Migration and Border Security

Max Wilkinson Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

We think that using asylum hotels is the wrong way to respond to the system that we have, which is why the increase in the backlog as a result of the previous Conservative Government’s collapse in decision making has been so damaging. That is why we now have additional caseworkers in place and asylum decisions back at the levels that they were previously, so that we can clear the backlog and make sure that we do not need to use asylum hotels. The previous Government opened 400 asylum hotels and quadrupled the cost of the asylum accommodation system. That has a shocking impact on the taxpayer, and we are already saving money by bringing the costs down.

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

We need a firm but fair and compassionate approach on immigration, as I think everyone in the House would agree. Human rights non-governmental organisations have warned that people being returned to Iraq could be at risk of human rights abuses, so can the Home Secretary tell us what reassurances she has had on that point? Will human rights always be a red line when she is striking migration deals in future?

[Yvette Cooper]

The agreement that we reached and signed with the Iraqi Government explicitly commits to support for international law, international humanitarian law and human rights, and this was one of the issues that we discussed as part of the meetings. The hon. Gentleman will also know that every decision in the asylum system is made on its individual merits to ensure that, where somebody is being rejected from the asylum system and is being returned, it is safe and appropriate to do so. But we do believe that there are many people currently in the immigration enforcement system who should be safely returned to their homes, and that is why we have increased the process around enforcement and returns this summer.

Respect Orders and Antisocial Behaviour

Max Wilkinson Excerpts

Wednesday 27th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I will certainly add Rugby to the list. My hon. Friend makes an important point about how this cannot just be done with the police alone; it has to be done alongside councils. I commend the use of community wardens, who are a great resource for communities in dealing with antisocial behaviour. Social housing providers are also key. This has to be about partnership working.

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

I welcome the commitment to neighbourhood policing that will help Cheltenham fight its problems with graffiti and illegal e-bikes, but when I talk to my local police commissioner he warns me that he is expecting to have to work very hard to maintain the force’s current headcount because of budgetary pressures in the coming year. Can the Minister explain the apparent disconnect between the concerns of the commissioner locally and the Government’s statement today?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I do not think anybody is pretending that we have inherited a positive, rosy economic settlement from the previous Government. We are having to make difficult decisions and tough choices. What is very clear is that the security and safety of the British people is the No. 1 issue for this Government, and that the Home Secretary—as I have now said, I think, three times—has already said there is additional funding for policing next year. Additional funding was put into police forces up and down the country this year to fund the pay increase to police officers, which had not been in the budget that the previous Government had set for this year. We have already put in additional money, and we will be doing so next year as well.

Immigration and Home Affairs

Max Wilkinson Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

It is my honour to stand in this Chamber as the Member of Parliament for the beautiful town of Cheltenham, and it is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman). I heartily commend what he said about Alan Hansen, who I watched on television on many occasions as a young football fan.

Since last summer, when my wife returned to work after maternity leave, I have been enjoying the unusual combined roles of wannabe Member of Parliament and stay-at-home dad. They tell me it is a job requiring endless patience, a great deal of tolerance, the ability to understand almost inhuman forms of communication and boundless enthusiasm for clearing up a never-ending supply of mess—and I hear a toddler can be tough, too.

I want to start by giving thanks to some of the people and groups that have made the past year so joyful for me: Baby Bounce and Rhyme at Cheltenham library, and in particular Heather, who leads the singing; Andrea and Mary at Highbury church playgroup; and Sophie at Little Notes. My experiences over the past year have reinforced my views about the challenges I already knew so many parents face, and I have met many new parents in the corridors over the past couple of weeks. I will always speak up in this place for children, including my own offspring—so, Elodie, if you are at home watching me droning on, please tell Granny to put “The Wiggles” on instead.

