Oral Answers to Questions

Drew Hendry Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

May I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for everything she has done in her parliamentary and ministerial career, and associate myself with your comments, Mr Speaker, about my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke)? I know that my right hon. Friend is leaving this place to do something perhaps even more important, which is to run our COP 26 summit next year in Glasgow, and I know that she will do an absolutely outstanding job. She is completely right that it would be far more wonderful for this country to focus on what we can do to lead the world in tackling the problems of the environment and climate change rather than frittering away yet more political time and capital on two more pointless referendums. I thoroughly agree with her proposal.

[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

Q14. May I say to you from the highlands, Mr Speaker, gura math a thèid leat? My constituent Rachel has been separated from her two young children and her husband Mark and forced to return to Malaysia because her £2,000 spousal visa application was refused. It was refused because her husband Mark’s payslips were not included. The problem is that payslips are not a requirement on the UK Visas and Immigration checklist. She called and emailed UKVI and was told that no other information was required. Does the Prime Minister consider that to be fair, and will he personally look into her new £2,000 application to ensure that this highland family are reunited by Christmas?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising his constituent’s problem with UKVI and I will make sure that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary addresses it immediately.