Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [Lords]

The hon. Gentleman is right, and deportation is necessary in many cases. No hon. Member would argue that that is not necessary, but the parliamentary questions revealed the staggering cost of the process. I did not know that all this was happening, and I am sure that other hon. Members did not know about those excessive costs. I challenge the Minister to consider other methods, including alternatives to detention and deportation, to try to make progress. I know that some work has been done in that area and it should be encouraged. It seems that the solution to all the problems is either to detain or deport, but there must be other answers that are more humane and more cost-effective. We should ask what these people may have to contribute to our communities and our society, and I hope that the Home Office will look seriously at the issue. The costs of the immigration system are spiralling out of control. We are compounding the problem with further measures on the short-term detention of immigrants that will not be helpful. I support amendments (a) and (b), as tabled by the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne) and his troika of colleagues on the Liberal Democrat Front Bench. The amendments would help to mitigate some of the more damaging aspects of new clause 2 and I hope that they secure the support of the House. We have to ensure that we do not make a bad situation worse. Sensitivity is required, but we seem to be making matters worse. We look at immigration issues in black and white, but we have to challenge ourselves to be more creative in our approach, to consider other solutions and to start to explore other avenues. I hope that the House rejects new clause 2 as drafted and supports amendments (a) and (b), so that we can start to make some progress on these important issues.