Phil Woolas
Main Page: Phil Woolas (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)Department Debates - View all Phil Woolas's debates with the Home Office
(14 years, 5 months ago)
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Damian Green
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point, which I regard as important. In a spirit of non-partisanship, I think it is regarded as important on both sides of the House. When we held a Westminster Hall debate on the subject last week, I was struck by the fact that there was universal approval of the new Government’s desire to end the detention of children—although the point was made that it might have been the last time as Minister for Immigration that I ever got universal approval for anything. However, we should welcome such steps forward while we have them.
Mr Phil Woolas (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)
I sincerely welcome the hon. Gentleman to the Dispatch Box, and I wish him all the best in a very difficult job.
In the light of the Minister’s answer about the backlog, I was pleased to see recognition of the UK Border Agency’s success but will he confirm the reasons behind the answer to the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart), at column 143W, on 22 June, about the dropping of the language requirement for dependants of people who successfully apply for asylum? What was his rationale?