Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

I should first make it clear that, in speaking to this group of amendments, I do not regard the decision whether Clause 46 should stand part of the Bill to be consequential on any decision on Amendments 108A, 108B, 108C, 108CA, 108CB or 108CD. I am sure, however, that this has been a helpful opportunity to have a wide ranging debate on the issue raised by Clause 46. I begin by outlining why we are making these changes. We do not go and make changes for no reason, just to rock things up for everyone and be a bloody nuisance. We do them for reasons. We have made clear the value that we attach to the political, economic and social benefits of the common travel area. We are committed to maintaining the common travel area, and preserving those benefits. However we know that the current CTA arrangements are being abused. So do the Irish, because we have had long talks with them. So do the people in Northern Ireland, because we have talked with the Administration there as well. Part of the reason that I said that we need to do something when I looked at this in 2007 is that we have become more aware that serious organised criminals are using the CTA to facilitate their criminal activity, illegal migration and trafficking. We were aware, from the clear evidence of Operation Gull, of immigration abuse between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The sorts of numbers that we are talking about are just under 4,000 immigration offenders. This is possibly just the tip of an iceberg. There is also clear evidence of abuse of both the United Kingdom’s and Ireland’s asylum system, where persons who have lodged a claim for asylum in one country then travel to the other and make a further claim.