EU Settlement Scheme Debate

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Department: Home Office

EU Settlement Scheme

Neale Hanvey Excerpts
Tuesday 29th June 2021

(3 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Kevin Foster Portrait Kevin Foster
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I appreciate my hon. Friend’s comments. He is right to allude to the fact that our system needs to be not only firm, but fair, as we have seen with the millions of statuses we have granted under the EUSS. As I have already mentioned, next week we will bringing before the House new legislation to reform our broken asylum system and help break the business model of those heinous people-smuggling networks. Just for background, I should say that just so far this year over 5,000 channel crossings have been prevented, and we continue to work with French authorities to crack down on the criminal gangs behind this disgraceful trade.

Neale Hanvey Portrait Neale Hanvey (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath) (Alba) [V]
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During the Brexit campaign, the Prime Minister promised automatic settled status for EU nationals living across these islands. What we have got is a vague reassurance of consideration of reasonable grounds. My concern is about the most vulnerable people in my communities and across these islands: those in care homes and the care system and those who are very hard to reach. When the guillotine falls tomorrow, will the Prime Minister have made liars of us all? What will happen to those people? What is the mechanism for establishing reasonable grounds and how will people be treated? Will they lose their homes? Where will they be held? Will they be deported?

Kevin Foster Portrait Kevin Foster
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The hon. Gentleman might want to review some of the answers that I have already given and some of the guidance that has been published on, for example, employment. To be clear, there is nothing vague about the fact that we have granted millions of solid statuses, that there are people who have status while their applications are being considered—

Neale Hanvey Portrait Neale Hanvey
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indicated dissent.

Kevin Foster Portrait Kevin Foster
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The hon. Gentleman may shake his head, but those are incontrovertible facts.