It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), and although we will not agree on much, I am sure we both agree that immigration has often brought many delights to this country. In fact, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows, my grandparents on my mother’s side—Paul Kreciglowa and his wife Lilly —were refugees in the second world war. My grandfather was in a gulag in Siberia and managed to get out by fighting against Nazi Germany. My mother was born in a displaced persons camp, and they settled here. It has brought many delights to my family, so it is a cause that is very close to my heart. Nevertheless, we have to have a sensible immigration policy that we have control over and in which we actually have the right to say who we want and who we do not want in this country. I fear that the Lords amendments would undermine our ability to take back control of our lives.
Many people in Rother Valley voted to leave the European Union because they wanted control over their lives, and they wanted control of many issues, including immigration. This Bill, unamended, does take control back of our immigration system. Unfortunately, if we were to accept these Lords amendments we would undermine what I think is a key aspect of this Bill, and that is fairness. To me, fairness is one of the most important things in life, and fairness is one of the most important things to residents of Rother Valley. These amendments undermine fairness and I will highlight that in the short time I have available.
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For instance, Lords amendment 2 seeks to ensure that UK nationals in the EEA or Switzerland have lifetime rights to bring their close family members to the UK on EU free movement terms, instead of under the UK’s family immigration rules. To me and to many residents in Rother Valley and across the House, this is desperately unfair. The purpose of the immigration Bill is to guarantee that EU and non-EU citizens will be dealt with equally for the purposes of immigration. My grandparents, despite coming from eastern Europe, were not members of the European Union, but they were treated fairly and they could settle here, and they could raise my mother and she could raise me. We did not need the EU to do that—they were treated fairly. EU freedom of movement will no longer apply, so why would we continue to favour EU citizens under the old European rules? This is biased. This is against fairness. It makes no sense. This Lords amendment seeks to create a perpetual right for EU citizens over and above everyone else, which is exactly what we voted to end.
The Government seek to build a new immigration system based on fairness. Fairness is treating all people the same, regardless of nationality. Fairness is giving
people the right to migrate to Britain based on their merit rather than the colour of their passport. Fairness is allowing the people of Britain to choose who we need to strengthen our society and our economy, rather than being forced to take anybody and everybody. Fairness is giving EU citizens in the UK the right to apply for settled status and giving UK nationals until March 2022 to bring family members to the UK. The immigration Bill does all these things. This is fairness. Lords amendment 2, however, is simply not fair and it is not right. How can this House condone a biased system? We want a system of equality and a system of fairness, and this amendment undermines that completely.
Fairness does matter to the people of Rother Valley and EU freedom of movement was never fair, being blatantly discriminatory towards non-EU countries in favour of countries that are largely white and highly developed. That is not what the Opposition will tell us. We have much more in common with our friends in the Commonwealth than with many people in the European Union, but this Bill makes it fair for everyone with the right skills to come and settle in our country. That is why the Bill, unamended, is right.