PMQs: Rishi Sunak takes questions from MPs in the House of Commons – watch live
our internal Market is the essential basis in which businesses are able to trade freely across the United Kingdom minimizing red tape and maximizing opportunities in Scotland 60% of outgoing trade is with the rest of the United Kingdom more than the rest of the world combines um the internal Market is beneficial for all parts of the United Kingdom it is however more important to those areas where there is a border therefore would the minister agree that the internal Market should be very helpful in maintaining and developing economic activity in the Borderlands area but we need also agree to consider a second Borderlands growth deal which would certainly help the area on both sides of the border and Mr Speaker my honorable friend is absolutely right the UK’s internal Market is essential to promoting economic activity ensuring that businesses in the borders in my own constituency car and Beyond benefits from FR FR frictionless trade with the rest of the United Kingdom the Borderlands growth deal with a265 million investment from the UK government was signed in July 2021 and is developing a range of projects to further boost economic growth hend back Mr Speaker to when the BBC has headlines and web pages titled why does Ireland have so much cash isn’t the reality that independent Ireland is successful in the European and World Markets compared to Scotland trapped in the UK Ireland with a c of 8.6 billion to spend in the society the UK has deficit and cuts parting people so can the minister remind us what is the size of the UK deficit um Mr um speaker I’m very clear that Scotland is better served by being at the heart of a strong United Kingdom and the spending figures of the um Scottish government are are very clear in terms of the dependency of it being part of the UK to support vital Public Services like the NHS schools and the transport Network you’re Malcolm M Stuart malcol McDonald right let us move to Barry Sherman Mr Speaker um Mr Speaker H water quality policy is a devolved policy matter in Scotland the Scottish government is responsible for biodiversity in rivers and streams in Scotland not the United Kingdom government it would be for the Scottish government to take action on this vital area is it is it not the truth that Scottish water and streams and rivers are purer and cleaner because the Scottish people rejected privatization of water and led by Scottish labor made sure that we had Scottish water in the public realm and delivered clean water for everyone Mr Speaker what the honorable member is absolutely wrong um according to a recent report untreated seage has been released into Scottish Waters and seas more than 58 8,000 times over the last 5 years but only 4% of seage overflows in Scotland are actually required to be monitored unlight and unlike in England and Wales where nearly 100% are monitored thanks to the efforts of this government unlike this government the Scottish government and Scottish water are failing to take the tough action to monitor sewage overflows and protect our very important waterways you number 11 Sir Mr Speaker this government is committed to protecting Free Speech it is the responsibility of the Scottish government and the Scottish Parliament working with police Scotland to ensure that the hate crime legislation is implemented and enforced in a way that protects freedom of speech and has the confidence of people in Scotland Mr Speaker the Scottish government’s hate crime and public order Scotland act came into Force this month it’s already having a chilling impact on free speech so what lessons can the UK learn from the introduction of this poor legislation in Scotland well yes and police Scotland already have stretched resources not least because they’ve been checking up on the S&P finances for the last three years but but M but Mr Speaker he’s absolutely right we do have concerns that legislation could have a potential chilling effect on Free Speech but it’s for the Scottish government to speak to its own devolved laws and for my part I believe it’s an awful piece of legislation it lacks clarity as to what constitut and offense and importantly my right honorable friend the Prime Minister has made it very clear that the UK government will not enact similar legislation Jo the select committee Pete wish never before has such rubbish been uttered about a piece of legislation has been uttered about the hate F act in one week the Tories have tried to repeal this and given that this mainly consolidates existing legislation this will leave us unprotected Against islamophobia Racism and homophobia will he now issue one of his famous Colonial decrees and tell the Scottish stories to back [Music] off well well Mr Speaker first of all those laws already existed that’s the important thing secondly I was right about police resources the 8,000 hate crime reports in the first week that is more there was in any of the seven preceding years this is a ridiculous unnecessary piece of legislation we now come to PL questions I know culus in osw question one please Mr Speaker I know that the thoughts of the whole house are with the people of heal in East London following yesterday’s appalling attack such violence has no place on our streets it’s absolutely heartbreaking that a teenage boy has died and I can’t imagine what his family are going through and we send them our heartfelt condol es and offer our very best wishes to all those injured and I’d just like to reiterate my thanks to the police and other emergency First Responders for embodying the higher standards of Public Service under such awful circumstances and I know that our thoughts are also with those injured this morning in an attack at a school in Sheffield Mr Speaker this morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others in addition to my duties in this house I shall have further such meetings later today KR thank you Mr Speaker we already know that more than one in five teenagers are vaping with some experts describing this as an epidemic and yesterday new research suggested that teenagers who Vape could be at risk of exposure to toxic Metals potentially harming brain or organ development I agree with the prime minister in his wish to reduce the harms caused by smoking and vaping with the tobacco and Vapes bill will he agree with me that permitting football strips to be sponsored by vaping compan companies sends entirely the wrong message to young people and it’s now time to ban Vape companies advertising on Sports trips well Mr Speaker can I Thank The Honorable lady for her question obviously your decisions about Kit sponsorship will rest with individual teams but I do but I do but I do but I do agree with her that it is important we do everything we can to tackle the scourge of teenage vaping which is why I’m glad that she supports our bill which will clamp down on the marketing availability of flavors targeting point of sale purchases uh but also improving funding for trading standards to clamp down on those selling Vapes illegally to Children Dr Lisa [Applause] Cameron many thanks Mr Speaker my husband is a veteran and the defense of the country is the government’s first duty to protect people across the United Kingdom so can the pr Minister reassure the house that he has a plan in place to back our world leading armed services and does he know why the party opposite refused to back his plan well I can I start by paying tribute to my honorable friend’s husband and all our veterans for their service to our country and she’s right in the most uncertain times since the cold war that it’s right that we build our security protecting our values our interests and indeed our nation that’s why this government has taken the step to increase defense spending to 2 and a half% of GDP making us the biggest spender in Europe under NATO and when the later labor leader stands up I hope that he stops dithering does the right thing and confirms that he will back our plan to increase defense spending leader of the opposition K St uh Mr Speaker I join with the prime minister in his words about yesterday’s awful events at heel I’m sure the whole house will want to commend the First Responders and send our deepest condolences to the family of the 14-year-old boy who was murdered and I joined with the Prime Minister his remarks about the attack in the school in Sheffield as well I know everyone in this house will be delighted to see his majesty the king returning to his public duties and looking so well and we all wish him and the Princess of Wales the best in their continued recovery I’d also like to welcome the member for Central suffk and North ipswitch to his place on these benches after nearly two decades as a Tory politician and an NHS doctor Mr Speaker he’s concluded that if you care about the future of our country an R&S then it’s time for change it’s time for this changed labor party and ass off today as of today he’s our newest labor MP but I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that I hope he loses that title on Friday Mr Speaker when a lifelong Tory and doctor says that the only cure for the NHS is a labor government isn’t it the time the Prime Minister admits he has utterly failed prime minister well Mr Speaker I’m uh I’m glad to actually see The Honorable gentleman from in the house today and but that’s but that’s because but that’s because that’s because he recently pointed out that residents of his local labor Council are and I quote in his words charged much more council tax but in return receive lower quality services now he’s he’s been wrong about some things recently but on that point he’s absolutely right and this week people everywhere should vote [Applause] [Music] conservatives he he comes out with all that nonsense but he locks himself away in Downing Street bunker moaning that people aren’t grateful enough to him the reality is T MPS are following Tor voters in concluding that only the labor party can deliver the change that the country needs and I say to those Tory voters if they believe in a better Britain then they’re safe with this changed labor party and it’s for them Mr Speaker Mr Speaker in the two weeks since we last met at this dispatch box has the Prime Minister managed to find the money for his completely un funded 46 billion promise to scrap National Insurance Mr Mr Speaker of course we addressed that a few weeks ago and I’m happy to address it again but I know I know that economics is not his strong point but but he might do well he might