Illegal Migration Bill

Debate between Lord Murray of Blidworth and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Consideration of Commons amendments
Wednesday 12th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the House for the dispatch with which the speeches on this group have been dealt with. To respond to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, on just one point, clearly, we do not agree and I am afraid that I cannot accept his amendment. On the statistic that he cited, I simply say that that statistic demonstrates the problem we face when we seek to remove people. Such statistics relate to people who were in detention and it was those in detention who, at a massively increased rate, sought to claim to be victims of modern slavery in order, I suggest to Members of this House, to defer their removal.

For that reason, I must stress to the House that the proposed amendment would blow a hole in this scheme, and I am afraid we cannot accept my noble friend Lord Randall’s amendment, as supported by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. There are too many opportunities to misuse the provisions in the Modern Slavery Act, with allegations of modern slavery being made by those entering the country illegally. I entirely take on board what the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, has said about the triumph of the Modern Slavery Act, and I remind the House that it remains in force in relation to victims of modern slavery who are within Britain and are British citizens. These provisions are protected in Clause 21 by a sunset provision. These are emergency measures to deal with an emergency, and for those reasons I cannot accept the amendments.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, it is tempting to respond in detail to the Minister, but obviously I will not do it. What is so striking is how little confidence he has in the department he and his Ministers run to administer a system they have legislated for. It is deeply disappointing, but I beg leave to withdraw Motion C1.

Illegal Migration Bill: Economic Impact Assessment

Debate between Lord Murray of Blidworth and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

Yes, I had noted the geographical distinction, but I suggest to the noble Lord that, in theory, the principle is the same: if you arrive here illegally, you will be detained and removed. That has worked in the context of Australia. As for the second part of his question, yes, the impact assessment does assist in the financial planning of the budget and strongly favours progression with the Bill.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, in the other place, Theresa May said:

“The Home Office knows that the Bill means that genuine victims of modern slavery will be denied support”.—[Official Report, Commons, 13/3/23; col. 593.]


In this House, we were very proud of the Modern Slavery Act, so why are the Government dismantling its provisions?

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

As the noble Lord is aware, it is the intention of the Bill to create as a tight a framework as possible, and there is a risk that a loophole would be created if the modern slavery provisions were left unamended. That is the purpose of the provisions on modern slavery in the Bill.

Illegal Migration Bill

Debate between Lord Murray of Blidworth and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Committee stage
Monday 5th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

Hesitate as I do to disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, relates to returns agreements. We have negotiated with Albania an effective arrangement allowing for the return of Albanians. It is more to do with that, I suggest, than with the 2022 Bill, although of course it all plays its part. It is an example which demonstrates that deterrents work.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, the Committee is entitled to ask what the Minister means by “in due course”. Specifically, will the impact assessment be available before Report? My thinking is that the House should not allow the Bill to begin Report without the impact assessment being available.

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

I hear what the noble Lord says. I will take back his comments, and those of others, and we can reflect on them.

Asylum Seekers

Debate between Lord Murray of Blidworth and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Tuesday 17th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Dubs, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order Paper.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Murray of Blidworth) (Con)]

My Lords, the latest immigration statistics published by the Home Office show that 143,377 people were waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim as of September 2022, and that 15,987 people were granted asylum or other leave in the year ending September 2022. Of the 11,974 enforced or voluntary returns, there were 774 enforced or voluntary asylum-related returns in the year ending June 2022.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

In last month’s debate in the name of the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury, my noble friend Lord Dubs made a very moving speech, where he said:

“The refugee issue is testing our humanitarian principles to the ultimate. Our response will determine what sort of country … we want to be … but particularly how we value our fellow human beings who have suffered greatly from … wars and conflicts.”—[Official Report, 9/12/22; col. 378.]


Given the lamentable performance of the Minister’s department, as we have heard from those figures just now, and the intemperate language used by the Home Secretary when she described asylum seekers as invaders, does he think this Government meet my noble friend’s humanitarian test?

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

Yes, I do. The Prime Minister was clear in his remarks on 13 December that it is a key priority of the Government to address the unlawful crossings of the channel, to tackle illegal migration and to ease pressure on the asylum system. As the noble Lord knows, we will achieve that by doubling the number of caseworkers to help to clear the asylum backlog by the end of 2023, we will re-engineer the end-to-end process by reducing paperwork and interviews, and we will allocate dedicated resources to different nationalities in the asylum backlog.