UK Borders Bill

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will heed your advice. I wish briefly to touch on the issue of asylum. In terms of numbers, asylum is not a big issue in the immigration debate; there are much bigger issues. However, I share many people’s concerns about the failure to remove failed asylum seekers from the country, and the way in which that has undermined the system of asylum. We in this country have a proud tradition of looking after people who are fleeing persecution, and I hope that it will continue for many years to come, but it can only do so if there is a robust system in which people have faith. I certainly agree with the comments made by the right hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) about the time that it takes to deal with many cases. I met some asylum seekers in Bradford yesterday, and I was appalled to learn that all the families that I met had been in the asylum system for between four and eight years. Whatever the rights and wrongs of their claim, that is an obscene amount of time in which to leave them in limbo, wondering what will happen to them. Some have fled terrible persecution. We should not allow such delays to happen.