do well actually to listen to a shadow education secretary who who just this morning said no that’s not how it works Mr Speaker indeed the IFS have also said the link between National Insurance and public services funding is illusory just like Labor’s economic plans Mr Speaker but it’s Crystal Clear there’s one party that’s going to deliver tax cuts for working Britain and it’s the conservative party that was a long rambl whoever is banging the furniture will have to pay for if you damage it can we have life we are not at the 64 now come on Prop well that was a long rambling non-answer to the question which is has he found the money to fund his 46 billion promise to abolish National Insurance and whenever he’s asked about the date of the election or people’s pensions he acts as if answering straightforward questions is somehow beneath him but pensioners and those who are planning their retirement deserve better than his contempt for their questions because if 46 billion were cut from its funding the value of the state pension would almost half so I don’t apologize for asking him again Mr gules you’ve got the next question you’re not going to reach and you got a 10-minute rule Bill I’d be quiet for a while if I were you sorry the opposition so I don’t apologize for asking on their behalf again whether he will finally rule out cutting their state pension to fulfill the enormous black hole in his spending plans m m Mr Speaker of course course we can rule that out and The Honorable gentleman should stop scare mongering because it’s thanks it’s thanks to the triple lock that we’ve increased pensions by £3,700 since 2010 and they will rise in each and every year of the next Parliament but it’s labor that always hits pensioners hard it’s his mentors Blair and brown that broke their promises raged penson taxes by £118 billion and delivered an insulting 75p rise in the state pension as one former labor adviser just said Brown destroyed our pension system they did it before they’ll do it again labor always betray our pensioners Mr Speaker it’s clear he can’t answer the question where he’s going to find this 46 billion he said luckily for him no that’s where he said it’s not coming from it’s not say where it’s coming from luckily for him one of his peers Lord Frost yes him again does he says to solve the tourist spending plans the state pension age should be raised to 75 Now understand L that will cause some alarm so will the Prime Minister rule out forcing people to delay their retirement by years and years in order to fulfill his 46 billion pound black hole Mr Speaker I’ve answered this multiple times to The Honorable General I’m happy to say again this is the party that has delivered and protected the triple lock but I know Mr Speaker ultimately he’s not worried about any of this because we all remember that he’s got his very own personal pension plan I think we we all remember it Mr Speaker indeed it comes with its very own special law it was called the pension increase scheme for K stacus it’s literally one law for him and another one for everyone else he wants to abolish National Insurance it’ll cost £46 billion and he won’t tell us where the money is coming from We’re No closer to an answer I’m going to persevere because last year the Prime Minister was apparently drawing up plans to remove the winter fuel allowance from pensioners his pay Master General went a step further he said these are the sorts of things that we need to look at so will he now rule out taking pensioners winter fuel payments of them to help fund his46 billion black hole M Mr Speaker it it was this government that just this winter provided double the winter fuel payment to support pensioners but what is Crystal Clear Mr Speaker is that we believe that the double taxation on work is unfair Mr Speaker we believe that hard work should be rewarded and that’s why this week we’re cutting taxes by £900 for everyone work but in contrast Mr Speaker it’s Labor’s newest Tax Advisor who thinks pensioners should be taxed more that’s his words Mr Speaker this advisor calls them coders he thinks that supporting them is a disgrace and he believes that their free TV licenses are ridiculous Mr Speaker it’s labor who hit pensioners with tax after tax and they would do it all over again Mr Speaker is it any Wonder but his MPS are following Tory voters in queuing up to dump his party and even even the Mayes that he’s apparently pinning his political Survival on don’t want to be seen anywhere near him because until he starts sting out how he’s paying for his fantasy economics he’s got a completely unfunded 46 billion pound promise that puts people’s retirement at risk how does it feel to be one day out from elections with the message vote Tori risk your pension Minister well Mr Speaker tomorrow voters will have a choice and it will be a choice it will be a choice between Mayors like Andy Street and Ben hton who are delivering or M like sadique Khan who who just simply virtue signal Mr Speaker it’s higher taxes more crime and you with labor or it’s lower taxes and better services with the conservatives that’s the choice from West to tside to London there is only one choice vote conservative Mr Speaker we can see the Rwanda deterrent is working and we’ve now deported our first illegal migrants but unsurprisingly labor just don’t care the shadow Home Secretary is busy posing for picks encouraging War boats to come over the leader of the labor party said he cancel the round of flights he took a knee when sing letters stopping us deporting illegal foreign National offenders who committed crimes like murder and rape and he do a deal with the EU surrendering our borders to 100,000 legal migrants isn’t it right prime minister that only the conservatives will stop the votes and cut legal migration well my honorable friend is absolutely right Mr Speaker our plan is working legal migration the latest figer show down by 24% student dependence down by 80% but we all know Labor’s big idea it’s to scrap the Rwanda plan even when it’s operational Mr Speaker but as one senior labor advisor said to Andrew Mar just yesterday we can’t just come in tear it up and have nothing to put in its place I’m sorry to break it to them but that’s exactly their policy while we’re getting on stopping the boats all labor would do is stop the planes SMP leader Steven Flynn thank you Mr Speaker on Monday the Armed Forces Minister was neither able to confirm nor deny that UK troops May soon be deployed on the ground in the Middle East now the public watching will be hoping that members of this house do not have a short memory when it comes to the potential deployment and involvement of our military in the Middle East so can I ask the prime minister to provide some much needed Clarity is he giving active consideration to the deployment of UK forces in the middle e least yes or no Mr Speaker you wouldn’t expect me to get into any operational planning details but what I will say what I will say is we are absolutely committed to supporting International efforts to get more humanitarian Aid into Gaza which is something I think the whole house would support by Lan cire we’ve obviously tripled our Aid commitment and right now together with the US Cyprus and other partners we’re setting up a new temporary Pier off the coast of Gaza to get Aid in as securely and quickly as possible Steven F Mr Speaker let’s all be in no doubt Aid is required in Gaza and it is required because when people are not being bombed they are starving to death the solution to that is a ceasefire and the opening of safe ground air routes not the involvement on the ground of UK military personnel these are dramatic and potentially dangerous developments so will the Prime Minister confirm to the house today that before he makes a decision all members will be afforded a vote Mr Speaker I’m I’m not going to apologize for our Armed Forces playing a leading role in supporting International efforts to get more Aid in and indeed we are sending Royal Navy support ship RFA cardigan Bay to the region to support that effort but when he talks about this conflict the fastest way to end this conflict is to ensure that we have a hostage deal that gets hostages out Aid in and for there to be a sustainable pause in the fighting and it seems clear that there now is a workable offer on the table so I hope he joins with me in encouraging all parties including her Mass to accept that deal so we can move towards a sustainable solution Bill wig my right honorable friend’s decision to cancel hs2 led to 207 million for heritage’s potholes and trans infrastructure Herford hospital has a new Ward new Wards more beds and a new Diagnostic Center on the way 35 million has been allocated to the river y recovery plan inflation is down the Rwanda bill has been passed and defense spending is increasing does my right onal friend agree with me that if he carries on like this he’s going to win the next election well Mr Speaker thankful for my honorable friend in highlighting the work that the government’s doing whether that is increasing uh our defense spending to keep us safe securing our borders with our Rwanda act cutting taxes by £900 raising the state pension by £900 and I’m also pleased that locally in Herford share we are filling in potholes helping to save the riverwi and improving local Health Services it shows crystal clear that it’s the conservative government that has a plan and is delivering a brighter future for our country car luas thank you very much Mr Speaker in February his foreign secretary said it would be difficult for GR a ground offensive on Rafa to avoid harming civilians and destroying homes just yesterday his Deputy foreign secretary admitted he was struggling to see how such an attack could be compliant with International humanitarian law all the signs are that Netanyahu is about to defy the International Community an attack on the 1.5 million Palestinians Sheltering in is imminent if that attack begins will that be the moment when the Prime Minister finally finds the moral backbone to ban arms exports to Israel and if not how much more suffering has to happen before he acts to prevent further UK complicity in crimes against humanity well Mr Speaker what the honorable lady did not acknowledge at all is that Israel suffered an app fall in terrorist attack that kills hundreds of its citizens and it does have the right to defend itself now of course as I’ve been Crystal Clear we want to see humanitarian law respected and ader to by all parties too many civilians have been killed and we do