Immigration Bill

It might be helpful, before I comment on new clause 11, to set the context in which the amendment...

The right hon. Lady is right about sham marriages, which are an issue I tried to raise last summe...

The Bill will enable that reporting mechanism. In particular, because we are extending the period...

My right hon. Friend mentions that the notice period for marriages will be extended, which I full...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving me the opportunity to clarify this issue. We will reta...

The right hon. Lady will know that marriages and civil partnerships are covered by Scots law and ...

If the hon. Gentleman will have a little patience—I know he might find it difficult—I will explai...

I strongly support the Home Secretary on the extension of the time period so as to make it more d...

Order. I am extraordinarily grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I think that what might be called by ...

To clarify, the Bill increases the marriage and civil partnership notice period from 15 to 28 day...

I am trying to help the Home Secretary. She referred earlier to clergymen. Will she confirm that ...

I accept that we are changing the law in relation to the state obligations of civil registrars, w...

Will the Home Secretary clarify her response to an earlier interjection on registrars notifying t...

They will refer all non-EEA marriages to the Home Office, and the purpose of the extension of the...

Let me give the Home Secretary some time in which to take a breath before she continues to go thr...

When my hon. Friend made a similar point during Home Office Questions on Monday, I said that I th...

Does the Home Office have any idea how many people are gaining immigration status through the rou...

It is not an easily ascertainable figure. The proposals that we are discussing will enable us to ...

I endorse everything that the Home Secretary has said about the international section of the Home...

The right hon. Gentleman raises the important matter of face-to-face interviews. I have made it v...

May I ask the Home Secretary about the current arrangements for issuing visas to travellers from ...

I of course understand the right hon. Gentleman’s point. As he said, there are good reasons why w...

In the same vein, concern has been expressed about the distances that people in China and Russia ...

As I have said, we have been enhancing the various services that we are able to provide in a numb...

May I support what the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw) has just said about people from...

I hear what my hon. Friend says and understand the real example that he gives of the problems tha...

The Home Secretary is right that she seeks to amend a very important part of the Bill. When she a...

If the right hon. Gentleman will have a little patience, I will explain exactly what the new clau...

I apologise for not being here for the start of the debate. The Home Secretary referred to her po...

Order. I know that this is complicated and many Members want to speak. May I clearly ask for your...

If citizenship was granted purely because someone used fraud or deception, did not disclose a mat...

Yesterday the House heard many noble speeches about our international obligations and humanitaria...

My hon. Friend and I have discussed this matter. I do not accept her description of what we are p...

The Home Secretary knows that we are dealing with complex and serious issues, so will she explain...

If the right hon. Gentleman will allow me, I shall set out why we thought it was necessary to tab...

Will the Home Secretary help me to understand what is being proposed? There is a question of Brit...

When I explain the circumstances in which it would be possible to remove somebody’s citizenship, ...

rose—

Perhaps hon. Members will have some patience and let me set out my points.

I will not to go...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. As far as I can see, there are no copies of the manusc...

I understand that copies of the manuscript amendments are available in the Vote Office—

They should be on the Table.

Order. I have not finished my sentence yet. It would be helpful if that could be checked, althoug...

I hope that the manuscript amendments, which were tabled by Opposition Front Benchers, are indeed...

I am a naturalised British citizen and the clause therefore applies to me. I support it wholehear...

My hon. Friend makes an important point about his position and also about the desire that we have...

When I first became a Member of this House, anyone born in Britain automatically became a British...

It applies to somebody who is a naturalised person. That is who it applies to. It seeks to recrea...

rose—

If the right hon. Gentleman would wait—such as those which provide for children to acquire Britis...

My right hon. Friend will know that for some time I have asked for the Home Office to look at the...

I understand my hon. Friend’s point about foreign national offenders. The Government are conducti...

I thank the Home Secretary for giving way; she is being most generous. I realise that this is a v...

The individual would then be stateless. It would depend on where they were. The whole point of th...

rose—

I recognise that there are many questions that Members wish to ask on this. I am answering the qu...

One of the things that concerns me is the definition of “seriously prejudicial.” If we look up “p...

I think that the concept of something that is seriously prejudicial to the interests of Her Brita...

In response to an intervention, the Home Secretary said that at some point a stateless person’s p...

The answer to the second question is that there are no people in that situation, because I have n...

