Immigration Bill

Well, if the hon. Gentleman really wants to intervene.

The Home Secretary says that net migration is down by a third; the reality is that it has fallen ...

It is a bit cheeky for a Labour Member to stand up and complain about the figures for falling mig...

The Home Secretary was clearly right to intervene in the way that she did to sort out UKBA, which...

It has been clear for some time, as I have laid out, that the Government wanted to bring forward ...

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I give way to the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.

We look forward to considering this again in the future. The BBC is reporting that the immigratio...

What I said to the right hon. Gentleman was that I did not have a flash of blinding light one day...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that if we are able, in a sensitive area, to stop some of the abu...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We need to stand by those who have come here legitimately and...

Is it not also the case that the previous Government not only did nothing to encourage people to ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why any complaints we hear from Labour Members today ...

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I have taken a number of interventions and will now make some progress.

I will set out the ...

Did the Home Secretary take advice from colleagues in the Department for Education on the extent ...

I can assure my hon. Friend that we have had a number of discussions with colleagues in the Depar...

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I will make some progress before giving way again.

Part 1 of the Bill is about removals. Th...

The Home Secretary mentioned the eight previous Acts. During my time in the House it has seemed t...

This is about putting in place a number of legal changes that will help ensure that the system ca...

Will the Home Secretary confirm that limiting the number of bail applications that can be made is...

My hon. Friend is right. We have seen cases in which people have made repeated bail applications,...

The Home Secretary is being generous in giving way. Does she agree that a process with so many in...

We obviously want to ensure that those making the decisions do so properly. My hon. Friend is abs...

With reference to the point the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr Heath) made about discussi...

Unfortunately, the previous Labour Government were interested in immigration in the wrong way. On...

In June 2003 the then Immigration Minister, Beverly Hughes, said that the impact on migration int...

I can be absolutely clear with my hon. Friend that, as far as this Government are concerned, full...

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The former shadow Immigration Minister, the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), has been leap...

I am very grateful to the Home Secretary. I want to raise the issue of EU identity cards. She is ...

The problem with the argument that the hon. Gentleman and other Labour Members have been advancin...

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I have already been very generous in taking interventions.

Part 2 is about appeals. The app...

Given that the figures show that first-instance decision making is very poor in this regard, with...

We are going to put in place a system that enables people to have appeal rights in relation to fu...

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rose—

No, I have been very generous in giving way. Let me say to Labour Members and to the hon. Member ...

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I give way to the former Home Secretary.

May I correct the right hon. Lady on one thing? Long experience tells me that the tribunals do no...

First, tribunals do accept, and have been accepting—we have seen examples of this—information tha...

I welcome the fact that this Bill will enable the system to become effective, as well as humane. ...

My hon. Friend will know that we are looking at the whole question of how we deal with human traf...

Will the Home Secretary give way?

I am going to make some further progress.

Part 3 is about migrants’ access to services. We ...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I want to make more progress.

Dealing with migrants is not new for the NHS. There is alread...

Is the Secretary of State able to quantify the number of foreign nationals treated by the NHS who...

I suggest that the hon. Lady look at the audit conducted by the national health service that was ...

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I will give way to the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), because I have not done so y...

The most recent migration statistics quarterly report by the Office for National Statistics was p...

If the hon. Gentleman looks at Hansard, he will see the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Roch...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

I hope it is a point of order rather than a point of frustration. I shall discover which.

Is it in order for the Secretary of State to suggest that anyone in this House thinks that people...

People are free to suggest what they like. These are matters of debate. Of one thing I am sure, h...

I have to say that this morning’s reaction from the shadow Health Secretary, the right hon. Membe...

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rose—

I want to make a little more progress.

Of course, as I said earlier, many private landlords...

Having listened to the debate so far, I think that hon. and right hon. Members and the public at ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I think that members of the public will say it is right that ...

A lot of the individual sanctions will be dealt with by statutory instruments. So far it is clear...

We are not talking about people not being able to receive treatment in the national health servic...

Will the Home Secretary answer the question?

I have tried to explain the point about sanctions in the NHS by pointing out that the hon. Gentle...

The Home Secretary and the Prime Minister have made a series of claims about immigration and the ...

