Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill

: I rise to support amendment No. 3, amendment (c) and the consequential amendments tabled by the Liberal Democrats. The most controversial parts of the Bill, clauses 1 and 4, also cause the most concern. They would result in there being no more in-country appeals in variation cases in which people had applied to extend their leave or to change from one category to another. I understand the need to tidy up in this area, but the Bill is not the right vehicle for that exercise—at least, not the Bill as currently framed. The hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) and others have said that one of the most insidious consequences of these measures will be their effect on international student numbers. All our universities depend to a large degree on international students. We should be proud of the fact that people come here to study, succeed, and make an economic contribution to society—whether in the UK or abroad, it matters not. I went to Aberystwyth university in Wales in the early 1970s, and I was proud to have friends there of many nationalities, including people from sub-Saharan Africa and many from Iraq. Most of them were studying agriculture, and many went on to study for an MSc or PhD. They would probably not be allowed to do that now, because their time would be up. In March this year, I met two members of the Iraqi Cabinet who had studied in Wales, but it will be far more difficult for such people to study here in future, which is a great sadness—[Interruption.] The Minister, in his usual way, shouts, ““Rubbish””. Home Office decision making is, as we all know, of poor quality, and one of the most important things that must be done is to improve the quality of that decision making. Even a cursory look at the figures shows that many appeals are granted because of mistakes made at an early stage. Whether they were innocent mistakes or not, I do not know, but we are all aware that some pretty basic mistakes are made. We have heard many statistics today, one of which was that, according to the Government’s figures, 25 per cent. of student appeals are successful. Other statistics show a figure as high as 49 per cent. Even the lower figure represents tens of thousands of students who, under the Bill, would be forced to leave the UK to present their appeal. It was said earlier that the Bill might be a way to get rid of such people because they will not bother appealing once they have left this country. That is insidious. It is unfortunate that this Government, of all people, are presenting such a measure and it is misleading to say that there is a right of appeal against removal when it will be exercised only when the person has left the UK. That is nonsense. There are things that the Government can do under existing legislation. I understand their desire to achieve a single appeal, but many commentators say that that can be done under current powers. I must stress that decision making needs to be improved. The hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris), who spoke for the Liberal Democrats, said that many things are at stake. He and I, and others, have received the Immigration Law Practitioners Association briefing, which I found very useful. He mentioned the right to be with a spouse and children and the right to continue in business. All those rights are important. Many variation cases will involve human rights claims, and as was said earlier, there is a right to present those human rights claims within the UK jurisdiction. Therefore, even on that basis, I fail to see how the Bill can be certified as being compliant with the Human Rights Act 1998, although time will tell. It is obvious to me—to anyone, I think—that human rights points will become stronger if people are forced to leave the UK pending appeal. It will, inevitably, bring the legislation into disrepute if, time after time, human rights cases are presented to defeat it. If the Government insist on taking these powers, one would have hoped they would redesign the clauses to achieve a broader in-country appeal process that could anticipate the consequences of removal, and that they would not base their new proposals on an appeal right that was available only to those who have left the UK. That has been stressed; it is worthy of being stressed again. I shall not keep hon. Members any longer. The amendments are sensible and I hope that the House, if it divides, will support them.