want to see Israel take greater care to avoid harming civilians I’ve made these points repeatedly to prime minister Netanyahu specifically about the impact of any military incursion into Rafa and we continue to say to the Israelis at all levels that we want to see more Aid going in and bring about a hostage deal so we can move towards a sustainable ceasefire Andrew SL the 60% increase in funding for special educational needs and disabilities is extremely welcome but the challenges around the recruitment of community pediatricians mean that some children in Lon buzer Dunville and H Regis are waiting too long for an assessment what can the NHS do to attract more of the 39,000 additional doctors recruited under this government into Community Pediatrics as a specialty which is incredibly rewarding and important yeah yeah my honorable friend is right and I know he joins me in welcoming the significant action that we’ve taken already to improve Children’s Health whether that’s reducing sugar in children’s foods but the 600 million pounds we’ve also invested to improve the quality of sport and physical activity in schools uh the NHS has established a special group to ensure that the recovery of Pediatric Services keeps Pace with that of adult elective care too and I know that he will be pleased that the NHS long-term Workforce plan that we have fully backed doubles the number of medical school places in England increases specialty training places and that will increase the size of the pool from which community community pediatricians can be drawn in the Future alist car Michael thank you I know that you Mr Speaker want to join me in sending condolences to the friends family and colleagues of our former colleague Lord Andrew stunnel who served with exceptional diligence and Grace as MP for Hazel Grove in this house and who passed away very suddenly on Monday Mr Speaker when the BBC ends longwave radio transmission next year there will also end access to electricity tariffs like total heating with total control relied on by almost 1 million households across the United Kingdom switching to smart meters is not going to fix this for most people not least because the rollout program is so far behind so will the prime minister or possibly his secretary of state for energy get the energy companies the regulator and the customer groups together so that we can stop passing the blame around and find a solution that does not yet again leave people in the highlands and islands behind and out in the cold well Mr Speaker I understand that an ingredient has now been reached to ensure that radio Tes switching services will continue until June of next year and offg are also engaging with energy suppliers on their plans to support consumers through the transition whilst households that are currently covered by the service shouldn’t be disadvantaged by the switch off it’s energy suppliers who are best place to advise on tariffs for those who have been switched to a smart meter however I will make sure that the right honorable gentleman does get a meeting with the relevant minister to ensure that his constituents are not left behind during the transition P all this thank you thank you thank you very much Mr Speaker the east of England is playing a lead role in delivering the UK’s energy security and without our contribution the country will not be able to successfully transition to a renewable energy Supply system in recent months our Coast has taken a battering and projects like the low star flood defense scheme have been postponed will my right honorable friend ensure that government departments are fully coordinated so as to provide the region with good supporting infrastructure proper protection for Coastal communities and every opportunity for local people to take up exciting new jobs Mr Speaker we are leveling up across the United Kingdom and investing in places that need it most including as my horable friend rightly highlights our Coastal communities almost a billion pounds of leveling up funding has been allocated to the east of England including 75 million for Coastal places I know that he welcomes the town deal for lowest off in particular but I will ensure that my honorable friend gets a meeting with the relevant minister to discuss how we can further support his region its role in our energy security but particular its Coastal communities dear Drew and Mr Speaker the Green Peace group une Earth found 36 supposed Grassroots campaign groups which were actually administered by conservative staff and activists and were forums for vile racism anti-Semitism and islamophobic attacks on sadik Khan now while here of other such coordinated efforts around anti 20 m per hour zones in Wales can the Prime Minister shed some light on these Shady groups spreading abuse their funding their links to his party and whether he is aware of similar operations existing elsewhere in the UK If he won’t will he at least commit today to investigate and take action to tackle the sources of this rubby gutter politics from you Mr Mr Speaker I’m not aware about about the topic that the hon lady races but but but I’m not going to make any apology for conservatives pointing out the record of whether it’s the S SMP in Scotland or the labor government in Wales because that’s exactly what democratic process is about she might not like it when we highlight their record but we will keep doing so that we can deliver for people across the United [Music] Kingdom thank you Mr Speaker I welcome our government’s commitments to boosting defense spending and supporting Ukraine made possible by this conservative prime minister’s International Leadership and sound management of the economy my constituents have been doing as proud supporting Ukraine like the pop Place Garden Center delivering ambulances medical equipment and supplies and Steve Hodson providing vital Aid would the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to my constituents and people up and down the land for their support for Ukraine and reaffirm that we will continue to stand with Ukraine for the sake of freedom democracy and Global Security I join my honorable friend in thanking people up and down the country including the Fantastic work of his constituents in supporting the Ukrainian community in the face of Putin’s illegal Invasion we remain steadfast in support of Ukraine and in total since the War Began we’ve pledged over 12 billion pounds of Aid to Ukraine last week we announced an additional half a billion pounds of funding which will be used to deliver uh much needed ammunition air defense and Engineering support and drones but more importantly and president zilinsky welcome this we are able to now say that we’ll continue with this level of support for as long as it takes because of the historic increase in our defense spending and it’s Crystal Clear that on this side of the house we can say that our support to Ukraine will never waver margar thank you Mr Speaker in 1969 my constituent Georgina Jacobs gave birth to to a baby boy who she named Robert sadly Robert was born asleep and in those days the hospitals would ask the father to collect the baby’s body take it to the cemetery and leave it there for burial for 53 years Georgina didn’t know exactly where Robert was buried when she eventually found him she shared her story on social media and other mothers who’d been through the same experience got in touch since then Georgina has located over 60 babies on behalf of grieving parents and has deservedly been presented with the WHL award for her achievements will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating Georgina on her award and on having brought Comfort to so many parents and families and will he on behalf of all previous governments apologize for this form of practice with left grieving parents with nowhere to visit their buried children well can I thank and commend The Honorable lady for raising this case and just pay tribute to Georgina for what she is doing I often say that one of the most incredible things about doing this job is meeting people like Georgina who have suffered tragedy in their lives but then use that to campaign and Inspire and bring about a better life for everyone else she’s a prime example of that she deserves nothing but our praise and admiration and I’m so pleased that she’s brought Comfort to so many other people too thank you Mr Speaker Mr Speaker since I was elected in 2010 rugby seing employment grow by nearly 6,000 with 10% more of my constituents in work much of which has been driven by investment from Advanced Manufacturing in places such as ansy part where we’ve got the manufacturing Technology Center which the Prime Minister visited high temperature Research Center Rolls-Royce Parker megot fuk and the London electric vehicle company given that every labor government has left office with unemployment higher than when they came in can the Prime Minister see any reason why anybody would want to put this fantastic progress at risk my uh I I was pleased to see for myself on a recent visit that my honorable friend is a great Champion for his constituents in rugby and I was very pleased to see the thriving local Technology and Manufacturing industry which will help us deliver on our Ambitions to make the UK a science and technology super power and he’s right that we do have a record with 1 million fewer workless households unemployment near record lows and he’s also right that we need to stick to that plan because that’s how we’ll deliver the long-term change that our country needs and deliver a brighter future for families up and down the country including in his constituency call call thank you Mr Speaker hypocrisy needs called out and everyone in this house will recall the former Irish Prime Minister in Brussels with a photograph of a bombed Customs post lamenting that any border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was unworkable it was in breach of the Belfast agreement and could result in such troubles again the hypocrisy of the Irish government from such a position has not been lost with the Irish police now task to patrol the Border protect from the unsubstantiated unfounded 80% figure of Asylum Seekers who supposedly make their way to the Republic of Ireland from the UK via Northern Ireland when actually the reverse is true will the Prime Minister Challenge and call out these actions and confirm what representations he has made to the Irish Prime Minister and the Justice minister to respect the Integrity of our yeah well the house will be aware that we have