Migration and Border Security Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Home Office

Migration and Border Security

Paul Waugh Excerpts
Monday 2nd December 2024

(2 days, 19 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Yvette Cooper Portrait Yvette Cooper
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

The hon. Lady will know that the Minister with responsibility for e-visas is working immensely hard to ensure that any concerns are dealt with. We are clear that no one should be disadvantaged by the transfer to the new electronic system, which will strengthen security and the information that people rightly have. We need to ensure that the transfer happens as smoothly as possible. I urge the hon. Lady to continue to keep in touch with the Minister so that we can ensure that every issue within the system and with the transfer to e-visas is properly addressed.

Paul Waugh Portrait Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)
- View Speech - Hansard - -

When the truly shocking net migration figures were published last week, the shadow Justice Secretary and former Immigration Minister, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), said on Twitter—now known as X—that it was a

“day of shame for the Conservative Party”

because it had

“let the country down badly”

and caused immense, lasting harm with immigration policies that have left Britain poorer. Does the Home Secretary agree that it is better to train our own people in this country than to repeat the failed Tory policies that left us all poorer?

Yvette Cooper Portrait Yvette Cooper
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

My hon. Friend is right. We need a complete overhaul of the way that training and support for work takes place to get UK residents back into work and give them the training they need, and to ensure that we do not have this chaos in the net migration system. I think the former Immigration Minister, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), also said that the Conservatives will only rebuild trust once they own up to their failures—perhaps a little more owning up is what we need to hear today.