UK Parliament / Open data

UK Borders Bill

Proceeding contribution from Keith Vaz (Labour) in the House of Commons on Monday, 5 February 2007. It occurred during Debate on bills on UK Borders Bill.
Indeed, Madam Speaker, and I am grateful that the hon. Gentleman took that opportunity. However, it is no good having a go at my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) for appearing on television. It is only because the hon. Gentleman is never asked to go on television, no doubt because of his views, that he has a go at her. I do not want to stray too far from the Bill and my concern is that here we are yet again debating immigration and listening to yet another Immigration Minister; a different one from when the last Immigration Bill was introduced. My hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington and I, who have been in the House for 20 years, have probably attended every immigration Bill debate over that two-decade period. What concerns me is that despite the fact that we pass legislation, we have still not solved the problem that lies at the heart of the immigration and nationality directorate. We are not providing a good and efficient service, which is necessary to ensure that we deal with people’s cases. As a result, the backlog increases, decisions are not taken, there is delay in processing cases, as the hon. Member for Upminster (Angela Watkinson) and many other right hon. and hon. Members have mentioned during the debate, and we do not seem to be solving the basic problem. Passing yet another Bill and creating yet another Act of Parliament will not solve the fundamental problem. The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality is extraordinarily able. He was elected in a spectacular by-election in Birmingham. He has held a number of other ministerial offices and done so with distinction. If he and the current Home Secretary do not solve the problem that lies at the heart of IND, I do not think that any other Ministers could do so. They are able and have a commitment to deal with the system. The Home Secretary was right to tell the House and the public that he felt that IND was not fit for purpose. I have said that for many years, not just under the present Government, but as I pointed out to the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green), under the previous Government. I know that he was not in the House then, but for the 10 years that I was in opposition, from 1987 to 1997, the situation in the Home Office was appalling. The backlog was twice or three times as great as it is now. There were sackfuls of unopened mail at IND. There is a systemic problem that needs to be solved, and I do not believe that it can be solved by legislation.

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

456 c665-6 

Session

2006-07

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber
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