16/03/2018 House of Commons

Order, order. The motion is that

this house to sit in private, As

many as are of the opinion, say

"aye". To the contrary, "no". The

ayes have it -- decision, clear the

lobby.

The motion is that this house do sit

in private. As many as are of the

opinion, say "aye". To the contrary,

"no".. Tellers for the ayes...

Please investigate the delay in the

aye lobby, which I have reason to

believe is not heavily populated.

Order, order.

The ayes to the left,

one. The noes to the right, 114

the

ayes to the left, one. The noes to

the right, 114. So the Noes have it.

We will now proceed to read the

orders of the day.

Unpaid Trial Work

Periods (Prohibition) Bill, second

reading.

Mr and spend and McNeill.

I

beg that the aye Bill now be read

for a second time. I found out from

the House of Commons rivalling

Philipp library the other day that

there is a shortage of welders in

the UK. Please bear with me. I met

an apprentice welder at the other

day, a 19-year-old who lives in

Canterbury Kent. A beautiful

historic town is Canterbury, I once

visited it and can attest to that.

This will then apprentice is doing

very well in college, and spends a

day every week in Dover with a

welding company. He is a focused

young man, he is motivated, he is

certainly looking forward to the

future. He is an asset to the

community, and an asset to his

neighbours, a burden on the body. He

has also multilingual, he speaks

four languages very efficiently. I

am not sure that is normal for

welders. I know at several welders

who can speak of least two language

is. He has got a great future ahead

of him, especially for the average

age of welders in the UK being 55.

We have a chronic shortage of skills

in the UK, particularly in welding.

This young man is a fascinating back

story. His journey to Canterbury was

a long one. He was previously a

refugee, having escaped Eritrea at

the age of 16 to avoid conscription

and the brutal military, and moved

through the Sahara, a fortnight in a

lorry and a fortnight in a pick-up

truck to Tripoli in Libya. He told

me that if anybody filled out --

fell out of the pick-up truck, you

would have been left behind, and to

be left behind Anisa have a desert,

the prognosis would not be great. He

mentioned that some bad things

happened to girls, and I will leave

that they are. From Tripoli, he

boarded a boat. The former Glenwood

is he speaks, one is English, and is

also fluent in Arabic, Aramaic and

his native tongue. They sailed two

days from Libya before being picked

up by a bigger boat, and Italian

navy ship which took them happily to

Italy. He has also picked up two

words of another language. Everybody

was very happy when they arrived in

Italy after crossing the Sahara and

the Mediterranean, they were taken

to a reception centre and given

plenty of food. That was at least

the first part of his journey. From

the reception centre, he then

travelled to Rome, and spent two

weeks living at a railway station,

before moving through France to the

famous Calais Jungle. He lived there

with other Eritreans for a while. He

told me that there could be tensions

between different groups and the

Jungle. Obviously people would be

stressed in that situation.

Thank

you for the story about the

remarkable young man. It amazed me

of a young woman I worked with

nearly a decade ago who was

separated from her mother on her

journey here, and his mother sadly

died before she could see her again.

Does he agree with me that these

incredible young people deserve so

much better than these avoidable

rules that caused so much human

misery, and would he urge other

members of the House when they think

about how they are going to vote

today, to think about those young

people and do the right thing?

I

thank the Honourable lady for her

intervention. She's simply sums up

what I have put together in a rather

large speech. -- succinctly sums up.

I expect a number of members will

want to make interventions, which is

welcome, because points like that

are welcome. Eventually, he made it

across the English Channel, in the

back of a refrigerated lorry. Things

were fine until somebody switched

off the exaggeration system, and

being in an unsolicited tight space

for 24 people got very hot.

Eventually, one of them contacted

the emergency services. They were

located by the GPS system on the

mobile phone. In December 2016, they

made the news. Luckily, none of them

were in any way badly injured or

medically affected by that

experience. They were then taken to

a reception centre in Kent. Before

he found his way to Canterbury,

where he lived in communal

accommodation with other refugees.

Over time in Canterbury, some people

volunteered to help with the

refugees at a refugee charity there,

and they got to know him. He now

lives with one of them. It seems

that Canterbury is quite the place,

it is not the stereotype that is

given by many in the newspapers of

people struggling and complaining

about migrants and refugees. In

Canterbury, people seem to be very

welcoming. There is a big Eritreans

community encountered very, which is

where he has gravitated to, and

Canterbury can really be quite proud

of the way it has treated.

My

honourable friend makes an

exceptionally powerful and

compelling speech. Does he agree

with me that his friend is one in a

long line of refugees from places

like Germany, Hungary, Iraq, who

have made a significant economic

contribution and other conservation

is to society across the UK?

Absolutely correct, and

unfortunately some people look at

this as being pounds, shillings and

pence. We should certainly look at

the humanity first. Was 19 and has

viable ambition, he will certainly

achieve a lot more than he has so

far.

Is it not the case that we need

to focus on our humanity? I

presented a petition from two of my

primary schools where they had done

a project putting themselves in the

position of child refugees. They

have drawn little suitcases with

what they would take, what was most

precious to them, and the thing that

struck me was that in every suitcase

was a photograph of their family. We

should be doing the same as them,

and if we are a bit too old to

imagine ourselves as children, can

we imagine the help and support we

wish others would give our children

in these circumstances?

Again, the

honourable lady makes a very

compelling point. If we look back at

our own histories, my own background

is how one Scottish and Ireland, and

certainly the last century, my

people have been in need of help

when it moved across areas of the

world. I think the people of

Canterbury can hold their heads up

high.

I just want to thank

information in my constituency --

thank information in my fantastic

constituency.

She is very welcome,

and can intervene on any further

mention of Canterbury as she

chooses. I was also given a blog

from one corner of the United

Kingdom, and this is the experience

of refugees in not just the United

Kingdom but other places, when you

get beyond the headlines and down to

people are, as the honourable lady

from Central Ayrshire side, it comes

to common humanity. In my own

constituency...

I am thankful for

him given me. I would like to

congratulate him not only on this

Bill but also his powerful speech.

The agree with me that the keyword

is refugee, and that people forget

what and who a refugee is? It is

somebody fleeing a place they love,

their home, they do not want to

leave, but circumstances that we

cannot even begin to imagine mean

that they literally grasped the

first things that come to hand, and

they flee their home, looking for a

place of refuge.

The honourable lady

is correct, and I will later quote

from one of our colleagues, the

member from Dundee West in the

debate on the 22nd of February,

which he says that the point of

being a refugee should be

remembered, why people are

travelling in that situation. I

thank her for her support on the

Bill, and also her colleague from

Bromley and Chislehurst, sitting

alongside my distant cousin, I

think. I will leave that, I do not

want to want in any more trouble!

