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Brandon Lewis Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2020 Ministerial Corrections

The following is an extract from the debate in the Committee of the whole House on the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill on Tuesday 7 January 2020.

[Brandon Lewis]

Let me finish the point. It takes five to 10 minutes online in the same way as renewing a driving licence or passport. The hon. Lady should be aware that, as of the last set of official figures, only two people have been actively refused settled status, and both refusals were on serious criminality grounds. I stand by this country’s right to protect the security and safety of people in this country by refusing settled status to people with a serious criminal record.

[Official Report, 7 January 2020, Vol. 669, c. 321-22.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Security, the right hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis):

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford).

The correct response should have been:

[Brandon Lewis]

Let me finish the point. It takes five to 10 minutes online in the same way as renewing a driving licence or passport. The hon. Lady should be aware that, as of the last set of official figures, only five people have been actively refused settled status, and both refusals were on serious criminality grounds. I stand by this country’s right to protect the security and safety of people in this country by refusing settled status to people with a serious criminal record.

The following is a further extract from that debate.

[Brandon Lewis]

I will be brief. I just want to respond to a couple of points that have been raised during the debate. The hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) quoted me during an interview some time ago—with a German journalist, if I recall correctly. Sadly, he did not give the whole quote, so colleagues are probably not quite aware of the point I was making, which was that the whole point of the settled status scheme is to ensure that nobody is left behind and all rights are properly protected. That is why not only are we running the scheme until the end of July 2021, but we have also said—as I said at the Dispatch Box again today—that we will be looking to grant settled status to anybody who comes forward after that stage who has not acquired settled status after not applying for it for a good, reasonable reason. This scheme is based on a very different principle.

[Official Report, 7 January 2020, Vol. 669, c. 336.]

An error has been identified in my closing speech on amendment 5:

The correct wording should have been:

[Brandon Lewis]

I will be brief. I just want to respond to a couple of points that have been raised during the debate. The hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) quoted me during an interview some time ago—with a German journalist, if I recall correctly. Sadly, he did not give the whole quote, so colleagues are probably not quite aware of the point I was making, which was that the whole point of the settled status scheme is to ensure that nobody is left behind and all rights are properly protected. That is why not only are we running the scheme until the end of June 2021, but we have also said—as I said at the Dispatch Box again today—that we will be looking to grant settled status to anybody who comes forward after that stage who has not acquired settled status after not applying for it for a good, reasonable reason. This scheme is based on a very different principle.