Channel Crossings in Small Boats Debate

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Department: Home Office

Channel Crossings in Small Boats

Wera Hobhouse Excerpts
Monday 22nd November 2021

(3 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Priti Patel Portrait Priti Patel
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My hon. Friend makes a very important point. No one can dispute the fact that those who are seeking to claim asylum should do so in the first safe country. That is a long-standing principle, and it is one that we stand by.

Wera Hobhouse Portrait Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
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Clearly, this country was far more successful in dealing with illegal immigration as a member of the European Union than it is now, with five people removed compared with 263 before we left. In her answer to the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn), the Home Secretary was not very clear about the successor agreement to the Dublin regulation, so will she clarify who would be responsible for negotiating any such agreement? Is it the EU Commission or individual member states?

Priti Patel Portrait Priti Patel
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It is the EU Commission.