Following what the right honourable

lady said opposite, that if the

Government today said that this bill

was wrong because it would act as a

pool factor, is it not true that it

is a push factor. People are fleeing

appalling conditions, and if we hear

from the Treasury banks the idea

that this bill would create a pool

factor, I think that we should vote

against the Government just on that

reason alone. We need to support

these people who are fleeing

appalling conditions.

The honourable

gentleman is absolutely right, the

blog that I have seen under the name

of the Government,... Hopefully the

Government will think again over the

worst they have chosen, because I

think that the member for Central

Ayrshire...

I thank the honourable

member for giving way, and may I

congratulate him on bringing this

important bill forward. Would he

agree that worse governments are

often constrained because they think

that the public are hostile to

reunions and immigrants, the reality

is that once the public know the

details, of the circumstances in

which the individuals concerned are

fleeing, then they are in fact a

very positive about this, the run

many examples of this in Liverpool,

when there have been threats at

times to remove people, the public

have rallied round those refugees.

I

thank the honourable lady for a

stellar point, that is correct. We

know that from our own experience in

here. When we start understanding,

we changed our minds about things,

and other people do the same.

Can I

congratulate my fellow island MP for

bringing this bill forward. The

important point that he made, and

used a very powerful word,

motivation. Those of us that have

seen refugees either in camps, or in

processing, without families, UCB

loneliness at .net this is, but when

you see them together -- you see the

loneliness at that -based is --

etched on their faces.

When I was

listening to the story on Wednesday,

then, I was uncertain in my mind

that I wouldn't have had the

motivation at my age or any other

age to go over the Sahara for four

weeks into Mac different transport,

and then to go into Mac different

boats. I can recall the first time I

was on about. It certainly wasn't it

doesn't experience. -- a pleasant

experience.

I am grateful for giving

way, and there is evidence that

diasporas in all parts of countries

and chambers, but every member of

this house has had the fortune to go

to and institution of high

education. Most of our lives have

been enriched by academics who

arrived as refugees, either from the

Nazis or elsewhere, but we have all

benefited directly or indirectly.

My

honourable cousin makes a fantastic

point, and it goes to show that we

have to see this in

multi-dimensions, because seeing

somebody as just a refugee in here

and now, not as an academic or a

welder leaves us in a narrow path.

May I congratulate my honourable

friend, who mentioned the correction

between his own constituency --

connection between his own

constituency and that in Ireland.

There are lessons to be learned well

over the last two and a half years

we have accepted 40 refugees are

families who are adding to the

diversity and the economy and the

long-term sustainability of the

entire UK. This is a positive thing,

and members opposite should vote for

it.

I absolutely agree, and I would

like to say that mention of

Canterbury by the SNP is by no way a

politically aggressive move.

As

further two points that have been

made elsewhere this morning, about

the fact that it has widespread

support throughout our communities,

and would he join me in

congratulating the inspirational

young people of the rights

respecting group of Hermitage

Academy in Helensburgh who have been

campaigning on and gathering

petitions on this issue for months

now, and there is edition numbers

1100 people in their towns of

Helensburgh, and when major liver

that petition to Parliament as they

will do soon, if possible, will he

join me and meet the inspirational

young group and welcome them to this

place.

I would be very glad...

Privileged in fact to meet the young

people of Hermitage Academy, because

I think that the steps and they

thinking that they have done... My

final mention of Canterbury, just to

say that Johannes is getting on well

with life in Canterbury, he has got

a good group of friends there, he

supports Manchester United, and I

shall leave that what it is.

LAUGHTER

If I could make some progress and I

would give way. Moving from

Canterbury to somewhere with an

easier pronunciation, to my

constituency, we have a good fortune

to have a young man that he was 17

who has written a blog that has come

to my attention. I think it is worth

reading out and giving boys, because

he is reading in a different forum.

"From The time when I was told I was

to travel to Stornoway, the first

thing that into my mind was, where

is that? It is in Scotland. All I

know about Scotland is that it is a

part of the UK, and it is cold

there. I didn't even think that

Stornoway was on an island in the

middle of the athletic. Loads of

things that are coming to me, bad

ideas, how would people be there?

How would the people look like? For

me, it was then unknown place. I was

worried about the language. I would

he have some England, -- English,

and I could improve by practising.

The most important thing that I was

the key about is how that people

would deal with my family,

specifically the women in my family

who wear the hijab, and it is

something safer the people where I

am going to. What I thought about

here is that everybody is looking

after themselves, nobody cares about

the rest, I was completely wrong.

Now I have got to say sorry for how

I was thinking about them. The thing

that surprises me most,

is the charity shops, event and even

a small shops, there is at least one

charity box. Volunteers, people here

deal with volunteering as part of

their duties, for a while I thought

that they got paid for that, but all

I know, it is a priority for them. I

ask myself, how do they do this, the

answer is that they feel for each

other, they love to do this, and

they love to say thank you. In

general, I like it here, it is a

island in the middle of the sea, but

you feel the life here. You can be

like anybody here. What can you do

more than an old man asking you

where you are from and after you

answer, he starts telling you, you

are very welcome in my city, we are

sorry about what is happening there.

What can I do for you? Please ask

for help when you need it.

Unfortunately, I didn't realise

that, but humanity first,... " we

have seen that from Canterbury, we

have seen that from a number of

places.

I thank my honourable friend

for giving way, I commend him for

bringing this bill today has. I am

incredibly proud that I have been

able to welcome a number of refugee

families from Syria, but in my --

can my honourable friend provides

reassurance to some of those who

have had to feed violence from some

close family members, that his bill

will not have an impact on their

safety?

Absolutely not, because this

bill is enabling averages here to

sponsor the... They will be choosing

who will...

I am grateful to the

honourable member for giving way.

This brought the member of --

element of humanity into this. I

know that certainly listening to the

words of his constituent, and how he

felt in anticipation of his first

visit to Stornoway, I have got to

say, the first time I went to

Stornoway, I felt much the same.

But, for the most part my misgivings

were ill founded.

LAUGHTER

I think, the significance of the

stories that we were hearing, and I

have similar expresses from my own

consistency, should surely

give some

succour to those who are thinking

about supporting this bill, but are

concerned about how it will be

scene. Clearly the message is that

there is a positive political

advantage to supporting this bill.

Nobody should be afraid of it.

Absolutely correct. I hope that we

see the honourable member at

Stornoway later.

Emburey grateful to

the honourable gentleman and can I

congratulate him. Will you join with

me and congratulate... Largest

refugees by a country mile in our

country.

Very pleased to thank that

council and congratulated. And it

brings me onto Aberdeenshire Council

that I was going to mention, as

well. Apparently there are a of

Syrians watching the debate in

Aberdeenshire, today. They are

watching it I am told on Facebook

with their hearts in their mouths.