made commitments to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and The Honorable lady makes a very important point that the Irish government must uphold its promises too we can’t have cherry picking of important International agreements uh and so the secretary of state so the secretary of state is seeking urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the border and I can confirm that the United Kingdom has no legal obligation to accept returns of illegal migrants from Ireland now it’s no surprise that our robust approach to Illegal migration is providing a deterrent but the answer is not sending police to villages in Donal it’s to work with us in Partnership to strengthen our external borders all around the common travel area that we share so Desmond sway Mr Speaker I was the Lord commissioner that signed the right honorable gentleman’s special pension into law he owes me one but the prime minister is Right labor 75 P was an insult to pensioners yet last year our triple lock afforded pensioners the highest increase in 30 years the prime minister is going to continue to deliver for dignity in retirement isn’t he well my right honorable is absolutely right that we will provide dignity to all those in retirement that’s why we introduced the triple o and that’s why this year the state pension is Rising by £900 I’m also proud of our record to bring 200,000 pensioners out of poverty and I can also say as I’ve said previously that the state pension will increase in each and every year of the next Parliament and as he reminds us about the 75p increase unlike labor pensioners in this country can trust the concern conservatives Mr Speaker in only one of the 194 local Authority areas in England are NHS ambulances meeting the national response time targets for responding to potential heart and stroke victims does the Prime Minister know which one it is Mr Speaker when it comes to ambulance waiting times in A&E of course there’s more work to do but the place where they are the worst in the country is in labor on Wales Mr Speaker thanks to our plan we’ve seen an improvement in A&E and ambulance times this winter over last winter we have 800 more ambulances on the road faster discharge out of our emergency care centers and 10,000 virtual W beds now virtual W beds of course as I said there is more to do but the contrast of labor on Wales is Crystal Clear it’s the worst A&E performance anywhere in Great Britain Mr Speaker for six months thousands of my constituents have lived with foul polluted air from the withy Hedge landfill site the company is owned by somebody with previous convictions for environmental crimes and who a few months ago gave £200,000 to help vaugh gething become first minister of Wales after another of his other companies was loan £400,000 from the Development Bank of Wales overseen by the then economy Minister Vaughn gething does the Prime Minister agree with me that this serious matter demands independent inves a it’s not some internal labor party matter and ultimately that company needs to get out of my constituency and let people in pire have their quality of life back well my uh my honorable friend brings up an incredibly important issue and I know that people in Wales are concerned about the relationship that he mentions and I also agree with him on the need for transparency and an investigation regarding the Welsh labor leader because it’s very clear that the situation is is the situation is not at all transparent and answers are needed thank you very much Mr Speaker Mr Speaker it’s been revealed by The Observer newspaper that the Conservative candidate for the mayor of London is actually a member of the six Facebook groups which was mentioned by the member for Edinburgh North and they are full of islamophobia anti-Semitism and the most disgraceful incitement to damaging property and the worst bit for those of us who are in the the house when our members of parliament were taken death threats to the current mayor of London Mr Khan will he close down these Facebooks which have been begun by conservative members of Staff begun by conservative members of staff and will he investigate the role of the current candidate and her membership of those disgraceful racist Facebooks well M Mr Speaker the election tomorrow will be for on the substance of the issues that London has faed and the labor record is Crystal Clear house building in London has collapsed knife crime is rising mayoral taxes are up 70% and drivers have been hit with ules charges and the labor mayor just simply panders to unions and has decimated London’s nighttime economy that’s his record that’s how he’ll be judged and conser people across London know that they will be safer with the conservatives with lower taxes and better Services fin question Ken Bradley thank you very much Mr Speaker uh today Mr Speaker is Staffordshire day where we celebrate all the brilliant things about the county of Staffordshire so would my right honorable friend join me in paying tribute to our brilliant police fire and crime commissioner Ben Adams and encourage the people of Staffordshire to vote for Ben tomorrow to make sure we keep Staffordshire one of the safest places to live work and visit well I I wish everyone a happy aord day and and she mentions the PCC elections and I think it’s right that she does because under this conservative and previous governments we’ve cut crime by over 50% delivered 20,000 more police officers but people with a labor police and crime commissioner are more likely to be victims of burglary twice as likely to be victims of robbery and as I said last year knife crime in London went up by 20% the facts simply speak for themselves vote conservative for safest streets that completes prime minister’s questions we’ll let the front benches clear to the first of the statements I call Minister Tom PE yeah yeah yeah thank you Mr Speaker with permission I would like to make a statement on immigration this government is committed to reducing immigration into the United Kingdom both legal and legal immigration legal immigration has risen in recent years in part because we’ve extended the hand of friendship to people fleeing conflict and persecution in Ukraine Hong Kong and Afghanistan that was the right thing to do but another Factor has been rising numbers of overseas students and workers and their dependents they’ve risen to unsustainable levels the steps my right honorable friend the Home Secretary announced last year to cut net migration will mean that around 300,000 people who would have been eligible to come to the UK will now not be we have restricted most students from bring in dependent family members increase the salary most skilled worker migrants need to earn to get a Visa by almost 50% to 38,700 stopped overseas care workers from bringing dependent family members with them rais the minimum income for family visas to ensure that people are supported financially and the 20% going rate salary discount for shortage occupations and replace the shortage occupation list with a new immigration salary discount list the latest estimates from the office for National statistics show that net migration in the year to June 2023 was 672 th000 this is 73,000 lower than 6 months earlier these are provisional figures and we need to go further but these are encouraging signs the latest statistics show Numbers app Ling for skilled worker Health and Care and study visas in the first 3 months of 2024 are down 24% on the same period last year we remove the right to bring dependence on the student visa route for those starting courses from the 1st of January other than on postgraduate research programs and government funded scholarships applications for student dependent visas have fallen by 80% since our changes came into effect from the 11th of March 201 24 we’ve stopped overseas care workers from bringing family dependence and required social care firms in England to be Care Quality commission registered in order to sponsor visas in the year ending September 2023 an an estimated 120,000 dependents came via this route in the first 3 months of 2024 applications for Health and Care visas were down 28% and this is just the start most of our changes have only just come into Force meanwhile we remain committed to stopping the boats following Royal Ascent for the safety of Rwanda act and ratification of our treaty with Rwanda we can now operationalize our plan to relocate illegal migrants to Rwanda Rwanda is a safe country that has repeatedly shown its ability to offer Asylum Seekers a chance to build new and prosperous lives it has a strong and successful trap record in resettling people hosting more than 135,000 refugees and it stands ready to accept thousands more who want to rebuild their lives and who cannot stay in the UK once flights begin we will have added another vital deterrence to crack down on the people smuggling gangs who treat human beings as cargo the first illegal migrants set to be removed to Rwanda have now been detained following a series of Nationwide operations this week operational teams within the home office have been working at PACE to safely and swiftly detain individuals in scope for relocation to Rwanda with more actively due to be carried out in the coming weeks the action is a key part of the plan to deliver flights to Rwanda in the next few weeks we’ve made Solid progress in stopping the boats but we need to finish the job the number of small boat arrivals fell by more than a third in 2023 our work with International Partners prevented more than 26,000 Crossings last year as well as helping to dismantle 82 organized crime groups since July 2020 our new agreement with Al Albania has cut Albanian small boat arrivals by more than 90% And we recently signed a groundbreaking deal with frontex the European border and Coast Guard agency marking another crucial step in securing our borders an initial cohort in the thousands of suitable cases for removal to Rwanda has been identified and placed on immigration bail with strict reporting conditions we have a range of measures in place to ensure that we remain in contact with individuals including both face Toof face and digital reporting immigration enforcement have a range of powers to trace and locate any individuals who have scond as well as a dedicated team of tracing officers who work with the police other government agencies and Commercial companies to help Trace individuals and bring them back into contact it’d be inappropriate of course to comment further on operational activity Mr Speaker immigration