The noble Lord referred to the extension to 10 years of the period of waiting on indefinite leave to remain while seeking citizenship. That does not, I hope, apply retrospectively to people arriving now—people who came in on the understanding that the waiting period would be five years. I hope the M…
It is a privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, and I was delighted to add my name to Amendment 177. I have very little to add to his introduction of the amendment, but it is important that the Minister makes it clear to the Committee what the present position on refugee family reunion is. As…
My Lords, I support the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Bach. Had I been awake, I would have added my name to it, but I was sleeping in the Recess. He describes a situation which I do not think it is exaggerating to call critical. The numbers and percentages that he cites are shocking. The case …
So the Goschen/Empey number is neither here nor there. It is not a watertight compartment. The country can decide how much money to put into legal aid. There is also an offsetting benefit, which the Minister has been explaining, from speeding up the process, making sure that good decisions are taken…
My Lords, I concur with the noble Baroness’s point about proceedings lasting for ever, but one must not take that point too far. It takes one into authoritarian territory where we really should not be going.
All the points I wanted to make were made much better by the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton. …
The amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Murray, inspires me to join in. His reading of the refugee convention is one with which the House is familiar—we have heard it down the years—but it is not one that the world as yet accepts. It is not accepted by the UNHCR, which is the custodian of the conven…
I am inclined to agree with the noble Lord, but that does not lead me to have any sympathy at all for Amendment 203J.
My Lords, will the Minister have the White Paper consider, and perhaps consider for the Bill, the idea of setting minimum annual investment requirements? I do not know much about Ofwat, but I know a bit about Ofgem. During the time when I was on a power company board, our annual bids to spend our mo…
My Lords, I think the noble Baroness was a little unkind to the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Gower, who made an admirable speech: gallantry in a hopeless cause is always extremely impressive. I thought Owain Glyndŵr was speaking to us. I was reminded of the gallant knight in “Monty Python”, who has al…
If I may correct the noble Lord, the Australian arrangement was offshoring, not offloading.
My Lords, I support these two amendments in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, for the very reasons she gives. Clause 34 is very welcome and I am very glad that the Government have put it in, but it is very narrow. There is a considerable overlap between family reunion cases and evacuees, …
We are all on the same side here, and I appreciate the spirit of the Minister’s remarks. I appreciate that he stated that he will reflect on what we have said from all sides of the House.
It is true that there are alternative ways and that the UNHCR and the IOM can help. However, if you are in Afgh…
The thing I find odd about the argument just advanced, and, indeed, about the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, and the way in which he introduced it—splendid though it was—is the implicit assumption that if his amendment were to pass here, the other place would say, “Goodness…
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, although he will appreciate that I take a very different position in responding to this interesting and important debate.
Before I turn to the more controversial points, let me start with a point on which there is unanimi…
LordsStatutory Instrument23 June 20252 contributions
My Lords, it is an unusual pleasure for me to be able to support the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, but tonight my cup floweth over, since I am also able to agree with the noble Lords, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard and Lord Sikka. I agreed with almost every word that both had to say. The no…
There was a clear and welcome hint at the beginning of the Minister’s remarks that Drax was temporary, not here permanently. Are the Government considering framing an ordered plan, with a timeline to close down Drax?
I agree with the noble Baroness. In fact, I agree with everything she has said, with one exception: she implied that negotiations started under Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary. I took part in three negotiations over Gibraltar Airport, the first of which was for Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe, so …
The core of the problem is that the learning centre is too cramped, small and poky. I do not think it should be underground, but the real problem is that it is too small to tell such a huge story. What we have is a site that is too small for the Shoah but a project that is too big for the site. The …
My Lords, I really enjoyed that speech. I was thinking more of the “1812 Overture” than the “Rite of Spring”, given how many borders and immigration Bills I have been through here and in the House of Commons. I congratulate my noble friend the Minister. I thank him for his openness and willingness t…