Aberdeenshire Council needs to be

congratulated. Thank you to the Tory

councillors of Aberdeenshire

Council, and the Labour councillors

of Aberdeenshire Council, the

Liberals, Greens, independent and

the SNP councillors of Aberdeenshire

Council, and they have all united

today to support this bill. The

thing about this bill is that it

could have been introduced by any

member in this house. It is a bill

that is conceived by a partnership

of good Samaritan organisations, the

British Red Cross, Oxfam, the

refugee Council, the UNHCR, and

amnesty to name but some. This bill

has the support of MPs from seven

political parties. Conservatives,

labour, SNP, DUP, liberal, green. --

and paid country. This shouldn't be

a bill of party politics. This is

not a bill about red, blue, yellow,

it is about compassion and at the

honourable member for Orkney and

Shetland said just a few minute ago,

humanity.

Can I say that this debate

comes 46 years after my wife and I

took a family into our house, and we

just had a get-together. What I have

not heard from him, or the good

Samaritan organisations, is what

numbers of people would be eligible

under this bill, who are not already

eligible.

The honourable member

asked a good question, and from the

information that I have directly, a

number of years ago, it would have

been about 400, but it is probably

800 to 1000 at the moment you would

be helped. It is not a huge number,

but I thank him and commend him for

what he has done with refugees in

the past, and he sees the benefit of

that today in his own personal life,

and there are a number of examples

of that. Indeed, this bill has taken

the UK into line with the rest of

Europe. It has only brought it in

line. If I have only criticisms, my

bill is so small and unspectacular.

So I'm spectacular that we should

have no pub at all and passing this

bill. You would have to have a very

hard heart not to ensure these very

limited measures I ask for, today,

do not become law. Can I say how

grateful I am for the support of

people have done well in their

lives, but yet have made it their

concern and business to use their

position to help the least well off

in the world. Some of these are

celebrities are actors and

actresses, pop stars who have used

their position to highlight the bill

and give it their time, very freely

indeed.

Thank you for giving way,

and May I congratulate him on the

powerful speech that he has making,

and the amount of support he has

gathered. In my Livingston

constituency, people have come and

made their home, set up a business

battery claims leather sofas into

shoes and bags, and is now

supporting and employing to disabled

people in the West Lothian and

Livingston area. That is exactly the

kind of people that we want to

welcome into our community, who come

and make the fabric of our society

richer.

Absolutely. And it is a lost

of the host countries as they have

had -- it is the loss of the host

countries that have had to -- that

they have had to flee. It is mostly

decent members of the public who

have been writing, you can conceive

of the enormity of refugees, of

people fleeing to safety have had to

go through, and they're in their

droves have been very supportive.

Often, as members of Parliament, we

have got to see the issues that it

requires to put us in their shoes,

of physics this is quite dissimilar

to our own. That but our abilities

to emphasise at great -- empathised

at great stretch. How can we begin

to know what it is like to be a

refugee who has fled from Syria,

crossed seas, and then faced a

gruelling adversarial asylum system?

How can we feel what it is like to

be a 17-year-old in Eritrea, who had

escaped because he did not want to

be murdered like his brother because

he did not want to be forcibly

conscripted indefinite and into the

army. I'd don't know, and I don't

want to know, and I don't want many

other people to know about this in

future.

If you to support the honourable

member's Bill wholeheartedly. Many

of my constituents in Cardiff

Central, have written to me from all

persuasions backing this. I do not

have any concerns about the spill,

and I hope that of any members do,

the ball with those until committee

stage and passes Bill today.

I think

the honourable lady makes a

fantastic point, because it is to

the committee stage that people

should take their concerns. The

concerns will be minor, and if they

are in any way Major, they can be

addressed properly at Amity stage.

I

thank the honourable member for

giving way, he is making many valid

points and I have been lobbied on

this Bill by constituents like other

members in this House, but both in

favour and against. I think it is in

bonds to keep the right tone, and

accusing people of having an empathy

bypass because they have a different

belief of the best way of helping

people is something we can probably

avoid in this debate.

Let's hope we

see that and goal coming to

fruition, and I look forward to

seeing the honourable gentleman with

others in the lobbies at some stage

today. There can indeed be many ways

of approaching things, and all

others need to learn a bit more

about the subjects in all manner

around this. But certainly I think

it is very difficult to be arguing

against enabling people to read a

refugee camp to join family and

relatives.

Can I firstly just

congratulate you for bringing this

Bill? Would he agree with me that,

as one of the wealthiest countries,

we have the capacity to support

these people who are in desperate

need, and what we actually like it

is maybe the political will? This

was demonstrated so well by my

predecessor, who secured the

amendment which forced the

Government to actually allow 3000

unaccompanied child refugees.

Absolutely, the honourable lady is

correct. We sometimes have a limited

thinking, 3000 people seems like it

a lot. If they were all in my front

room, what would that mean? But in a

country of 65 million people, it is

a drop in the ocean. Given the skill

shortages we have in some people we

could be taking in, it is actually a

narrow interests to do exactly this,

especially in the Reed at a time and

are more refugees in the world at

any time since the Second World War.

How could become behind their lives,

their stories, their tragedies, and

make sense collectively of all those

statistics? It is hard to fathom

when we start to think of numbers.

But today's Bill is not about

refugees or immigration, and anyway

it is not about the war in Syria or

human rights abuses in Eritrea.

First and foremost, this Bill is

about family. It is something each

others will recognise, it is the

photograph in the suitcase the

children thought they would want to

bring with them if they were

refugees. That no matter how much

families argue and disagree with one

another, families belong together,

and they certainly should not be in

a situation where they are forced

apart. This is not an immigration

issue, it is a protection issue, as

the member of Dundee West said in a

debate on Westminster Hall on the

22nd of February.

I also

congratulate the honourable member

for bringing this Bill, and I

absolutely support it, as I also

represent a community with many

refugees. Would the member not agree

with me that those of us who have

listened over the years to the

Holocaust memorial events over the

years, and heard the stories of the

now elderly people who came over on

Kinder transport and so on, would he

not agree that those who survived

without their families, how

traumatic that was? And I have also,

and I'm sure he has, too, heard the

stories of those who were able to be

connected with their families or

some family members after the war,

and what a difference that made. And

how can one forget, how can one not

to link those two sets of stories?

The honourable lady is absolutely

correct, and if we look back at

history with the benefit of pounds

-- hindsight, wide and we do more?

There is a bit of nervousness at the

moment of doing, but when it is

done, people are eternally grateful.