has enriched this country beyond measure but it needs to be sustainable and it needs to be fair legal immigration should be focused on helping those in genuine need and on ensuring that our economy has the skills it needs in order to flourish it is simply not right for those who can afford to pay gangsters to jump ahead of those who would play by the rules and whose need is greater nobody needs to flee to the UK from a safe country like France illegal immigration and unsustainable legal migration both Place intolerable burdens on communities over time they will undermine support for immigration in general which would be a tragedy that is why this government has a plan which we’re putting into action there is further to go but we’re seeing the positive impact of it already I commend this statement to the house Shadow Minister Steven K thank you very much Mr Speaker and I thank the minister for sight of this statement but I have to say that this really is getting quite difficult to watch Not For the First Time The ministers come to that dispatch box desperately fishing for compliments when it is his government his Home Secretary and his prime minister who are the cause of the catastrophic state of both the work-based migration and Asylum systems this is their chaos their bin fire and yet they expect praise each time they half-heartedly attempt to throw a single teacup of water towards the Flames net m migration has trebled since 2019 to a barely comprehensible 745,000 and under this government the number of people crossing in small boats has spiraled from a few hundred in 2018 to tens of thousands every year so it was toe curling embarrassing to watch the minister here claim that he’s made an I quote solid progress on stopping the boat when this year the number of crosses are at their highest level on record more than 7 ,000 January to April it was excruciatingly painful to watch the Home Secretary bro boast on social media about removing people with no right to be here when the removal of failed Asylum Seekers has collapsed by 44% under this government since 2010 and the removal of foreign criminals has plummeted by 27% and when he’s completely lost track of 3,500 Asylum Seekers who he claims to be identified for deportation to Randa it is also painful to hear the government figures bragging in the media that their Rwanda policy is somehow a success because a single person who didn’t even cross the channel on a small boat has chosen to fly to Rwanda voluntarily with thousands of pounds of government money stuffed into his pocket by the Home Secretary Mr Speaker this is not a policy it’s a headline chasing gimmick a fiasco and a f labor has been absolutely clear that we reject the half a billion pound Rwanda scheme based on its unaffordability and its unworkability and that will only cover 1% of small boat Asylum Seekers and the government has no plan for the other 99% we will repurpose that money to smashing the criminal Smuggler gangs with our new crossborder police unit and a security partnership with europol and crucially our new returns and enforcement unit will ensure that more flight take off to other countries which remove foreign Criminal failed Asylum Seekers and Visa overstayers so that we can restore some control and integrity back into our Asylum system in a way that is firm fair and well-managed we’ll also end the use of 250 Asylum hotels and other inappropriate accommodation for Asylum Seekers which is costing the British taxpayer millions of pounds every single day Mr Speaker it is also by the way painful to hear the minister bragging today about a reduction of Health and Social care visas awarded as a way of bringing down net migration firstly based on such a small data sample secondly because this is only one sector of the economy and thirdly because the minister seems to care not one iota what this reduction in workers will mean for our elderly parents what is the impact assessment where is it and where is the plan to recruit local talent Mr Speaker just a few questions to the minister to end on net migration can the minister explain why net migration has trebled since his party pledged to lower it during the 2019 general election will he admit that the huge surge in work-based migration over recent years is evidence of this government’s total failure to deliver on domestic skills and training labor pushed the government into scrapping the unfair 20% wage discount on jobs and the shortage occupation list which allowed companies to undercut British workers by hiring overseas can he explain why it took so long for his party to steal our policy and honor Asylum home office sources have told the times that there are only 400 to 700 detention spaces reserved for migrants due for deportation to Rwanda can he confirm that this equates to less than 1% of the current Asylum backlog in the UK the Prime Minister promised to detain anyone everyone who crossed the channel on a small boat over 30,000 last year given that we only have 2,200 detention spaces what is going to happen to the remaining 28,000 the government’s immigration and Asylum policies have failed we need to put the grown-ups back in charge so that we can fix this broken system and once again give our country an asylum and immigration system that it could be proud of thank you Mr Speaker well what a quite extraordinary response um Mr Speaker the fact is that this is a government that has a credible plan to bring net migration down by 30 300,000 and all of those measures are now in flight and as I’ve been able to set out for the house it is beginning to deliver the results that we said it would and I will take absolutely no lectures from the shadow front bench about the issue of domestic employment I was one of the ministers in the DWP that was proud to bring forward the back to work plan the comprehensive reforms of the welfare system that we are taking forward as a government and we are also seeing enormous cross government join up to support more domestic workers into those roles that is the right thing to do to support people in this country to take on these roles and fill those vacancies and let’s not forget the record of every single labor government without fail which leaves unemployment higher at its time of leaving office than it did at the start what we’ve seen under this government is record low unemployment benefiting communities across the country and we’ve we’ve begun the process of delivering those measures in relation to Legal migration and we are also delivering when it comes to Illegal migration we have a plan we are now getting on and closing hotels 150 Asylum hotels have been closed that is a very positive thing it is the right thing to do to make sure that we accommodate people in appropriate accommodation but get away from the model of um providing Hotel accommodation for people what is their plan on that we have seen massive gains when it comes to Asylum decision making and productivity around those processes what is their policy on that we have seen Crossings down by over a third last year compared to the year before we have seen Albanian arrivals Falling by 90% again what is their offering to achieve likewise there isn’t one and we will continue to sustain the progress that we have made and we know from everything that has been said over the course of recent days that the Rwanda policy is beginning to have the desired effect and the deterrent of that is clear and when it comes to his meager offering I would just say this that we’ve already doubled funding for the National Crime Agency for organized immigration crime work we already have approximately 5,000 officials working on these matters within migration and borders that is all that they’re offering it virtually res resembles a blank sheet of paper Mr Speaker the truth is that they offer no deterrent they have nowhere to send people they have no plan they have no solutions they try to Bluff that they do but they’re kidding nobody they’re terrified that our plan is going to work they’re terrified that they’ll have to scrap it and they’re terrified that they have no alternative only we have a plan it’s delivering results and we will see it through thank you Mr speaker again no hint of a plan of how you deal with failed Asylum Seekers from countries to which they cannot be returned without the rander scheme uh I’m pleased with the progress that the minister has made on reducing net migration but I am worried about the figures that came out yesterday that of the 5,700 migrants have been identified for removal only 2,145 of them can be located and this reflects the evidence from the second perm secretary to the homeair select committee earlier in the year where some 17 uh th000 failed Asylum Seekers who should be removed could not be um located where are these people uh and what is the department doing about tracking them down and making sure they can be removed as needs to happen as swiftly as possible Minister well my honorable friend will appreciate that I can’t go into the granularity of operational work that is ongoing in order to ensure that we can deliver on this policy but what I can say is that an initial cohort of suitable cases of around 2,000 people have been identified for removal and have been placed on immigration bail with strict reporting conditions for those outside that group there is still a wide range of tools to maintain contact with them and that includes as I said earlier the face to-face and digital reporting and many individuals also reside within home office accommodation and we are confident and my right honorable friend the minister for countering illegal migration leads on this work but he is confident of the whereabouts once the decision to detain is made and this is just one of the cohorts of people who may be eligible for removal to Rwanda the policy is clear and we are getting on and operationalize it and that includes detaining people for the purposes of relocation s SMP spokesperson Allison thulas Mr Speaker it is hard to know where to start with this complete and utter driil this Minister comes here today proud of this tddy pathetic self-de defeating piece of fascist nonsense the Tories they don’t like it but Mr Speaker it is true and I will explain to them why because the home office have put out a the home office have put out Mr Speaker Mr Speaker Mr Speaker it’s factual they don’t like the truth the home office has issued a promo video this morning of people being detained and it absolutely turns my stomach a government that glorifies its state sponsored people