Does the shadow Home Secretary realise that we have already gone a little over half the distance ...

The most recent figures for net migration show that it has increased. The hon. Gentleman has chos...

Many of my constituents are first, second or multiple generation immigrants who work hard to prop...

My hon. Friend is right that the system has to be fair for people who have come here over many ge...

In the light of the right hon. Lady’s comments, will she tell us whether she would have a target ...

As we have said before, the problem with a net migration target is that it encourages more Britis...

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I will give way to the Home Secretary if she will tell us whether she regrets using the divisive ...

I have already answered a question about the ad vans. Given that the shadow Home Secretary has no...

We have said that the pace of migration was too fast. It is right to have measures to bring the l...

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rose—

Hopefully the hon. Gentleman will apologise on behalf of the Home Secretary for pushing those div...

May I say—

Order. I think that there is an identity crisis that needs to be resolved. I think that the right...

I was indeed.

We will hear from T. C. another time.

On the subject of regrets, does the right hon. Lady share the regret of the right hon. Member for...

We have said that we should have had transitional controls for eastern Europe. Government Members...

Will the shadow Home Secretary give way?

I ask the hon. Gentleman to explain that point if the Home Secretary will not.

The right hon. Lady is in a rich vein of contrition. Will she add to her list of apologies an apo...

There is nothing in the Bill about the matters that so concern the hon. Gentleman. Where is his a...

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I want to make some progress on the measures that are in the Bill, even though a lot of the measu...

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I will give way to the Home Secretary if she can explain why, two-and-a-half years ago when this ...

I suggest that the right hon. Lady checks her facts, because I believe the decision not to finger...

And I suggest that the Home Secretary checks her facts, because in April 2011 we raised with Home...

If the right hon. Lady is honest, she will realise that Labour’s record on illegal immigration is...

I will set out the Opposition’s response on exactly that point in due course.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of how concerned GPs are, including the Royal College of General Pr...

My hon. Friend is right. Doctors have concerns about whether the proposals are workable in practi...

Building on the right hon. Lady’s point, does she agree that it is not only inhumane for doctors ...

This is a matter on which the Government still need to answer questions and they are confused abo...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. The issue of who comes in and out of this country is im...

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. The Government decided to suspend the contract thr...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for allowing me to intervene, because Brent was one area wh...

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and the Home Secretary should confirm that she will neve...

The policy was disgusting and embarrassing. What a dreadful episode it was, and let us hope it ne...

The labour market is an important issue, and it is particularly important to ensure that employer...

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I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, but we must make some progress so that other Members can c...

The right hon. Lady mentioned student visitor visas. Is she aware how essential those are for man...

It is right to have a proper system that is fair and supports our economy, universities and highe...

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I will give way one more time, and then I must make progress.

My right hon. Friend is perhaps moving on to what is not in the Bill. The Home Secretary said ear...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It should disturb us all that an appalling two thirds of...

Does the right hon. Lady recognise that one reason for that is that care workers in children’s ho...

If I had known the hon. Gentleman was going to raise such nonsense, I would not have let him inte...

rose—

Order. A considerable number of colleagues are seeking to catch my eye. I have not, at this stage...

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I fully welcome the Bill. All hon. Members realise how strongly peop...

I agree with everything my hon. Friend has said so far. We need to get things right and acknowled...

There must be a balance, because many language schools generate foreign exchange, provide good ed...

I understand what the hon. Gentleman says about foreign overseas students, but does he recognise ...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s general point—that many overseas students bring a lot to the En...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the success of the Government’s policy is reflected in the fact th...

My right hon. Friend makes a good point.

We need to send signals to people around the world...

I am sure my hon. Friend is aware that estate agents are obliged to take contact information—both...

I agree with my hon. Friend. With the tightening up of measures on employers taking on workers, t...

The hon. Gentleman says that the measures on landlords should pose no difficulty for people who a...

I understand the hon. Lady’s concerns because of her family history, but the reality is that peop...

I am sure that, like me, my hon. Friend hears pleas for unaffordable, high-value and new treatmen...

Absolutely. The measure does not affect accident and emergency or short-term care, but it is a si...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Poole (Mr Syms), who has struck the right tone for...