Not just those who have been saved,

but those who have done the savings

can look themselves in the mirror

with a lot more pride than they

would otherwise be able to do. This

Bill is about families who have been

torn apart by war and who want to be

reunited, but cannot due to the

current rules. It is about families

facing the decision of whether to

stay separated or to undertake

potentially dangerous journeys

across land, Desert and see to be

together again. Certainly there is

nobody who would want the male

members of their family wanting to

be tempted to go with people

traffickers across the Sahara. I

will give way.

Does he recognise

that Unicef report that a majority

of young people that are

unaccompanied child migrants have

been subjected to sexual abuse on

their journey to the UK, and we have

an obligation to support those young

people going through the most

appalling times?

The honourable

gentleman is absolutely correct. It

is sort of a judgment call as to how

much we talk about that, because we

know it happens but we know that

many people are watching this

debate, for whom it is maybe a bit

too close to them. But we have got

to bear that in mind when we are

making decisions about refugees as

legislators. Currently, adult

refugees who have been the most is

refugees in the UK are able to

sponsor the -- their spouse or

partner as well as children under

the age of 18 to join them in the

UK, and we have to thanks excessive

Government 's to thank for that. But

that is only one side of the coin,

and those family members are living

an extremely dangerous

circumstances. We are looking to

have the other side of the coin

addressed as well, were under 18 's

can bring in an sponsor family

members and get family members

together in both directions. In

recent weeks, the British Red Cross

has helped two Syrian couples

reunite. Imagine the moment of

elation when the loved ones were

finally reunited in the UK. Just

hours before, they had been

separated by thousands of miles and

hundreds of bombs. Refugee family

reunion is truly a life changing,

and that is why so many refugees and

people who moved to this country

like welders and whatever are now

watching this because it will affect

that a change to their lives.

I

wonder if my honourable friend will

share my concern that legal aid is

not available for these cases, and

when changes were brought around to

legal aid, it wasn't a stated there

would be more savings. Would the

half £1 billion there that has been

saved possibly help of some of these

cases?

I think the honourable lady

makes a good document. I am here and

there are quite a lot of speakers,

and I know I haven't made a lot of

progress in the last 25 minutes

because I have taken a number of

interventions, so can I appealed to

members if they want to intervene to

do so sparingly? We want to get this

to a close at some point today and

think of other people's business.

I

might be a long-lost relative from

Somerset, Mr Speaker. Is it not

right that the Lord Chancellor is

actually undertaking a review of

legal aid reforms, that is going to

include looking at legal aid for

immigration cases? Solas Government

is taking out an bold, this could

well be included in that review.

I

think that is great. We know that

there is legal aid available already

in Scotland. And I'm glad to hear

the honourable lady's intervention,

but they are not mutually exquisite

approaches. So therefore, she is

welcoming that she can most

certainly welcome the Bill, I will

personally escorted through the

lobbies later on if need be.

They

are's can offer you can't refuse!

At

the Leave this Bill is moving loved

ones together. Clause one does

justice. It asks that a statement

changes to immigration rules for

both houses, in response to debates

and family in both places. The Bill

acknowledges that, which is why it

operates in this way. The minister

we say that I'm still attempting to

use primary legislation to amend the

rules, because the honourable lady

will be aware, there is no other way

for a non-minister to effect changes

to those rules. If she would like to

intervene and say that the Bill is

unnecessary, I wouldn't gladly give

way to hear that. -- I would. Clause

one sets out the relationships that

would be covered by refugee family

reunion. It includes those that

already have the right, and expand

that a number of ways. There is a

long list I could put in this Bill.

Right honourable members could have

spent the entire debate thinking of

distant relatives who, if we have

been forced to leave our homes and

communities because of a vicious

deadly conflict, we would like to

think we could bring our relatives

with those to safety. But I have

focused on some of the most

egregious that are not covered by

current rules. Under the current

rules, a parent recognise that a

refugee in the UK can sponsor their

children under the age of 18 to join

them, but of that child has not

turned 18, they are not all

semantically eligible. Mohammed is a

former lawyer from Syria, who was

recognised as a refugee in the UK

after applying for asylum. He

immediately began to apply for a

family reunion so that his wife and

children could live with him and

safety in the United Kingdom.

Devastatingly, the family was forced

to leave their two oldest children

behind because they were operating.

He told the British Red Cross they

are a close family. His little kids

ask every day, what happened? Will

rejoin us? Wenbo we see them's he

has no idea and does not know what

to tell them. The Minister may argue

that the Government has recognised

that children in these circumstances

should be eligible, but the point is

the guide updated in summer 2016

provided clearer direction to the

Home Office than may fall to be

granted Family Reunion in

exceptional circumstances. Out of

that list as children over the age

of 18 still being dependent on their

parents, yet despite those changes,

last year with Anthony first nine

months of 2017, only 49 people were

granted Family Reunion in

exceptional circumstances. My Bill

seeks to move that group of children

into the main body of the rules. If

the Government accept the principle

that these children should be

eligible to be reunited as they do

through the guidance, then I hope

they will support at least that

element of the Bill.

I congratulate

him on the Bill today, I support it

wholeheartedly. Vitamins B of a

story I heard from Oxfam and at a

gentleman whose son was left behind

in Turkey while the tyre family was

resettled here in the UK. The sun

was the main breadwinner of that

family. Thus the honourable member

agree that this is helpful for the

families here and helpful for the

integration of the UK's society if

we bring those children home?

Absolutely, everybody is a winner

when this unnecessary bureaucracy is

removed or designs to help people

rather than hinder them. The

honourable lady makes a very good

point. The Government can hopefully

support at least that element of the

Bill, because bringing these young

people family doesn't the rules.

Firstly, it would give those

families applying the reunited more

certainty that they are eligible.

There is no separate family

application form to be reunited

outside the rules. The family then

has to rely on caseworkers seeing

that there are exceptional

circumstances, and applying their

discretion. For those families able

to reunite under the discretionary

element of the rules, there are

further problems when the family

member arrives in the UK. Under the

main Family Reunion rules, family

members coming to the UK get the

same type of leaders they built that

they are joining. This means they

are granted five years leave to stay

in the UK, and are able to access

support to help the family rebuild

their lives together, including

ensuring they have suitable housing

and enough financial assistance to

help them integrate into the new

homes. But for family members

reunited outside the rules, they do

not get the same type of lead. They

will usually be granted 33 months,

and subject to restrictions that

refugee status is not, including not

having the course to public funds.