trafficking plans as it cuffs people and takes them out their beds to be sent to another country against their will it is sickening Mr Speaker Mr Speaker these plans are damaging to our society to our economy to the people who need care to the people who want to love live and study here universities are up in arms about their Cuts uh to student numbers it makes absolutely no sense the draft um rules that the government have issued on adults and risk in Immigration detention were released this week but instead of action on the very serious recommendations of the brook house inquiry the home office is instead doubling down on their policy of indefinite detention and labor are going along with all of this shame on them Mr Speaker far from what the minister said small bo arrivals are up this year Randa is no deterrent because none of the other policies that they have had have proved as a deterrent and the thousands of people who that they want to send have have disappeared never to be seen again and who can really blame them Mr Speaker if they’re going to be plucked from their beds and taken away by ministers and sent to countries against their will indeed who can blame them and the risk also is that these people will end up being exploited because they have gone into hiding they will be exploited they will be trafficed they will be vulnerable why is the minister not acknowledging the impact of this policy will have on vulnerable people and finally Mr Speaker if it is indeed the case that the person that they sent to Rwanda has not been granted Refugee status in this country why are they not being returned to their country of origin is it perhaps that that country is actually unsafe and if that is true why weren’t the given refugees stat is here in the first place well what I would say Mr Speaker is that it’s perfectly respectable as a position to want to protect our borders it is right and proper to want to to ensure that we have a fair and balanced system of legal migration that is sustainable and I make absolutely no apology whatsoever and nor will this government or any of the ministers in the home office for placing front and center the determination to protect people’s lives we have seen too many lives lost in the channel at the hands of what are evil criminal gangs who take people’s money exploit them send them in unseaworthy vessels out to sea with no regard whatsoever for human life and candidly beyond that I’m not going to edify it with anything further D agree thank you Mr Speaker I very much welcome the fact that the minister is able to come to this house uh with the first encouraging signs of lower migration numbers uh which will be welcomed widely outside this house including I suspect in Scotland uh and does he agree with me that the lesson we should draw from this is that actually taking practical detailed measures to crack down on the exploitation of certain types of Visa routs is actually the way to make progress on bringing immigration numbers down rather than the windy rhetoric we heard from the opposition spokesman Minister my right honorable friend is obviously a very distinguished former home office Minister who had responsibilities in the immigration space I would argue that a lot of the measures that we have announced and that are now all in Flight really bu build on the earlier efforts of colleagues like him in these roles he’s absolutely right to say um that these are balanced and measured policies that we are taking forward that do deliver on the legitimate aim of wanting to reduce inflows of legal migration into our country to ensure fairness and to make sure that the model is sustainable that people who come here are able to be properly supported and I think that that is something that the British people strongly support and I entirely share his sentiment chair of the select committee Dam D joh thank you Mr Speaker uh the National Audit office have estimated that it’s going to cost £1,000 per person uh to fly them to Rwanda can the minister just tell the house which airline he will be using to transport people to Rwanda and what his what his estimate is of the number of people who will be sent to Rwanda in the first three months of the operation of the policy the chairman of the select committee who I have enormous respect and admiration for will understand why I’m not going to get into either operationally sensitive or commercially sensitive matters on the floor of this house we know and we’ve seen it consistently that there have been great efforts to try and fart this policy in a whole host of Senses over the course of previous weeks months and indeed years we are not going to be farted in that way moving forward we’ve made commitments we’re going to deliver on this policy and we will get on and do that there is a plan as the Prime Minister has said we will be sending a flight within the next 10 to 12 weeks that is where our Focus lies and it would be entirely inappropriate to share those Logistics on the floor of this house Mr Jacob thank you Mr Speaker as economically Mass migration has been shown to depress GDP per capita and as it is clear that it is easier to control a much higher number of legal migrants can I encourage the government to return to its promise of migration in the tens of thousands Minister again I’m not going to um set out today um what the government’s future Ambitions around this may be what I am able to say is that we have a package of measures that is delivering a reduction in net migration of 300,000 spanning various different um routs I think that that is a very credible offering to meet the ambition of the British people to bring those numbers down and not least for the reason that he touches on about the need for legal migration to this country needing to be sustainable when you consider for example that for 100,000 care workers we saw 120,000 dependents come with them I don’t think by any objective yard stick that anybody who is fair-minded would think that that is a reasonable position that’s why we’re bringing that to an end and I’m pleased that the measures we’ve introduced to deliver in results alist Karma thank you madam Deputy speaker the times reports this morning that the number of visas for care workers granted in March this year is 83% down on the figure from March last year so can the minister tell the house does he expect that reduction to continue if he does who will do the work that these carers would have done and what impact does he think that might have on the National Health Service we have committed to monthly reporting around the net migration measures that we’ve introduced to allow Parliament and others to take a view as to the progress that we are making there are very extensive efforts going on across government to employ more people um from our domestic labor force um I rather wish that liberal Democrat MPS were as enthusiastic as I am about the back to work plan and the work that we’re doing around Recruitment and Retention those are credible efforts that we are taking forward to try and support more people in this country already to into these roles we’re also working intensively to improve the processes around rematching individuals who are already here on the Health and Social care visas these are the right steps to take I’m not going to preempt um what the figures may look like in the course of coming months he’ll be able to look at them in the same way everybody else will in future months Kevin Foster thank you uh Madam Deputy speaker it’s was interested to hear some of The Minister’s comments today and see the impact of of things that I think safe to say probably me and him would have wanted to do slightly earlier than ended up being done such as the abolition of the 20% discount on the salt but what you agree the actual core problem at this is all too often people see immigration as the alternative to policies that affect the domestic labor market rather than as a as immigration policy being part of supporting those policies for example sectors and businesses that be very keen to get a meeting with him in his new role yet weren’t quite so Keen to get a meeting with him when he was Minister for disabil disabled people and trying to promote the disability confidence scheme what plans does the government have to make sure future migration policy clearly links up with our wider policy for the UK labor market and that it’s not open to just Lobby to try and avoid it well my honorable friend speaks with real Authority on this issue and of course with real experience and I well recall conversations that he and I had in previous ministerial roles that that both of us have held I think he’s absolutely right to allude to the fact that immigration ought not to be the first Port of Call when it comes to meeting our skills needs and when it comes to filling vacancies that’s entirely why this government has a coordinated plan when you take immigration into account but also reflecting the back to work plan and the reforms that we are introducing in relation to health and disability benefits and a whole host of other areas that should be our Focus I would argue there’s a very strong moral case for doing that too um but it’s the right thing to do to invest in our domestic labor force to get people into those vacancies and where there does need to be a practical approach to immigration we should look at that but it most definitely shouldn’t be the first Port of call Ian Paisley thank you very much um I I welcome the comments that have made with regards to Legal migration which of course is very important for many sectors in business in Northern Ireland however tur to the very important and perplexing issue of illegal migration can the minister say something about what the Irish Republic’s government said this week about pushing back rores to Northern Ireland can I confirm that the Irish Justice Minister made up the fact of 80% of all of their problems were stemming from Northern Ireland and can they say something about the Republic of arms courts claiming that nor that the United Kingdom was an unsafe destination to return people to in the first instance uh please assure me that Northern IR will not become on The Dumping Ground for the right-wing problems that are being faced across the EU what I would say to um the right honorable gentleman is that as the Prime Minister has rightly said and he made these points as well during the course of prime minister’s questions we are not going to accept returns from the EU via isand when the EU doesn’t accept returns back to France where