I am most grateful to the Home Secretary for giving way for a second time. I understand what she ...

The al-Jedda case went to the Supreme Court, which promulgated its verdict last October, which wa...

I am grateful to the Home Secretary for being very generous in giving way again. She may recall t...

My only comment on my hon. Friend’s request for figures is that he mentioned people on the prison...

For clarification, is it the Government’s position that someone considered under the new criterio...

Yes. People need not have been convicted of a particular offence to be deprived of their citizens...

rose—

rose—

I will give way to my hon. Friend and then to the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pet...

If the individual who was doing something seriously prejudicial stopped doing it, would their cit...

The reinstatement of somebody’s citizenship would not be automatic, but if they returned to the U...

I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend, who has been extraordinarily generous in giving way. ...

The measure would apply to somebody who was abroad. One of the points that I have tried to make i...

Will the Home Secretary give way?

Will the Home Secretary give way?

I must tell my hon. Friend that I have a list: I said that I would give way to the hon. Member fo...

I am very grateful to the Home Secretary for giving way. Is it not the case that she has not got ...

It is a bit rich of the Scottish National party to talk about not having a clue. I must say to th...

I am sure that my right hon. Friend appreciates that how the provision is expressed will give the...

The simple answer to my hon. Friend is no.

Despite the protestations and mock indignation of Labour Members—

And us.

And of course of the Scottish nationalists, who are adopting their usual posture. Is it not corre...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for actually listening to what I have said this afternoon. He is ...

May I press the Home Secretary on our international position under the 1961 convention on the red...

Our proposal is completely consistent with it. We put a declaration into the original UN conventi...

The right hon. Lady has been speaking for well over an hour and we are only a proportion of the w...

The reason why I have been on my feet for more than an hour is that I have been incredibly genero...

As another naturalised British national, I fully support what the Home Secretary is doing. May I ...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. In some cases we are able to return people, and we do a ...

It may be a fault in me that I did not understand the Home Secretary’s reply to my question earli...

I thought that I had provided some clarity in the answer that I gave the right hon. Gentleman ear...

If the parent and sole carer of a child under 18 was deprived of citizenship while outside the co...

I recognise that there are consequences, and they have been considered. The circumstances that th...

If that is the case, what powers did the Home Secretary use to take citizenship away from my cons...

I will not discuss an individual case, but if the right hon. Gentleman wishes to write to me abou...

Is this not just about getting rid of very bad people and preventing them from coming back to our...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for putting the matter so succinctly and sensibly. This is about ...

The Home Secretary is doing sterling work in taking interventions on new clause 18. May I thank h...

As I made absolutely clear, if somebody was in a position to acquire other citizenship, I would e...

I have spent some time looking at cases in which people have been deprived of citizenship, many o...

I will look at my hon. Friend’s point. Obviously there is a process whereby somebody is informed ...

The Home Secretary will know that I, along with many other Members across the House, have champio...

My hon. Friend raises the important issue of people who may have trained and fought in Syria pote...

I thank the Home Secretary for giving way as there are many things to discuss in this group of am...

The advice I have received is that it is incompatible with the European convention on human right...

Will the Home Secretary help the Opposition by clarifying the Government’s position? If the hon. ...

I am making a few comments about the new clause. I would like to hear my hon. Friend the Member f...

Given the strong line the Home Secretary has taken on trafficking, how does she feel about the ex...

I have indeed taken a strong line on trafficking, but the exclusion of certain other articles of ...

Again, will the Secretary of State’s party support new clause 11, tabled by the hon. Member for E...

I am sorry, but I answered that question earlier. I said that I will respond to the comments that...

It looks like the Home Secretary is nearing a conclusion, but may I press her on amendment 74, wh...

The Government accept the principle of my hon. Friend’s point. We propose to reinforce the commit...

The right hon. Lady will be familiar with the two Rochdale grooming cases. The country of origin ...

I cannot give the hon. Gentleman a guarantee on any specific case, but the Bill will make it easi...

The Home Secretary spoke for just over an hour and a half, but at the end of her contribution I a...

The right hon. Gentleman makes a legitimate point about time. Putting the detail aside, in the ki...

As a Minister in the previous Government who dealt with terrorist activity and looked at terroris...

Is what my right hon. Friend saying on new clause 18 not indicative of the whole approach to the ...