They will face a longer part of the

settlement from the family members

they are joining, and can find

themselves living in overcrowded

accommodation or can experience

homelessness. So after having credit

Matip back story, the current story

can be quite difficult as well. The

Bill will allow refugee children to

sponsor the closest family members

to join them. Currently, the UK is

one of only two countries in the EU

that does not allow children who

have been recognised as refugees to

have any Family Reunion writes, that

is the crux of the matter that we

have to change. That is a small

piece that this Bill does, and as I

said earlier, we are not doing

enough but at least we are doing

that. While most countries in the EU

are signed up to the family reunion

directive, which grants separated

children Family Reunion writes, the

UK along with Ireland and Denmark

did not opt in to that. But I want

them -- Ireland amended domestic

legislation to allow this, while the

UK did not. Children have therefore

been recognised in the UK Government

as being in need of international

protection, and it has been accepted

it as an safe for them to return

home, but are still kept apart from

their parents. Young boys and girls,

many of them will have faced untold

horrors after fleeing their home, I

left that those who would be best

placed to support them.

I am grateful for you giving way. He

has made a good point, I think he is

saying that every other European

country apart from Denmark believes

that a child should have the right

to come join them, so any argument

that the Government make today, is

an argument that is not accepted in

Germany, is France, Italy, and every

other European country. Why should

those arguments be different for the

UK? Would you like to originate on

that?

I think that the honourable

gentleman has raise an important

point. I think there is a feeling

from some, and excused used by some

that this as it passes, will

encourage people to send their

children first. I will deal with

that point later, but if that point

was through, then it would be

happening in those other countries,

that the honourable gentleman

mentions, therefore it is not true

at all. If legal aid was the point,

that all the refugees of England and

Wales would be going to Scotland.

People settle in places for a whole

variety of personal circumstances,

but these things help people settle

and...

May I congratulate the

honourable gentleman on an important

speech. Is he also aware that this

issue is being cited in some areas

as being the reason why Italy, and

Greece, are not placing children and

child refugees in the UK as part of

the Dubs Amendment, because they are

concerned that if there were any

other country in Europe, they would

be room reunited with their family,

but in the UK, they would not.

However, there are 240 places

offered by local authorities that

are empty as a result, and we are

not filling those Dubs Amendment

places, because there is such a gap

between the UK's position and the

rest of Europe's on this.

Can I

thank the honourable lady for that,

and I was not aware of that

fascinating point. The idea that

other countries are choosing not to

send their children to the UK... Out

of common decent seat, in the best

interests of those children, in fear

that they could not be reunited with

family. This makes even more

imperative. Surely, we should be

ensuring that that happens as the

honourable lady points out. The

children affected -- one of the

children affected by the rules, is a

boy growing up in Eritrea. In 2010,

his brother was taken by the

soldiers, and was never heard from

again. Then, when he was 16,

soldiers came to his school. He

never returned. Age 16, he told his

family that he had fled Eritrea. He

did not know where he planned to go.

That is the point about legal aid or

whatever, he just needed to go, but

he had to keep moving. He passed

through Sudan, Libya, over the

Mediterranean, and he fattens up in

the United Kingdom. After applying

for asylum, he was recognised -- he

ends up in the UK. After applying

for asylum, he was unable to be

re-knighted with his family in

Britain. The UK has offered him a

new home. But what home could he

have particularly at that age

without his family? One refugees

said, a refugee without a family, is

like a body without a soul. That is

something that is going to be in an

amnesty report coming. The

Government have previously asserted

that allowing children to sponsor

their family members to join them,

sending the children to the UK, said

that they can act as sponsors.

Numerous peers to rose to take on

this argument, before Christmas, and

I congratulate them, echoing what Mr

Justice said in the tribunal, that

there is no evidence undermining it,

it's been reproved factor of

argument. The draft of Article 50

was one of those peers who took it

on forcefully. He described the

Government's indications that

families in countries like Syria,

Libya, Eritrea Zidane, could sit

down together and make a cold

calculation to send a child on a

long journey across desert and see

that might take several months or

even years, so as to secure the

right to send the family to join

them. It is very difficult to

disagree with the noble lord on this

when he called it a joke. The

Government has refuge over --

recognised... There is no special

definition of a refugee than a child

having to meet that is different

from an adult, they have two passed

the same test, and if they are

recognised as refugees, it is

because of their need of

international protection. It is

therefore surely only right that

these children are able to meet

their family members, as adult

refugees would be able to. A

situation that has been described as

perverse. This is the other side of

the coin that this bill is dealing

with. It would allow siblings under

25 to join them. I had her not to

make it, I had heard not to assert

that parents would callously send

their children on life-threatening

journey is just so that they can

later join them. I urge her to use

instead recognise that children are

better off being with their parents,

with those who support them, to

bring them to the UK, and bring the

UK into line with the vast majority

of the rest of Europe, so that

people who are recently refugees in

Greece and Italy can have trust and

faith in the United Kingdom. Without

wanting to pay out the minister to

much, she may well argue that there

are provisions for a wider group of

family members to be reunited. These

the lady... This bill is not needed,

she would say. However, the right

honourable lady is aware, those

roots do not cover all family

relationships that I just described,

nor are they accessible for

refugees.

Clause one of the bill also gives

the Home Secretary a discretionary

power to grant a family reunion

application, in other circumstances,

where doing so maybe in the best

interests of the child, because a

family member, be in the carries

circumstances, as a result of

emotional, psychological, financial

dependency, or as she may see

otherwise fit. Can I trust the

refugee team, who e-mailed me the

other afternoon, to say that the

trust supports the mental health of

young refugees, and the refugee team

here, with the support of the chief

executive, Paul Jenkins, wishes to

procure the support. Thank you very

much for those working, who have

taken time to get away from their

busy lives, and who to write any

mail in support of that. Family

reunion is primarily about bringing

families back together, but it

should also be seen as a safe and

legal route for refugees to escape

dangerous circumstances. The Home

Secretary, last month, television

that the UK has reached the halfway

point in resettling 20,000 refugees

from the Syrian conflict, and this

must the congratulated. -- must be

congratulated. For the purposes of

family reunion, it is only the

relative of the UK, that -- in the

UK that needs to be officially

recognised as a refugee. The

beneficiaries of family reunion are

often the most honourable. In 2017,

most family reunion visas work

issued from people to Eritrea,

Zidane, and Syria. -- Sudan and

Syria. Despite the global refugee

crisis being worse since... In

recent years, the number of people

applying asylum in the UK has

fallen. 86% of refugees live in the

world's poorest countries, not

richest countries, expanding the

provisions for them to find safety

in our country is to our benefit as

well as their benefit. This is what

Klaus two is about. Until the

passing of that act, legal

assistance has been available. With

its removal, even those families

that are eligible to be reunited

face significant hurdles, in being

able to navigate the process. In

their report, not so

straightforward, the British Red

Cross set out the many bureaucratic

and practical barriers families

face. At a recent event in

parliament, MPs said first-hand

about the impact of not having legal

aid can have. And I am sure that our

honourable member, said about Sara

Foster, a case worker, with the

British Red Cross, said that... For

refugees who have been able to work,

while the decision to work buster

waiting for a decision to an asylum

application, meeting these costs can

prove near impossible. Sarah told us

that families resort to loans from

an sleepless lenders, and are living

on virtually nothing to make the

support that they need to make

application fireball. She told us of

one applicant who she met in a

supermarket, who had been recognised

as a refugee, and in his shopping

basket were packet of 10p noodles.

