Immigration: Pausing the Hostile Environment Debate
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Stephen Timms
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Immigration: Pausing the Hostile Environment
Stephen Timms Excerpts(6 years, 3 months ago)
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Caroline Nokes
The compliant environment provides some important policies that enable us to distinguish between those who are here legally and those who are not. As I said in response to an earlier question, this was something that commenced many years ago, under a different Government, and it is absolutely right that we should be able to check that those who are accessing benefits and services have the right to do so.
Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)
In 2014-15, more than 40,000 overseas students lost their leave to remain in the UK because an American testing firm alleged that they had cheated in their English language test. Many of them were plunged into great hardship. It is now becoming clear that a significant proportion of those allegations were without foundation. Will the Minister now offer those students who, remarkably, have managed to stay here, a large group of whom were in the House yesterday, a new secure English test to establish fairly whether they can now resume their studies?
Caroline Nokes
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. It is, of course, an issue that we are considering very carefully.