illegal migrants are coming from in the first place to the the United Kingdom the UK government’s position is clear we of course um have regular and ongoing work when it comes to abuse of the common travel area that is right and proper and we also stand by our obligations under the Good Friday agreement but the position is as per that which the Prime Minister I would argue is made very clear uh Vicky Ford thank you Madame Deputy speaker chelsford is a very welcoming Community we’ve welcomed Ukrainian refugees the families of those Brave Afghans who stood beside our soldiers we’ve welcomed Hong Kong Chinese we have amazing domestic abuse Services we welcome women and their families from all over London and the southeast who’s fleeing Violent Men we’ve built thousands of new homes and because the London labor mayor has so spectacularly failed to build new homes we welcome social housing tenants from all across London but this cannot go on we have 400 families unable to find homes in temporary accommodation we have to control our migration I am delighted that he is closing 100 hotels please will he close the Atlantic hotel and the leg Street Flats in chelsford because chelsford has welcomed so many and we cannot home everyone sir I am very mindful of the fact that her community in chelsford have been incredibly generous as part of um the work that we have been delivering as a UK government in conjunction with communities to provide Sanctuary for those who are fleeing the most Dreadful conflicts around the world when you think about the response to Ukraine when you think about the response to Afghanistan when you think about the response to Syria as well as the situation in Hong Kong and she’s also right to touch on the issue of abuse within roots that is precisely why we are introducing greater SE QC oversight and accreditation into the Health and Social care Visa system but she also on the accommodation point I hear her representations we’ve had conversations about that what is critical to allow us to get on and close hotels across the country and to get the accommodation picture into a more manageable state is to reduce the inflows and what is clear is that only this government has a credible plan to reduce the inflows of people coming here illegally via small boats across the channel and we are going to see that through in order to make sure we can get on and close more hotels uh John McDonald I believe as the policiy is not being rolled out it seemed to be the brutal inhumane Financial Fiasco that that it is but yesterday what happened was is as Asylum Seekers turned up for their normal reportage their monthly reportage they were detained causing immense distress what will then neverita tobly happen is a number of those will then be sent to the detention centers in my constituency we’ve had experience of what happened when people are distressed in this way we’ve had suicides self harm and mental health breakdowns yeah could I have an assurance from the minister that the Charities that support Asylum Seekers when they’re detained for example care for C and others will have direct access to these detained individuals and yes that they will have access to legal advice de Minister um it is of course the case that there are ablished processes whereby people can access the support that is appropriate in the circumstances I would argue I I have a principal disagreement with him on this point around detention I do think that it is perfectly right and I recognize the S SMP don’t support detention either for the purposes of removal but I do think that it is appropriate where people are here who have no right to be here that for the purposes of removal they are detained but that that is done entirely properly in accordance with the law with the proper safeguards around that and as ever that will continue to be the case during the course of the work that is ongoing as part of the Rwanda relocations mark fris thank you Deputy speaker I welcome the statement and in particular the news that in some categories at least immigration is now finally beginning to fall on Asylum specifically the Irish foreign minister and former t-u Michelle Martin complained bitterly just a few days ago that large numbers of asylums Seekers were moving from Northern Ireland into the Irish Republic Sky News reported yesterday that the Irish government now seriously contemplating moving police officers to the border to interdict that flow which would effectively create a hard border on the island of Ireland which some of us were lectured for years including by the man who is today’s opposition spokesman that the Irish government would never contemplate under any circumstances what soever so the stench of hypocrisy is strong will the minister assure me we will never allow the Republic to return those people to Northern Ireland unless and until we can remove we can remove illegal cross-channel migrants to France and as for the re the contemptible remarks of the SNP spokesman at least the United Kingdom has a government which is more than you can say for Scotland this week my right honorable friend knows that this government is resolutely opposed to a hard border on the island of Ireland and I understand that the secretary state for Northern Ireland has requested an urgent meeting with the Irish government to seek assurances that there will be no adverse implications on the smooth operation of either the CTA or the Good Friday agreement um that I think is an important meeting and he’s right to seat that I again would reiterate the point that we would welcome a returns agreement with the European Union we think that it is right um that we explore those opportunities and um that is something that we will continue to pursue Joanna Cherry when I was first elected to this house we often debated safe and legal Roots but we don’t hear very much about that anymore many of my constituents are writing to me wanting a family reunion scheme for their relatives in Gaza I recently co-authored a report with Hela Kennedy recommending that United Kingdom United Kingdom governments have a humanitarian visa for women in Afghan in Afghanistan and Iran so can the minister tell me do the government have any plans to announce any safe and legal Roots before the next general election Minister the position is that um and I’m sure that the um honorable and learned lady has followed this closely that through the illegal migration act we made a commitment and that was reflected in the legislation to come forward and publish the cap and the statutary instrument that sits alongside that which will um support our efforts to be able to provide resettlement opportunities in this country for people in the years ahead that work is on track we will deliver on that commitment and I’ll be able to say more in due course Steve Brian in De care England appeared before my select committee and told us that the care sector was quotes blindsided by the change to ban overseas care workers from bring dependence to the UK the government’s own estimation of impact said the policy would not affect applicant numbers to come here and help look after our constituents yet today’s figures show Carew work applications have decreased by more than half now we all want to see a care sector Madame Deputy speaker sustained by domestic labor why wouldn’t we but with 152,000 vacancies to the end of March this year is this decrease the intention or the unintended consequence of these changes the position um that I have consistently described is that the situation around dependence has been unsustainable as I said in answer to an earlier question we saw 120,000 dependents coming with 100,000 care workers that is not a position that could realistically continue to be sustained it is very early stages when it comes to the delivery of these measures the um Health and Social care changes have only just come into Force I think that he will want to satisfy himself having looked at the figures across a number of months but I also would just reiterate the point that there are huge opportunities around um domestic recruitment there is enormous work going on within government with a focus on retention that is the right way um to deal with these challenges but there is still a Health and Social care Visa route available for people but in future and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that individuals without dependence will come they’ll still be able to come and that’s entirely appropriate uh Jeremy Corbin thank you madam Deputy speaker when the minister gave the same to the house he said that the government had extended the hand of friendship to those fleeing persecution and oppression is he aware that a considerable number of those people that are in Cal or across the channel and tried to get to this country are themselves victims of Human Rights abuse environmental disaster and Wars some of which this country has been involved in such as Afghanistan and his answer is to demonize them his answer is to try and force them to go to Rwanda shouldn’t he think for a moment of a sense of humanity about people who are in a desperate situation through no Faults of their own looking for a place of safety in a country that was invol involved in the war in the first place in Afghanistan I’m exceptionally proud of the work that this country and which has been supported by the home office and its teams have done as part of the resettlement efforts the enormous resettlement efforts that we have taken forward in recent years in fact only last week I had the real privilege to spend some time with a team um who had been supporting some new Afghan arrivals through the acrs I um was incredibly moved by that work those individuals have come through a safe and legal route and we will continue to see through those commitments the UK has played its part it will continue to play its part but what is not right in any sense is to give the impression that anybody ought to be getting in a small boat paying an evil criminal gang to do so coming across the channel risking their lives and we saw a young girl lose her life only last week nobody needs to leave those French Shores in order to find safety we do have safe and legal routes and it’s right that people come through those sir Edward Lee um 15 months after the government announced that they were taking over the whole of RAF scampton and putting 2,000 migrants there not a single one has arrived we fought the home office to a complete standstill everything we’ve said has been proved correct costs are rising exponentially from 