He plans to live on that the next

few weeks to save up for the legal

costs to bring his children to

safety. These are the situations

that we are dealing with, Madam

Deputy Speaker. These are the

situations that too many people are

facing, and I would like just to

wind up by thanking the British Red

Cross, the UN refugee agency, the

refugee Council, Amnesty

International, Oxfam, for their

support in this bill, and particular

John Fenton for his extremely

brilliant help, and I would like to

thank many of the brilliant

charities and supporters who have

been in touch, and those who work

every day to be in touch, and to

help refugees, and also the baroness

working on this area in the House of

lords, the NHS refugee team, and one

of the first people to get in touch

with me, the landlord in Kent, who

got in touch to ask how he could

help. He has a refugee family.

Across the United ended, we have

seen tremendous support for this

bill. People want to do the right

thing, and I hope that members today

will ensure that the right thing

happens, and we see that this bill

will progress at the very least to

the next stage. Thank you very much.

The question is that this bill be

read a second time. David Warburton.

Thank you very much, and it is a

privilege and a pleasure to follow

the honourable gentleman, the member

for oh, it's gone... I nailed it. I

really do congratulate, and I

commend him for bringing this bill

to the House, and for his moving

persuade them -- persuasive, and

fascinating speech. I don't just

commend him for bringing it to the

House, but also for building so much

support around it, because this

Israeli and important debate, and an

important bill, and it is -- this is

really an important debate and an

important bill, and it is a subject

close to my heart. Many of us will

remember the Dubs Amendment in 2016,

to the immigration act, when that

came before the House in April that

year. On the back of the Dublin

regulation, which said that refugee

families have a right to stay

together. On the back of that, the

Dubs Amendment looks too obviously

extend that to unaccompanied

children fleeing war in Syria,

living at the time in the Calais

camp. He did not have any family

that. I was one of only five men as

of this side of the House to feel

sufficiently strongly to support

that amendment and vote against the

Government. Just three of us now

remain on the benches. By honourable

friend, the member for Colchester,

who is just leaving the chamber, was

the other, but the pressure that was

exerted at the time was enough to

persuade the Government to

subsequently accept the amendment,

and its provisions, and I mention

all that because this area of policy

is one which I have thought about

carefully, and we all need is good

to know that, particular as the

landscape shifts and changes.

It is only by exploring these issues

that we come to the right

conclusions. In doing so, I think we

need to look carefully at the

background to the situation today.

If we look at the UK's reaction to

the appalling humanitarian crisis in

Syria, I think we can be proud of

what is an impressive record. Almost

2.5 billion in aid has been

committed since 2012. This not only

represents our largest ever response

to a humanitarian crisis but I

believe we are second only to the

United States in providing support

and far ahead of our European

neighbours. This support has been

focused on educating refugees who

found themselves in countries like

Jordan, Lebanon, as well as helping

them to find jobs. These are big

numbers, over half a million

children in Syria have been in

education thanks to UK aid and tens

of thousands enrolled in schools in

surrounding countries. In terms of

refugees coming to the UK, in 2016,

at the height of the crisis in the

Calais camps, the UK settled more

refugees from outside Europe than

any other EU state. In fact, figures

show that over a third of people

resettled in the EU actually came to

the UK. In that process, the most

vulnerable refugees have been

supported through the settlement

programmes that offer a safe and

legal routes to protection and are

specifically designed also to keep

families together. By 2020, 20,000

refugees from Syria will have been

settled. Around half of which have

already arrived here. Without

wanting to list more figures, over

the past five years, nearly 25,000

family reunion visas have been

issued and since 2010, 50,000 people

have been given protection status in

the UK.

It is a powerful speech. I

wonder if he can reiterate the point

on the refugees, we are seeking

support. This country has a powerful

record of supporting refugees in

situ, in the region, where they are

most vulnerable and the most

vulnerable of those we are bringing

them to safety on these shores and I

wonder if he could address that

issue in particular.

My honourable

friend reads my mind and has

obviously been looking ahead. Not

literally, I promise six under

current rules, partners must rightly

show that their relationship if they

are coming here, predates their

exile, and that it is ongoing and

that both parties have an intent to

continue the relationship here.

Children must show they are related

and under 18, unmarried and not

living an independent life. Family

reunion visas themselves are exempt

from some of the usual criteria.

There is no need to demonstrate

adequate finance to support

dependents and offenders do not have

to demonstrate proficiency in

English and there is no processing

charge or immigration health

surcharge will. When it comes to

other family members, quite rightly,

there are exceptions and additional

compassionate circumstances that can

be taken into account. These kinds

of exceptions could apply to help a

dependent child over a team or an

unaccompanied child with a relative

in the UK. As their House will know,

family reunion can be enacted

through other resettlement schemes,

the mandate and Gateway schemes

offer routes for refugees to be

settled in the UK where this is in

their best interest and both of

these games recognise family ties as

part of this calculation. A family

links are also one of the grounds

for eligibility under the Syrian

vulnerable person resettlement

scheme and the children at risk

scheme is also helping to resettle

up to 3000 people and their families

from the Middle East and North

Africa region over the course of

this Parliament. I think the key

part of looking closely at this area

has to be a focus on how best we

target our responses and are

supported as my honourable friend

pointed out earlier. If we change

policy here in the UK, if we signal

and signpost ourselves as a more

open door, how will this influence

behaviour and therefore lives? Those

facing civil war and persecution, as

we have heard, had little choice

about fleeing their homeland, but

what follows that, how best can we

step in to support?

I am grateful to

the honourable gentleman giving way,

but if these children have been

accepted as refugees does he not say

that the cost to the government,

local government and everyone else

in their future years, will be less

if they are part of a family and

have a successful life and a

successful settlement and are not

left here as orphans?

That is a very

good point and I appreciate the

intervention. Cost is not the matter

here, this is really about... It is

about what factors will influence

behaviour. What will be the result

of a change of policy? Because I

think...

He is making a very

powerful speech, a great deal of

which I agree with and I recognise

the great deal that the government

has done in many areas but in terms

of change of policy, one of the

policy changes and it is modest and

that is to make it easier for those

who have fled in fear to get around

the very difficult requirements to

provide documentation, for example,

in order to access Legal Aid. I am

sure he will know that the British

Red Cross found some families were

missing documents. He will know that

frequently, if you are genuinely

fleeing in fear, you do not have

time to go through a check list of

document you might need later. This

bill does, in a very modestly,

improves things in a direction he

has argued for in the past.