The right hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the number of immigration Bills. Does he share my ...

As a member of the Committee—there are four Committee members in their places this afternoon—I am...

Although I agree with my right hon. Friend about the ad vans, is he aware that immigration offici...

It worries me if that is happening; it is certainly not the best way to enforce immigration polic...

Does my right hon. Friend know that up to 40% of the British population do not have a passport an...

I did not know that and I thank my right hon. Friend for that information, which suggests an even...

The right hon. Gentleman may not be aware of the case of Amy Houston, a girl from my constituency...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. After 26 years as an MP, I get frustrated when people com...

Last month, one of my constituents—I will call him Philippe—attended an asylum-screening appointm...

The hon. Lady paints a moving picture, and I am sure we all sympathise with her constituent, but ...

No, I do not accept that. This happens because of the culture of disbelief in the Home Office, an...

The hon. Lady is making some powerful points about the human cost of the way our immigration syst...

The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. These are the sort of people I worry will fall foul of th...

I can understand the passion with which the hon. Lady is speaking and she is making a very sensit...

Order. May I ask hon. Members to make interventions that are brief? We have a lot of colleagues t...

I am certain that the commitment of the hon. Lady on the issue of human trafficking is very real....

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather). I shall be doing th...

It is a great pleasure, as always, to follow the hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart), altho...

My hon. Friend is making an important point. He will no doubt be aware of a 2006 study by Cambrid...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning that. I was not aware of that valid point and I am...

It is a convention to say that it is a pleasure to follow the preceding speaker. I shall not go a...

My hon. Friend makes the case very vividly. Does she agree that even though we deal with immigrat...

I entirely agree, and I believe that what is proposed will lead to racial profiling in the lettin...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander) on raising some very important...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. I would like to draw to his attention the d...

I have seen that, and I welcome the appointment of a senior figure as chairman of the NHS body th...

I am proud to speak in today’s debate. The speeches of my hon. Friends the Member for Slough (Fio...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

In one moment.

I listened carefully to the right hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Nicholas Soame...

rose—

Order. If we seriously want to get everybody in, we will have to average about 10 minutes a speec...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I heard what you said, but would it not be more useful to...

That is up to me, but I thought that hon. Members would have enough respect for each other to ens...

It is 16 years since the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) and I stood in the same hal...

Are you trying to say I am a racist?

No, I am not saying that, but if the hon. Gentleman is attacking the Government side for being ra...

Order. I think that I need to help a little bit. In fairness, we are on immigration, but independ...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

With regard to the rationale for immigration, the House of Lo...

The hon. Gentleman started his speech by saying that the number of new arrivals in this country h...

I will move on to EU migration later, but the hon. Gentleman makes a fair point, and we have disc...

I wish I could say it is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr Jackson), but ...

I would appreciate some clarity on the SNP’s position. I presume that the UK Government will need...

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for reminding me to talk about Scotland. There are proposals ...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his debate last week. I agree with him on that issue. I also...

I take a little comfort from that, but not a great deal. I do not know what the hon. Gentleman is...

It is important that we adopt a moderate tone, as immigration is an issue that can all too easily...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on Second Reading. The debate has been, and will conti...

To reassure the hon. Lady before she continues, nothing in the Bill refers to GPs. Even the propo...

I appreciate the Minister’s intervention, but the fact is that there is no clarity in the Bill—it...

The hon. Lady is probably aware—and if not, she is now—that there was no consultation whatever wi...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that information.

I do not wish to interrupt the hon. Lady again, but the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshir...

I thank the Minister for that intervention. The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete ...

Obviously there are countries outside the EEA with which we do not have reciprocal arrangements. ...

I would always advocate that the NHS should be free at the point of need—

Is the hon. Lady saying that the NHS should be free to people from around the world, so that they...

As I said, I am disappointed at the lack of clarity on the details, so I do not feel able to say ...

rose—

Sorry, does the hon. Gentleman want to intervene?

I am asking the hon. Lady for her view.

Order. Mr Hemming, sit down. This is not a personal discussion between you and Pamela Nash of the...

Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will not let anyone intervene again.

I strongly believe ...