5 mil to 27 million the buildings are decaying the runway is decaying the labor party have now joined my early day motion against this we’ve involved the leveling up secretary who’s now imposing all sorts of conditions on the home office will this excellent Minister he’s a really first class Minister now ensure that his attention is focused laser likee in working with us in doing what we’ve argued for from the beginning releasing the entire site to scampton Holdings so we can get the biggest and best leveling up we’ve ever had on a formal RF base my um right honorable friend is a tireless campaigner for his constituents he knows that I am exceptionally sympathetic when it comes to trying to deliver this regeneration project for Lincolnshire I appreciate entirely the enormous economic benefit and opportunity that that presents for people in the scampton area from a um amenity but also from a jobs perspective and we are working intensively with him and with the local authority to move this forward we do of course need to realize our accommodation Ambitions for that site in the short term but I also want to find a way forward and agree a way forward that means that those um regeneration um Ambitions can also be realized as quickly as possible uh cord thank you m debuty speaker we now know that uh it’s the government’s intention to pay board and lodging for 5 years for anyone voluntarily removed to Renda that’s a commitment that’s going to fall heavily on the next government if they’re even successful in getting anyone to a Rea so how much is this nonsense going to cost in um it’s fair to say that if we were to adopt the approach of his front bench and no doubt one that he subscribes to we would continue to have uncontrolled immigration to our country via the channel he offers no alternative solution to the one that we are taking forward as a government that is an unsustainable position I am conf confident that the Rwanda policy will help to bring to an end these Channel Crossings to put those evil criminal gangs out of business and get this issue under control that has to be right what is clearly unacceptable is to um parade around with no credible policy alternative and just pretend that everything’s going to be okay Jack you madam deput speaker it’s very encouraging news to hear about the progress on tackling both legal and illegal migration particularly on the operationalization of the Rwanda policy and I’ve pushed on a number of occasions for further schemes with other third countries because I think we need to see that deterrence and I’ve been previously told that we were waiting for the delivery of the Rwanda scheme so now that we have delivered the Rwanda scheme through uh Parliament could the minister L again at further schemes with other third countries as well so we can offer the maximum possible deterrence to those trying to come in here illegally my um honorable friend of course um is right on the point about deterrence um he has been very supportive of the work that we have done that has seen um Albanian arrivals Fall by 90% again that recognizes and brings forward the value that deterrence has I also know that the minister for countering a a legal migration has also been having conversations with the Vietnamese about the small boat arrivals that we’ve seen from Vietnam we will continue to work hard to deliver more International cooperation in this space and I also think it’s right that the Home Secretary is spending considerable amounts of his time and energy on informing the conversation internationally about what more we can do to tackle these migratory flows and we know that where we led the way when it came to announcing Rwanda others internationally seeking to follow an mlin thank you madam Deputy speaker uh yesterday my 21-year-old springborn constituent Abdullah Simi was detained um and he was then taken from Scotland to England a 10-hour journey I suspect because in Scotland you get legal aid so you’ll have legal representation now he has none he was taken uh on a 10-hour Journey given no water no food is that right is that acceptable what’s the reason for that he had his phone taken off him so he couldn’t contact anybody couldn’t tell anybody is that right is that acceptable what is the reason for that and also I’m not finished I’m not finished um I I I went to the home office this morning I emailed home office last night they refused to give me any information I went with this letter for for one of his colleagues and they refused to take the letter I am his MP I have got the right to know what is going on in his life and the right to try to represent him why am I being denied that and why is he being denied the rights that you enjoyed at the age of 21 um I would make the point that I am a British citizen who is in this country legally and the fact is it is right now if if the if the honorable lady allows me to just finish the point it is entirely right and proper that people are detained on a legal basis for the purposes of removal under this policy but there are always safeguards around that I will very gladly accept the letter from The Honorable lady and ensure that it reaches the right destination within the home office and we will of course in the normal way look very carefully at any concerns that she wishes to raise I recognize that she is entirely opposed to the policy objective that we are seeking to advance there is a principal disagreement there she thinks I’m wrong I think that she is wrong about this but on those specific points if she’d like to share them with me I will gladly ensure that she receives a full response uh Nigel Mills thank you the signs of a fall in net migration will be welcome across Amber Valley could I raise the concern a situation where a young UK National goes and works abroad for a while and then forms a relationship but now is isn’t yet earning enough to sponsor their spouse to come and live in the UK is there more we can do to help in that situation perhaps by at least clarifying the guidance that they can use actually both of their salaries to so they can meet the earning s there has been no change to the way in which um the various requirements can be met when it comes to the family Visa changes in relation to savings and the like and there is also we had a good debate on this last week in Westminster Hall there is also that important Safeguard around article 8 rights and as part of the consideration of any application all of those factors are given proper and due consideration to make sure that we get the right decisions on individual cases we do think that it is right to introduce those salary changes they are being increased incrementally um and they’re not being applied retrospectively but there is as I say that important Safeguard around article 8 rights uh Sammy Wilson speaker um first of all we have supported this policy Al OB with some reservations because we believe it is important to break the criminal gang model and also to ensure the stability of the United Kingdom but I must say I’m not very convinced today by the ministers organs we’re sending one person with £3,000 in their pocket to Rwanda and we’re still looking for half the people who are meant to be sending but this week the Irish government in an attempt to divert attention from its own domestic failures in housing and immigration has started a row about immigrants coming from the United Kingdom into the Irish Republic this usual is usual Brit bashing exercise that they engage in anyhow but can he and he’s been asked twice today and he hasn’t given an answer can he tell us what specific measures he will put in place to ensure that a cynical Irish government does not simply bus immigrants to the border and dump them in Northern Ireland the situation that he describes um would not be appropriate and it is of course a matter for the um Minister for countering illegal migration he leads on that work um within the home office what I can say to him again is that we have been clear that um if there is a desire for a returns deal that needs to be done with the EU in the way that I think the British people would rightly expect and when it comes to the earlier point that he made in relation to Rwanda this voluntary return that we saw is part of a very established approach to voluntary returns that was in in place even when the last Labor government was in office but we are now getting on and delivering the wider scheme the Prime Minister has been clear that we will operationalize that over the course of the next 10 to 12 weeks we are determined to send individuals with no right to be here to Rwanda to put out of business the evil criminal gangs responsible for the misery in the channel uh John stens uh thank you Madame Deputy speaker uh Minister i w e e for
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22 comments
Rishi why have you brought our country to its knees
All They do is ban stuff. Time to ban all governments everywhere. A failed experiment
Rishi Sunak the grinning prime minister, when the country faces it's grimmest future
We need the tories out. But Sir Starver isn't convincing me he'll be much better.
If the uk public vote for any of these two pathetic parties they should be ashamed of themselfs Both WEF puppets
2 simple rules for life;
No.1 – Never trust a tory
No.2 – Never forget rule number 1
Karma on starmer when he wouldnt say where his 28 billion for the NHS was going to come from ! tittle tattle stammering starmer
flynn worried more about gaza rather than scotland !
Paid a man £3000 to go to Rwanda under his own steam. Rwanda Act 😊😊😊😊😊.
I haven't voted for you sunak.
I see Labour are intending to uturn on the commitment to end zero hours contracts. You literally cannot believe a word they say.
That DUP MP reminds me of a boiled horse
Ending sick Note will not hide the governments failing of the pandemic
I'll give Starmer this – he has impeccable hair.
It's real and it bears his name: Pension Scheme for Keir Starmer QC (Regulation 2013) states Sir Keir is exempt from paying tax on pensions over £1m. How on earth can he oppose this for everyone else?
This country is dead ! Nothing works 14 years of disaster despair and pain cause and they know it, conservative MP's have far too many outside interests mainly for there own benefit.
where can i buy a suit like his ( norman wisdom style ) ??
Nice scottish accent for a kgb agent
Ira man talking related to martin mcguiness
Kgb abd ck also
What a waste of money all these MPs could save Uk billions revolution Uk only way
Stop hate speech boats chat getting boreing