Immigration Bill

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andy Burnham]

I will give way to the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Ms Ahmed-Sheikh), who has been very persistent.

[Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Ochil and South Perthshire) (SNP)]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. I agree with much of the sentiment behind his remarks this afternoon. However, I recall during the general election campaign catching sight of the Labour party website, which appeared to be selling mugs stating, “Controls on immigration”. Is this another example of a Labour U-turn, or is he in a full 360-degree spin on this issue as well?

[Andy Burnham]

I am not responsible for all Labour party merchandise. I did not purchase one of those mugs and I am not particularly proud of them. However, if the hon. Lady is saying that there should be no controls on immigration, I am afraid that we will have to part company on that, because there do need to be firm and fair rules to ensure that our immigration system works in the public interest.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Ochil and South Perthshire) (SNP)]

My name is Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh and if the Government get their way this evening I am not sure how well I am going to fare when I seek a property in the London rental market.

At the same moment as the Home Secretary was making her contribution to her party conference, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Fife (Stephen Gethins) and I were visiting the Nizip refugee camp on the banks of the Euphrates river in Turkey, only an hour from the Syrian border. When we arrived, we discussed the refugees’ situation with the head of the camp. While setting out the figures and the scope of the crisis and its impact on Turkey, he made a striking point. He said that the people living in Nizip camp were not refugees but guests of Turkey: guests—what a contrast!

Instead of leading from the front, as Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government have, the Home Secretary engages in the distasteful process of “othering” on migration and immigration. Her speech was almost a greatest hits of Daily Mail mythology. She stated that immigration was forcing thousands out of work. Not true. She asserted that mass migration led to the wages of some low-paid workers being undercut, yet there is no credible evidence to support her claim. She made out that there was no net economic or fiscal effect of immigration when in fact all the available research, including that carried out by the OECD, shows that migrants to the UK contribute more in taxes than they spend in using public services.

I will be interested to hear why the Minister thinks that the report raised by the hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) during Question Time yesterday shows that ethnic minorities in the UK are discriminated against when seeking to rent private sector accommodation. Does the Minister see any correlation between the demonisation of immigrants by this Government and the discrimination against our ethnic minorities in our wider community? He should; there will be such a correlation. This Bill is wrong.

My dad, whom we lost last year, was an immigrant from Pakistan. He was not a threat to the UK’s way of life. He was not a drain on our public resources. In fact, he dedicated his whole working life to this country and then served the people in his home city of Edinburgh as their elected representative. He chose to live here, and in turn the people of his community chose him to represent their interests. When I read these proposals and hear the language being used by the Conservatives to promote it, I wonder what my father would have made of it, and what the Bill would have said to him. Our world and these islands are melting pots of cultures and religions, each of which adds value to our society and community in its own unique way. That is why I cannot support these measures, and I will join my colleagues in voting against the Bill in the Lobby tonight.