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate and to welcome the Bill.

Immigration remains among ...

The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the byzantine complexity and the errors in decision maki...

That should be a priority for every Department. I serve on the Work and Pensions Committee. Sadly...

I am very grateful to make a contribution to this debate and of course my remarks are informed by...

rose—

I will not give way.

Many people in this country from poor and working-class backgrounds do...

It is a privilege to follow the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy). He knows that I have ...

I am glad to be able to speak about the Bill. I have taken an interest in immigration policy for ...

I just want to draw the hon. Lady’s attention to a quote from the hon. Member for Dagenham and Ra...

People on my side of the House say a lot of things, but I do not necessarily agree with them. As ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott), who...

It is my experience that the last but one immigrant group always slags off the latest one. Whethe...

The hon. Lady makes a good point. She observed in her speech that such messages surface when peop...

I oppose the Bill and will vote against it because I think that it will be defined, in practice, ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I want to get this on the record. It is a society that echoes those pass laws, a society in w...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I want to get this on the record. A society in which people can be asked for their documentat...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No. I am not giving way.

What happens now for people who are sick? They go to their GPs, an...

I listened to the remarks from the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) about an...

For information, I was talking initially about the very common attitudes, cartoons, rhetoric and ...

The hon. Lady says that such things were very common. I cannot comment on the 19th century, altho...

Some of the hon. Gentleman’s points make sense. There is a case for ensuring fair competition on ...

One area within the broad range the hon. Lady describes is the charge for the use of NHS services...

It is interesting that we started this debate by being reminded that the Home Secretary was busy ...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. Does he agree that there is a danger that, by placing y...

Order.

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. She is rightly highlighting the concern that has bee...

Is the hon. Gentleman not aware of the latest university entrance figures, which show that the nu...

I am well aware of those figures. In general, the defence has been that the numbers were flatlini...

The hon. Gentleman and I have discussed students’ concerns many times. Does he agree that a simil...

Order. May I point out to the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) that quite a lot...

I will take that advice, Mr Deputy Speaker, and take no more interventions.

We need to look...

I declare an interest as a landlord, as set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.<...

Jeremy Corbyn.

5.53 pm

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker—at last I can make my contribution.

I want to begin by complim...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No. I am going to make my speech.

I would like the House to consider for a moment the gener...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I am not giving way.

Migration is something that people do to try to survive. We should...

I wholeheartedly support the whole Bill, but I wish particularly to address my remarks to chapter...

On what evidence are the hon. Gentleman’s figures for health tourism based?

They are from an independent assessment commissioned by the Department of Health. As I mentioned,...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I need to make progress and other right hon. and hon. Members are yet to speak, so I will not giv...

I congratulate the Home Secretary and the Minister for Immigration and fully support the objectiv...

I will try to fit my comments into the time available.

This country benefits substantially ...

It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to make a short contribution.

One way in whi...

I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for his comment. I wonder if I might distinguish the ...

I am grateful for that intervention, and I am sure that when the right hon. Member for Tottenham ...

I am sure the hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) did not mean that and will withdraw the c...

I apologise to you and the House.

But you do withdraw it?

Of course I do, Mr Deputy Speaker.

The hon. Lady has a reputation for robust debate. I did not hear what she said, but I am grateful...

As usual, we have a had a wide-ranging and thoughtful debate on a serious and complex issue. Even...

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that it was extraordinary that the shadow Home Secretary devo...

I have a lot of respect for the right hon. Gentleman, but if he reads the record, he will see tha...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way on that point?

I cannot give way now because of the lack of time. The points that the hon. Gentleman has made ar...

In the limited time available—the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson) could not help taking s...

Will the Minister give way?

No, I want to deal with some of the points. I listened to the debate, and if the hon. Gentleman w...

Will the Minister give way?

No, let me make some progress.

We always prefer migrants who have had an application refuse...

rose—

Despite what the right hon. Member for Delyn says, we are toughening up controls on employers and...

rose—

Order. The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) has made his point—he wants ...

I am trying to do justice to the many Members who spoke in the debate, including the hon. Member ...

Will the Minister give way?

I do not have time to deal with the hon. Gentleman’s points.

There were many issues around ...