I have to say to my hon. Friend, with the greatest of reverence for his long service in Parliamen...

The right hon. Gentleman is right that we discussed some of this at great length in Committee. I ...

The hon. Gentleman politicises a point I am trying to make about process. He knows how Opposition...

I am grateful to the shadow Minister for giving way. I agree entirely with his comments and it is...

I was honoured to serve for 12 years in the Blair Government and I do not think we filibustered t...

The shadow Minister raises concerns about the short notice given on the content of today’s debate...

First, let me say that at the time the hon. Gentleman supported the Government as a member of the...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Yes, the shadow Minister is absolutely right that in 2...

That is so clearly not a point of order. In three years in Parliament the hon. Gentleman clearly ...

It was just a point of information that deserves wider knowledge.

On a point of order, I note the custom in the House to give prior notice before making personal r...

With respect, the hon. Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti) has, having heard the r...

I give way to the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Mr Bacon).

In passing, may I say that I think my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman C...

Lots of things are learned by experience, but this is an extremely serious issue. If the hon. Gen...

The shadow Minister is entitled to ask legitimate questions about the Bill, but does he agree wit...

The principle is the deprivation of the citizenship of individuals who are naturalised, and that ...

I have looked at cases of people who have had their citizenship withdrawn while they have been ou...

My objective is the same, I think, as the Home Secretary’s, which is to protect the British peopl...

I recognise the right hon. Gentleman’s point about the time to consider the new clause, and I am ...

I am grateful to the Home Secretary for her accommodation, and obviously we will reflect on her c...

Has the shadow Minister noticed an anomaly that concerns me and on which I hope the Home Secretar...

That is another issue. Our amendment 1 would remove clause 11 from the Bill and allow the Governm...

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that there is a fundamental difference between deporting fore...

There is, and we can explore that in due course, but I want to focus on the new clause tabled by ...

Tell us!

I am going to. It is from the Home Secretary to the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), wh...

The right hon. Gentleman, whose judgment on these issues I value acutely, referred to leaked Gove...

I have served with the hon. Gentleman on a number of Committees. We have had useful and positive ...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way a second time. We have had a valedictory...

I am dealing with the practicalities of the issue before us today. [Interruption.] If the hon. Ge...

Move on, then.

I will do so, but I say to the hon. Gentleman, with whom I have served on Committees and whom I g...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I am genuinely trying to wind up, but I will give way to the hon. Gentleman.

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. Before he finishes, could he comment on my amendment n...

I do not share the hon. Gentleman’s judgment on most issues, but that could be looked at. My hon....

I wish to speak to new clause 15 and amendment No 62 in my name and that of 105 other hon. Member...

My gut instinct at the moment is not to support the hon. Gentleman by actually voting against him...

I thank the shadow Minister for his intervention, which was a very elegant way of sitting on the ...

I admire my hon. Friend and respect his position, but my fundamental concern about his new clause...

I know that my hon. Friend takes a close interest in these matters, and I shall try to address hi...

As my hon. Friend knows, I am one of the co-signatories of the new clause. However, the Home Secr...

My hon. Friend has made a perfectly reasonable point, but the new clause is tailored to serious c...

May I take up a point that I made to the Home Secretary earlier? As the hon. Gentleman knows, peo...

That is an important point, but I think that I can give the hon. Lady some reassurance. If I unde...

What about other matters relating to the convention, such as the right to practise one’s religion...

From the sound of it, I have reassured the hon. Lady on the first point, which is good news. On t...

Is there not a prior point that if someone has a genuine, well-founded fear of persecution by the...

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We probably would not even get on to article 2 or 3...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will make a little progress, but I will certainly come back to the hon. Gentleman.

The ke...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will just expand on this point. I have quoted the advice that I have received. If anyone thinks...

I understood the hon. Gentleman to mean that he had sought the same legal advice as the Home Secr...

Very briefly, that is not what I was saying. I think that the hon. Gentleman has added one and on...

So the Home Secretary is wrong.

I will come to that, but I want to be clear about what the advice is. The advice that I received ...

If I may, I will make a triaged intervention, Madam Deputy Speaker. To clarify, all I said was th...

I thank the Home Secretary for her intervention. I have the memo that I received in front of me. ...

My hon. Friend seems to have won over one Member of the House who is not here at present, because...