There is

a lot to be said for what he has

just said. And as he knows,

exceptional compassionate

circumstances do exist and the Home

Office guidance allows for this. He

is absolutely right, there are

issues about that and there are

timing issues. The practicalities,

the logistics of the situation can

often mean that that is not as

easy...

The gentleman asks a very

legitimate question in what will be

the impact of change? We have heard

today from the right honourable

lady, the chair of the Home Affairs

Select Committee, that current

policy is one that is leading to

authorities in Greece and Italy not

sending children who would otherwise

be eligible under the Dubs

Amendment, is the honourable

gentleman comfortable with the

status quo?

Not entirely. And I

think we need to look closely at

that and look closely at how the

Dubs Amendment scheme is being run

and and how it has been runs. I'd do

not think councils have taken it on

in the way that they perhaps should

have done. Secondary movements are

important. I think... I am not sure

that secondary movements really do

improve lives and I think that there

are precedents, there are examples

that we can look at. In 2015,

Germany's asylum seeker intake

increased by 155% as a result of

people reacting specifically to

policy change. More than 20% of

those people who sought that asylum

in Germany that year were from the

Balkan countries, which have been

conflict free for more than 20

years. Those people were not seeking

refuge, they were seeking

opportunity.

Just to be clear with

the honourable gentleman, what we

are doing is we are putting under

eight teams in the same category as

overrated. They are already here and

we are giving them a right to family

life. That is what they want and if

that is what they want to make their

lives better,... There is an

argument were some would say that

under that act over eight teams

neither family more. We should give

it to the under 18 's, they are

here.

I am sure no one would

disagree with the fact that it would

not be in the end chest... It would

only be in the interest of people

traffickers and no one else's, for

children to be encouraged to leave

their families and undertake a

perilous, difficult and dangerous

journeys in the hope that the

relatives might be able to join them

in the future. How much worse if

they found themselves forced to do

that? In my experience, chairing an

enquiry into resilience into

extremism in North Africa and the

Middle East, has shown that there an

appalling number of criminal gangs

looking to exploit vulnerable people

in the region. Our role must be to

provide support first in the region,

upholding for all of the reasons we

have heard, that those who need

international protection should be

able to claim this in the first safe

country they reach.

Has he had the

benefit of reading the report from

last summer, an independent enquiry

into the situation of separated and

unaccompanied minors in Europe? If

he does, he will see that using

evidence, they knocked the myth of

the pool factor on its head.

I have

not read it and I would be

interested to read it and I will

look that bad. Thank you very much.

It sounds interesting. The pull

factor does appear to be something

that is cited time and time again

and in Germany, there is a clear

example of that and I would be

intrigued to know how it is they

have come to the opposite

conclusion. I think that we need to

look at the quickest and least

precarious route for safety, rather

than travelling into and across

Europe to reach the UK. Having said

that, it is also vital that we are

in a position to continually review

and mould policy to adapt ourselves

to changing circumstances. As the

member Bill seeks to do. I am very

pleased, as I said, that we are able

to debate it and I hope... As my

honourable friend, the member for

mid-Worcestershire, as he said, I

warned against using language like

empathy bypass, because I don't

think... It is in the interest of a

friendly, productive, nonpartisan

debate, because we all have views,

we all have our own... We all

obviously feel empathy and we may

express that in different ways, all

opinion can be equally and properly

express, I hope and value. Let me

just get to the end. I am very

pleased that the Justice Secretary

is undertaking the review of Legal

Aid reforms. In his review, he will

be properly addressing the Legal Aid

changes in respect of immigration

cases. I look forward to the report

later this year and any changes that

will result. Of course, on top of

all this and perhaps above all, in

tackling the plight of refugees, we

need to look at the causes. The

government must continue, as I have

every faith that will, to support

international efforts to find a

comprehensive and sustainable

solution to the root causes of the

refugee crisis. Yes, we must

respond, carefully and deliberately

to the consequences of the situation

in the Middle East, but we must

focus hard on the matter itself.

This, I finish that the government

will continue to do and I am sure

that the whole House will support

those efforts.

Vicky Foxcroft. Thank

you. I want to begin by

congratulating my honourable friend

on the second reading of his bill.

There are many of us in this house

who feel strongly about this subject

and I am grateful for the

opportunity to make my own

contribution to the debate. I

suspect, like many of my honourable

friends who are here today, my

interest in this bill comes from

personal experiences gained at my

advice surgery. Lewisham Deptford

has more than its fair share of

immigration casework and many of the

cases my staff and I deal with are

very troubling. However, it is those

which fall within the scope of this

bill but are often the most

traumatic. In December last year, I

met with a Somali woman who is

caring for her four nieces and

nephews in Lewisham

after their father was murdered in

front of them and their mother back

home in Somalia. The mother

disappeared for several years and it

was discovered that she had sought

asylum in Cyprus. She is

experiencing deteriorating physical

health as well as suffering from the

mental trauma. My constituent is in

the process of trying to reunite her

sister with her children, but under

current rules, the sister has to

undergo a lengthy, stressful and

costly process of applying for a

visa to settle here. The Lewisham

refugee and migrant network, and

excellent but overstretched and

under resourced service which

operates in my constituency...

Thank

you. I know what good work it has

done. Was she recognised the work

for action for refugees in Lewisham

who would also be assisted by the

provisions set out in this bill.

I

agree. We have so many organisations

who do so much great work. I was

told about a woman from Gambia who

claimed asylum in the UK with her

youngest child in 2011 after finding

out that the government forces were

looking for her husband and family.

Her eldest daughter turned 18 in the

intervening years and has not been

allowed to roam reconvened with our

family in the UK. These are

vulnerable people, and as my

honourable and right honourable

friend is well no, it is stressful

enough to negotiate the Home Office

system without adding the extra

difficulties associated with having

suffered significant trauma. The

cost of making a Visa, is also a

significant barrier. If you allow me

to lighten the mood is likely at

this point, I say that I am proud of

the work of my local council, the

London Borough of Lewisham, who have

been doing great work to support

refugees, and are formally agreed to

join the resettlement programme in

September 2016, Lewisham Council has

housed 15 families from Syria, which

was the second-highest number of any

London borough. As an Lewisham

Council also assures me that it has

offered 24 Kappes is for

unaccompanied refugee children, but

the Home Office has only used one of

them. This is completely

unacceptable.

She points out the

case in Lewisham, which you point

out that this is the case with

Labour led councils across the

country, where they are offering to

put more up, but the Government is

not using them, and the Government

needs to take action immediately to

utilise these places.

