who may hold views with which we may or may not
agree.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab)
In the chief inspector of borders and immigration’s latest report
on the Home Office system to remove foreign national offenders,
he said
“the Home Office does not have a firm grip on its caseworking
operations”,
and
“This is no way to run a government department.”
He also said
“I found the Home Office’s inability to provide reliable or
consistent data and management information of particular
concern.”
Given that, will the Minister explain how the Department will
cope with the increase in casework, detention and removals
planned under the Illegal Immigration (Offences) Bill?
We take that report, as we do all others, very seriously. The
right hon. Lady is right to say that there are lessons to be
learned. However, returns are increasing as a result of deals
such as the one we have done with Albania, as a result of reforms
such as those we have made to the national referral mechanism and
as a result of the 50% increase in illegal working visits that we
have secured this year alone.
(Erewash) (Con)
Despite repeated assurances from the Dispatch Box and it being
nearly eight months since I first raised the issue with the
Minister, the Home Office continues to operate two wholly
inappropriate accommodation centres in my constituency, putting
an unbearable strain on public services. Will my right hon.
Friend expedite a clear timetable to close the centres
permanently and restore the hotels to their intended purposes?
My hon. Friend and I have discussed this on many occasions. She
has doggedly campaigned for the closure of these centres as well
as supported the steps that we are taking as a Government to stop
the boats in the first place. I will be happy to have further
conversations with her, but she has my assurance that we are
working as fast as possible to clear all hotels, including those
in her constituency.
(Plymouth, Sutton and
Devonport) (Lab/Co-op)
Last week, the Government rejected a number of recommendations
from the inquest into the tragic mass shooting in Plymouth in
2021, which has caused serious concern among some of the families
of the victims. Will the Minister explain why he rejected the
coroner’s recommendations and whether all those on which he is
consulting will be implemented by the end of this calendar year?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for our meeting with the families a
few weeks ago. As I said to him on the phone last week, whenever
he and the families are ready to have further discussions with
Home Office officials, they will be ready. The timing of that
will be guided by the hon. Gentleman. On the substance of the
Government’s reply, we have committed to doing some things
straight away. For example, the National Police Chiefs’ Council
has been funded to set up an accredited training programme for
firearms officers—that was one of the recommendations. In due
course that will become mandatory.
The inspectorate will conduct a thematic inspection of all
firearms licensing next year. As I said to the House a few months
ago, I asked it specifically to reinspect Devon and Cornwall’s
firearms licensing. It is doing that and it should report back by
the end of July. The vast majority of the recommendations made by
the coroner, the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the
Scottish Affairs Committee in connection with the Isle of Skye
shooting are being openly and neutrally consulted on.
The Government do not have a position; they will consult openly
and respond once we have replies to the consultation. There were
two recommendations that the hon. Gentleman referred to that the
Government did not feel were appropriate, for the reasons set out
in the document, but the vast majority are being openly consulted
on. We have taken action on some of them already. I thank him
again for his campaigning on this issue, which I know the
families are grateful for.
(Ruislip, Northwood and
Pinner) (Con)
I recently visited Uxbridge police station to hear about the
valuable work its officers do to serve my constituents as well as
those in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. When the Mayor announced its
closure in 2017, Hillingdon Council offered to buy the site at
market rate and provide a £500,000 revenue contribution and
leaseback arrangement, so that those valuable services could
continue to be available. The Mayor said that that was completely
impossible. Other than the relentless campaigning of Hillingdon
Conservatives and Councillor , could my right hon. Friend
suggest any reason why the Mayor decided to keep it—
Mr Speaker
Order. Mr Simmonds, I think you need an Adjournment debate, not a
topical question. See if you can pick the bones out of that,
Minister.
I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent question. The answer is
no, I cannot think of anything other than the campaigning by
Councillor and others, which forced
the Mayor into a last-minute, self-interested, screeching U-turn.
I would like the Mayor to do a U-turn on all the other police
stations he is threatening with closure.
Mr Speaker
You are going to be here a while yet.
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
Is the Home Secretary concerned by recent revelations about the
investigation into the Stephen Lawrence murder and what happened
in the Brink’s-Mat aftermath? Is she concerned about some of the
out-of-work organisations that our police belong to?
The recent reports on the Stephen Lawrence case are an
operational matter for the police, which I cannot get involved
in, nor should I. That is a judgment for the police on
operational and casework decisions, within which we do not
interfere. We have a good track record on the Met turning around
performance. Mark Rowley’s turnaround plan and leadership efforts
to restore confidence and rebuild trust with London are working.
We need to back him to get the best results possible in London.
(Don Valley) (Con)
There is a tweet going around regarding a man who identifies as a
trans woman. The tweet reads that the trans-identified man who
“appeared in an @itvnews report about ‘mothers’ has posted an
image ‘breastfeeding’ a baby. Do you think it’s ok to mock women
like this?”
I think that is a valid question, but I am also extremely
concerned for the welfare of the child. Will the Home Secretary’s
Department look into that for me, please?
While we respect all the rights of those in the trans community,
it is clear that biological men cannot breastfeed. It is
remarkable that we are in a position where the Labour party
leader cannot define a woman. I think he said something like
99.9% of women do not have a penis. On that basis, we cannot rule
him out from running to be Labour’s first female Prime Minister.
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP)
My constituent Sarah has been waiting more than six months for a
biometric resident’s permit, during which time she cannot work,
access free healthcare or leave the country. Will someone do
something to get her the status she deserves, so that she can go
on with her life?
I would be happy to look into the case for the hon. Gentleman.
(Kettering) (Con)
The number of foreign national offenders eligible for deportation
has now reached a record almost 12,000. Almost 4,000 of those
left prison more than five years ago and even those volunteering
for deportation are still here. Will the Minister get a grip on
the deportation department within the Home Office and make sure
those people are chucked out of our country?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We want those individuals to
leave the country as swiftly as possible. The published figures
show that FNO returns increased following the pandemic—by 14% in
the latest 12-month period ending December 2022 compared with the
previous 12-month period—but, quite clearly, there is more work
to be done.
(Liverpool, Riverside)
(Lab)
Liverpool is a city of sanctuary. Currently, we have 237 Afghan
families who have been languishing in a hotel for two years. The
council must rehouse the families by 11 August. Can the Minister
say what will happen if we are unable to find suitable
accommodation? Will they be made homeless and thrown out on the
street?
The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, my right hon. Friend the
Member for Plymouth, Moor View () and I launched a programme
that provides significant support to councils like Liverpool to
help individuals find alternative accommodation. That might be in
the private rental sector or it might be in social housing, but I
think we can all agree on the principle that it is not right for
individuals or families to live in hotel accommodation for over
two years. We need to help those people out of the hotels this
summer.
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
The Immigration Minister’s earlier claim will come as news to the
Labour and Conservative coalition which runs North Lanarkshire
Council and a surprise to a director of Mears who confirmed to me
that North Lanarkshire Council houses not just asylum seekers but
refugees. The Immigration Minister has now given factually wrong
information to this House three times. When will he apologise to
the House, and will he come back to it to give proper
information?
I do not think I have given factually wrong information. They may
not be the facts the hon. Gentleman wants to hear, but they are
the facts. I did not mention North Lanarkshire, but there are six
asylum seekers there. I think the hon. Gentleman would agree that
there is more to be done.
