Oral Answers to Questions

Mike Martin Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

The hon. Gentleman thought that the way to tackle crime was to recruit more officers and put them behind desks, so I will not take any lessons from him. Stop and search is a powerful and important tool in tackling crime—nobody would disagree with that—and it is part of a range of interventions with which we can tackle knife crime. Knife-enabled robbery, for example, has plummeted in areas in which we have focused our resources since the election. We must use all the tools in our armoury, and stop and search is one of them.

[Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)]

12. If she will take steps to provide Ukrainian refugees with a route to permanent settlement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mike Tapp)]

The Government remain grateful for the generosity shown towards the Ukrainians who sought sanctuary here. The recent 24-month extension of the Ukraine permission extension scheme demonstrates our intention to ensure that people have stability through the Ukraine schemes. The Government have always been clear that that bespoke offer of sanctuary is temporary and in line with the wishes of the Ukrainian Government —that position has not changed. We are, however, monitoring developments in Ukraine and intend to update the House on long-term plans later this year.

[Mike Martin]

I know that the Minister will listen carefully to this question because he used to live in Tunbridge Wells. Elena is a Ukrainian woman who works in our local hospital. She has not been able to advance her career because her visa restrictions mean that she cannot study. I know that the Government do not want to give the Ukrainians permanent settlement—they have made that very clear—but will the Minister at least devise a pathway by which to give visa security to Ukrainians so that they can study and get mortgages and jobs? They are restricted in their ability to do those things.