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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 25 Mar 2024
Cabinet Manual

Speech Link

View all Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Cabinet Manual

Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 20 Mar 2024
Children’s Cancer Services

Speech Link

View all Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Children’s Cancer Services

Division Vote (Lords)
20 Mar 2024 - Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab) voted Aye - in line with the party majority and in line with the House
One of 126 Labour Aye votes vs 1 Labour No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 249 Noes - 219
Division Vote (Lords)
20 Mar 2024 - Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab) voted Aye - in line with the party majority and in line with the House
One of 129 Labour Aye votes vs 1 Labour No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 263 Noes - 233
Division Vote (Lords)
20 Mar 2024 - Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab) voted Aye - in line with the party majority and in line with the House
One of 126 Labour Aye votes vs 1 Labour No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 276 Noes - 226
Division Vote (Lords)
20 Mar 2024 - Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab) voted Aye - in line with the party majority and in line with the House
One of 129 Labour Aye votes vs 1 Labour No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 285 Noes - 230
Division Vote (Lords)
20 Mar 2024 - Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab) voted Aye - in line with the party majority and in line with the House
One of 128 Labour Aye votes vs 1 Labour No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 271 Noes - 228
Written Question
Immigration Controls
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure effective border control and management of illegal immigration, in particular addressing any gaps in enforcement or security protocols.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Due to the steps we have taken, small boat arrivals fell by 36% in 2023 compared to the previous year; Albanian arrivals were down by over 90%. This reflects our continuing work with the French Government to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings from taking place.

Immigration Enforcement is taking robust action to tackle illegal migration through:

  • returning more than 25,000 people in 2023 who have no right to be in the UK, including more than 5,700 Albanians;
  • increasing the number of illegal working visits by over 68% as of September 2023, compared to the same period in 2022; and
  • disrupting organised crime groups, resulting in 246 arrests of people smugglers in 2023.

In terms of security protocols, the government does not routinely comment on individual cases or operational matters.

Our highest priority is protecting the safety and security of this country, which is why the UK has world-class police, security and intelligence agencies and a robust counter-terrorism framework in place.

As you would expect, security checks are already undertaken for all those identified arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately.


Written Question
Immigration
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the level of immigration to the UK for the past year; and how many individuals were granted visas for (1) work, (2) study, (3) family reunification, and (4) asylum.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on work and study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02, of the ‘Entry clearance detailed dataset’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on family reunification visas granted are published in table Fam_D01 and data on the number of people applying for and being granted asylum are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables#asylum-and-resettlement]. Information on how to use these datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to 2023 Q4.

Not everyone granted a visa will become an ‘immigrant’ as per the United Nations definition of a long-term migrant. Information regarding immigration and emigration is a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ [https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance].


Written Question
Immigration
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of immigration on (1) public services, (2) housing, and (3) infrastructure.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government has been clear that net migration is too high and is determined to bring it down to sustainable levels to help protect public services and housing against unsustainable pressure.

In May 2023, the Government announced measures to restrict the number of overseas students able to bring dependants. On 4 December 2023, the Home Secretary announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration further. These include limitations on family dependants being brought in by care workers and senior care workers; increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route; commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Shortage Occupation List; and raising the minimum income requirement for Family visas progressively over the next few years. These measures are now being implemented and were the subject of a WMS by the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border on January 30th.

Taken together with the measures the Government announced in May 2023, this means that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future.

We keep all our immigration policies under review and work closely with key government departments to ensure that the immigration system best serves the UK, reflects the public’s priorities and protects public services against undue pressure.

A full analysis of the impact of the package will be published in a regulatory impact assessment in due course.