Covid-19: Support and Accommodation for Asylum Seekers Debate
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Joy Morrissey
Main Page: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)Department Debates - View all Joy Morrissey's debates with the Home Office
Covid-19: Support and Accommodation for Asylum Seekers
Joy Morrissey Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Chris Philp
My hon. Friend is right. Every pound that we spend helping vulnerable people in a conflict zone can help far more people, and often those people are more vulnerable than those who come to the UK. Our money is most effectively spent in those conflict zones, which is why we are the only G7 economy to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas aid, why we are the second biggest donor in the Syria region, and why we help so many people. I think our aid budget is the biggest or the second biggest of any European country. That is a measure of this country’s passion. It is through that programme that we can help the largest number of people in need.
Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)
Can my hon. Friend confirm that maintaining law and order and keeping the British public safe remain this Government’s top priority? Can he confirm that our asylum policy will always be in keeping with that ethos?
Chris Philp
Yes, I can categorically confirm that. The safety of our citizens is this Government’s highest priority. Where people, including asylum seekers, commit very serious offences, we will take appropriate action through the criminal justice system. But if someone who has been granted asylum commits a very serious offence, we are able, consistent with the refugee convention, to seek to remove that person. If somebody comes here and accepts our welcome and our hospitality but then commits a very serious criminal offence, endangering the public, it is right that that person should be eligible for removal, as allowed by the law.