I thank my hon. Friend for keeping the House updated on that important development.

The key...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not give way again, because I have been reasonably generous to the hon. Lady and I want to...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not give way because I want to give other hon. Members a chance to speak. I am sure that t...

On 24 November 2003, a young girl aged 9, Amy Houston, was killed on the west side of my constitu...

Given that the Attorney-General is in his seat, does my right hon. Friend agree that it would be ...

rose—

Order. If the Attorney-General wishes to speak, he will find the right time to do so. It is not u...

I am sure that the Attorney-General and the hon. Member for Esher and Walton have had discussions...

And former Ministers.

Yes; that is even more important.

I want briefly to comment on a point made by the hon. Mem...

But does the Supreme Court have any option but to follow Strasbourg, where there is a clear autho...

With great respect to the hon. and learned Gentleman, the occasions on which the judgments of the...

Prisoners’ rights?

We do not want to get drawn down that particular rabbit hole, but the case of Hirst makes my poin...

On this point of the legality, it is clear from how the Human Rights Act has been drafted that, w...

There are some instances where it is obvious, and some where it is less obvious. The hon. Gentlem...

I am slightly troubled by the right hon. Gentleman’s argument. When the original Act was brought ...

I do not follow the hon. Gentleman’s point. None the less, it is still the case that the Home Sec...

The right hon. Gentleman was saying that the courts had gone too far in the interpretation of sec...

With respect, the hon. Gentleman is confusing section 3 with section 2. Section 3 says that the c...

I have a number of amendments in this string. I wish to speak to amendments 56 and 57, which rela...

Order. The Chamber has suddenly got very noisy. The hon. Lady is making important points, and oth...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The detained fast-track scheme seems to be a process large...

Does the hon. Lady agree that much of the detention is essentially punitive and without benefit o...

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady. Of course, it is not effective in doing what we claim to b...

There is of course a question mark over whether some detainees are minors. They often arrive in t...

There is a particular difficulty with the speed at which we determine the age of young people at ...

Order. I am sure that the hon. Lady is not talking about new clause 14 at this stage, because it ...

I am trying to explain why I have tabled my amendments to the clause, as amendments 2 to 5 relate...

As a Member who put her name to the clause that the hon. Lady is disputing, may I say that if she...

I think I probably do not share her utilitarian view of what the greater good is. I probably have...

I wonder if the hon. Lady is placing the blame on the wrong person. If someone is deported for co...

But is it the fault of their child? That is the point. The law allows us to weigh these tests up ...

Does the hon. Lady agree that it has long been a principle of British law that we cannot hold chi...

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady. The law must have the flexibility to look at individual ca...

I commend the hon. Lady for tabling amendment 60. Jimmy Mubenga died in horrific circumstances. I...

That is exactly the point. The Bill effectively gives all immigration officers retrospective free...

Order. Before the hon. Lady comes on to her next point, the House appreciates that she has many i...

I do not have many other points to make.

I want to make a point about amendment 1 that has ...

I call Pete Wishart.

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was not expecting that, but I am delighted to be cal...

Is the hon. Gentleman happy about how long it can take to remove someone who has broken the law a...

I will address that point directly because it is at the heart of what we are debating and somethi...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that if someone is deported but allowed to conduct an appeal in this ...

The hon. Gentleman is spot on, and he gets to the heart of what we are debating. What is happenin...

So you are against the Bill.

I think the right hon. Gentleman will find that I probably am.

Surely it is within the scope of the hon. Gentleman’s Parliament and Executive in Scotland to cha...

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s intervention because it takes me on to new clause 11, whic...

indicated dissent.

The Minister indicates that an LCM is not necessary, but does he agree that we are responsible fo...

rose—

We should have an LCM, but the Minister can explain why we are not getting one.

With the greatest respect, I have had conversations with the First Minister and engaged in corres...

That is not my view of the correspondence that I have seen. I am surprised that the Minister says...

On a point of clarification, and in relation to the new clause tabled by my hon. Friend the Membe...

Yes, and I will tell the hon. Gentleman something else: an independent Scotland will sign up full...

I do not understand why the hon. Gentleman does not have the courage to claim that Scotland would...

I invite the hon. Gentleman, who I know takes a great interest in these matters—

Order. I am going to give the hon. Gentleman the protection of the Chair on that question, which ...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, although I do not need your protection when it comes to these is...