I offer my sincere thanks to the former Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, the first Member of Parliament for Cheltenham to serve in Cabinet. Conservative Members should note his wise words on the prison population: that we should follow the evidence, not the dogma. But such praise for my predecessor is perhaps best communicated through the words of one member of House staff, who upon being introduced to me as Alex’s replacement, responded with a line that really hit home and will last with me forever: “Oh, that’s a shame. He was nice.” Luckily, I am not easily offended, and I will try to be nice too. I also thank two of my political mentors, Martin Horwood and Nigel Jones. Both are past MPs for Cheltenham who made an indelible impact on me and on our town.

My predecessors knew what I know: that Cheltenham is full of big-hearted people whose community spirit and love of hospitality, the arts and culture make it a special place to be. We have so many festivals, including literature, horse racing, poetry, music, jazz, food, cricket and science—I could go on—that we are known as the festival town. We live in a food and drink paradise: we have excellent pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants, as well as the DEYA brewery and Dunkertons cider. We are the home of Holst, of Superdry and of the polar explorer Edward Wilson, but there is more. Local historians record that Cheltenham was the site of the first parachute descent. In 1838, John Hampton jumped out of a hot air balloon 9,000 feet above the town and glided to earth under an umbrella-like contraption. At this point, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey) might be getting too excited, so I will leave it there. Cheltenham’s rich cultural tapestry is interwoven with generously proportioned parks and gardens, and is surrounded by beautiful Regency architecture and rolling hills. It truly is a feast for all the senses, and our schools are first-rate, too. Education is at the heart of our town’s values—it is on the town crest.

I am so proud to have been elected for the town I love at the second attempt. That second-time success follows a trend in my relationship with Cheltenham. First impressions are clearly not my thing, and they could have led to a very different path in my life. In fact, my first job interview in Cheltenham—many years ago, when I had a full head of hair—was so bad that not only was I not offered the job, but when the boss called back weeks later, having apparently been turned down by all the other candidates, the starting salary had suffered a rapid cut of around 10%. Members will know that that is a spending power reduction that even the former Member for South West Norfolk would struggle to match in her most strident moments. I took the job anyway, of course, because you do not turn down the chance to move to Cheltenham.

I am proud to have already kept my first promise as a Member of Parliament. I have joined the Robins Trust, which supports Cheltenham Town FC. They remain a division ahead of Forest Green Rovers, despite being relegated last season—with my apologies to the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher). I have led campaigns already to invest in affordable housing in Cheltenham, to fight climate change and to support food banks, because we have them. It is a disgrace that a town as wealthy as Cheltenham has more than 700 people using food banks regularly. We have a unique scheme in Cheltenham where food bank users also get free access to the leisure centre. I would recommend that all Members try to roll that out in their area. However, if there is one priority I will pursue relentlessly, it will be undoing the harm caused to our local health services these past few years. Alongside the word “education”, our town crest also features the world “health”. I will defend our local hospital, and I will campaign on primary care, too.

One matter of vital importance linking this place and Cheltenham is GCHQ. Their work is secret and they never ask for our thanks, but thousands of people in Cheltenham work hard for us every single day. If I may veer dangerously close to policy for a maiden speech, I was pleased to see that the cyber security and resilience Bill will be coming before Parliament. This is a huge opportunity to update the UK’s cyber laws by reforming the Computer Misuse Act 1990, and that will help better defend our cyber-defenders who work so hard for us in Cheltenham.

It was with those issues and more in mind that I was accosted at Paddington station the night before my first day here. I was lost in thought, and a tourist approached me and said, “Excuse me, Sir. How do you get to Westminster?” I was of course delighted to be recognised by a member of the public so early in my political career, so I decided to give him the full benefit of my political story. After about 15 minutes, I had been through all my best campaigns, my door-knocking technique, the best leaflets I have ever delivered, and I was just telling him about doing aqua aerobics with our leader, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton, in our iconic Sandford Park lido. Sadly, I had got it wrong. He interjected, “Sorry, friend; I just wanted to know which tube line to take.” That is a cautionary tale for all new Members: let us not get ahead of ourselves. We are here for our constituency first and foremost, and for me it will be Cheltenham first every time.