I absolutely

agree with everything that my

honourable friend has just said,

like I was saying that this is

completely unacceptable. We have got

a council that is willing to help,

and no doubt, hundreds of honourable

children who are in a position where

they need their help. In conclusion,

because I want to be brief, because

I want us to is how -- us to have a

vote on this, like many of us here

today, I firmly believe that if a

child refugee has been granted the

right to be in the UK, his or her

parents or carers should also be

granted that right. Equally,

children who grew up in this

country, should be allowed that

right, even after they reach the age

of 18. This bill would unable both

of these things do happen, whilst

also providing vital financial

support in the form of legal aid.

Families are being torn apart by the

current rules, and this simply has

to change.

Thank you, Madam Deputy

Speaker. It is a pleasure to follow

both my honourable friend the member

for Somerton and Frome who spoke of

his commitment to this issue, and

highlighted his concerns about his

bill in a very constructive way, I

thought, contrary to the way that

sadly I am afraid the honourable

gentleman presented earlier, and

also to follow the honourable lady,

who shared her insight from her

constituency, which is a very

different constituency from mine,

and I respect what you contributed

to the debate, and the insight that

she gave me, but the Government has

done much good in this area which I

support, even so, I rise concerns,

as did my honourable friend, but

this bill in the name the honourable

member for Western Isles and others,

and whilst it is a pleasure to serve

under the honourable members on the

trade committee, where sometimes,

even we agree, I am afraid on this

matter, the substance of this bill,

I have my doubts will stop even

without doubting his intentions, he

is wrong in this area. Of course I

will give way.

I am very grateful. I

will happily discoursing, to the

lobby, we can discuss this.

The

honourable gentleman escorts me all

around the world as we build

positive trade relationships with

our friends around the world, and I

will talk about some of that, and

perhaps we continue to agree rather

than on the substance of this bill.

Let asked is considerable this bill

asks. It aims to require the Home

Secretary to widen immigration rules

to grant visas to a wide range of

relatives. By making it easier for a

parent to join a child refugee, this

could incentivise families to send

their child ahead, on a perilous

journey, often in the hands of

unscrupulous people traffickers. The

bill wishes to amend the legal aid

sentencing and punishment of assist

the -- of offenders act, but this is

taxpayers' money, and we must

therefore be very responsible about

how we spend it. This bill makes no

mention of how to encourage

integration, how to provide

education, how to offer other

opportunities refugees, nor does it

make any attempt to tackle the

situation is that people are

fleeing, rather than it simply

accept that this will continue to be

the case. I will.

Thank you to my

noble friend for giving way. Could I

just go out in to consider this.

This is a bill about refugees, not

economic migrants, with whom one

might have some sympathy, but these

are people who are fleeing war,

persecution, terror, on a scale

frankly that's none of us can even

begin to imagine. So, the idea that

you would willingly put your child

in such an even more perilous place,

is frankly for the ferries.

I

respect the honourable lady's

contribution, and her right to make

them to the House, but equally, as

she lets me extend my argument, I

think she will understand why I have

concerns about this process, and

wire have concerns about the use,

potentially of those aren't stupid

as people traffickers, and some

people, even in this country, --

potentially of potentially abuse at

the hands of people traffickers.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I

thank the honourable gentleman for

giving way, and I speak for the

ferries, but logic would dictate

that we are dealing with a war-torn

area, and that people will do

incredibly desperate things, such as

those that the honourable gentleman

has outlined, and I don't think it

is for the ferries at all. It is a

sad reality of countries around the

world that also is these things to

happen.

I thank my honourable friend

for his contributors, and indeed, I

think you support this point. I

think that debate is continuing

behind me, but in discussing why I

believe that this bill is misguided,

it would seem important for us to

discuss the current system that...

This is history, is important to

where we are, today. Principally,

the UK that is a party to the UK's

1951 Convention relating to the

status of refugees, and the protocol

which expanded coverage beyond

Europe and fleeing World War II. It

is important to note that the

convention does not, the UN

Convention does not provide an

automatic right to family reunion

refugees. The convention does,

however, recommend that signatories

take the necessary measures for the

protection of the refugee's family,

which contends that the Government

does at present. The Government

daily takes more account than this

proposed bill dies of protection of

refugees family, by reducing the

pressure is on family members, as my

honourable friend the memorable day

till Basil, said, questions which I

believe this bill could amplify. 30

years on from the UN Convention, and

20 on from the protocol amending it,

Article three of the 1989 UA -- 1989

UN Convention ensures that the

best... Home Office officials, when

assessing asylum claims must

already, therefore, consider the

best interest of a child. A similar

consideration must be taken under a

number of UK's governments under

international law. The UK is a

signatory, because of our historic

desire to spread British values, and

often where British values lead, the

world has followed. And it is often

said that the convention was

originally conceived by Churchill

and drafted mainly by British

lawyers. It is perhaps ironic that I

would contends shameless ambulance

chasing lawyers now uses Convention

as a stick to hit Britain with in

all sorts of situations, perhaps

work bye were seen in their

behaviour in Northern Ireland and

Iraq. Some of the worst offenders in

the legal profession use their

skills to actually purport that

certain people are refugees when

they are not, devaluing the

argument, that should be rightly

agreed across the whole house that a

genuine refugees should have the

support of this country.

I thank the

honourable gentleman forgiving way.

Do you share my concern that whilst

it sounds great, Russia is actually

a signatory, and we can look at it

abysmal human rights record under

Putin.

My honourable friend

anticipates my argument, and he

reminds me that in my maiden speech,

when I referred to King John who

wrote from his castle in my

constituency to sign the Magna

Carta, he created rights for the

first time in 1215. I said in my

maiden speech, human rights were not

conceived in 1998, they have existed

for centuries, they did not exist in

a vacuum. Rights were balanced by

responsibilities. Rights must be

balanced by responsibilities, to

prevent them to carving to harm, and

by response please is the rest of

our country.

I am extremely grateful

to the honourable gentleman, since

he is giving us a history lesson,

isn't the best example in history of

a mother sending her child on a

perilous journey that of placing

roses in a basket because of what

she feared would happen to him,

shouldn't we be drawing on that kind

of example rather than telling us

about his fears that the push or

pull factor?

If the honourable

gentleman had been paying attention

from the back of the class, he would

have heard me say repeatedly that I

support genuine refugees being

looked after by Britain and allies

in the world, but the trouble is

that this system can be abused. That

is why the European Convention on

human rights, in Article eight

provide a qualified right to respect

family and private life, whilst this

can be interfered with the purpose

of maintaining effective immigration

controls, the interference must be

proportionate. The refugees cannot

easily return to their families, in

that case, the Home Office must take