I must confess that the image of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary being a puppet on a stri...

I very much appreciate the hon. Gentleman giving way. I believe that he has misheard my hon. Frie...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his helpful clarification. The problem is that deportation is...

It is on exactly that point that some Opposition Members have concerns about new clause 15. As th...

As always, the hon. Lady makes an excellent point, but it is a question about which bit of discre...

The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point in saying that not many people will be affected immediately...

The House may be surprised to know that I am in almost complete agreement with the hon. Gentleman...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. It has just come to my notice that my name is on the l...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, which he made with his usual eloquence. It is ...

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am not aware of whether my name is attach...

I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware that the simple method of clarification is to look at the l...

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Just to help the hon. Member for Rochford a...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I suppose so.

My point was that I did not know about my name at that point, although I could check. However, ho...

Order. We will not take up the time of the House in this important and short debate by discussing...

It is a great delight to follow the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-Mogg) althoug...

Does my hon. Friend accept that one problem is the number of countries that have not signed the c...

I completely agree, and anyway, if we sought to deport anyone to such a regime, we would face the...

I have been thinking about the question of where we might send people. Michael Howard, a previous...

I do not know whether my hon. Friend is angling for a visit to St Helena.

My point to the H...

On sending people away, if we take someone’s citizenship away and they are taken to the airport, ...

That is my problem. Sometimes legislation seems like a good idea but ends up being completely and...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am keen to finish because I know that many hon. Members wish to speak, but I will give way if t...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that this is one of the worst examples of the tail wagging dog we h...

I fear that that often happens in passing legislation. I have never known so many manuscript amen...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can you give guidance to the House on whether there is...

The right hon. Gentleman is aware that that is not a point of order. The way in which the debate ...

I shall be mindful of your remarks, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I intend to follow the comments o...

On the point about removing people’s citizenship, my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and...

That question runs across several different issues. I was making the same point that the right ho...

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who mentioned our colleague the hon. Member for Esher and W...

That was indeed our tradition. It has of course been suspended many times, including for six year...

I shall try to be very brief.

The Home Secretary’s proposal to extend her powers in respect...

Under the current proposals, the person whose passport was removed would not necessarily appear i...

I entirely agree. That is why I am doubtful about the capacity to take away people’s British citi...

In welcoming the underlying principles of the Bill, I think that it is important to remind the Ho...

The hon. Gentleman always stands up for the rule of law, and I entirely agree with him that the n...

I think that the new clause is capable of achieving perfection, perhaps in the other place. As it...

Mr Deputy Speaker, you have rightly asked us to curtail our speeches and I shall try to complete ...

I intend to address new clause 15. It is an iron and inescapable consequence of new clause 15 tha...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. and learned Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr Cox). I fe...

It is a pleasure as ever to follow the Chair of the Select Committee. I welcome the comments of t...

rose—

For two minutes only, I call Caroline Lucas.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

We have heard thoughtful and powerful speeches from hon. Memb...

With the leave of the House, I shall respond to some of the points that have been raised. I do no...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker—

Order. I am sorry, but both new clauses, which are Government new clauses, go together. If the ho...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

We have had a considerable and liv...

I accept the Home Secretary’s wish to clean up the system and discourage people from “playing” it...

We have given a great deal of thought to the way in which our measures will operate. The changes ...

I do not intend to make a speech, because I know that others wish to speak, but an issue that has...

The hon. Lady has raised a number of concerns about aspects of the Bill, and has indicated her ob...

I, too, thank those who sat on the Committee and all those who have contributed throughout the Bi...

Will the right hon. Lady give way?

I am going to make some progress, because time is very tight.

The Home Secretary has become...

As the right hon. Lady was not here for the whole debate on Report, perhaps I should enlighten he...

The right hon. Lady did indeed take a considerable number of interventions. However, she informed...

I think that that was the worst Third Reading speech I have ever heard from a shadow Home Secreta...

I want to address an issue that has not been covered today—I had hoped to address it when we disc...

It has been an unusual debate. I am pleased that we have avoided too many of the more worrying am...

I will vote against the Bill on Third Reading for a large number of reasons. We have ordained tha...

I pay tribute to the Home Secretary and my hon. Friend the Minister for Immigration for introduci...