I do not have many other points to make.
I want to make a point about amendment 1 that has not been made. There has been a great deal of guff about the Bill being focused on restricting the rights of appeal of people who do play by the rules. It is important to stress that the restrictions on appeal in the Bill are exactly for those who do play by the rules. They are for people who come here to work and for family purposes. When taken together with the changes that make it
more difficult to get a spousal visa, it is hard not to see this as an attack on family life. An administrative review is simply not equivalent to an appeal. An organisation such as the Home Office cannot be expected to challenge itself. I would be grateful if the Home Secretary addressed the point that I made in an intervention on the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson) about the anomaly with respect to administrative review and appeal when applying for variation in leave.
2.30 pm
If a Division is called on new clause 18, I will certainly vote against it. If the Opposition decide to press their amendments to the new clause, I shall vote with them, but those amendments do not go far enough, because making people stateless is simply wrong. I accept that the Home Secretary says that the measure will apply to only a limited number of people, but that does not make it any less wrong. If the new clause is accepted, we will find ourselves on a list of states that represents a roll-call of dishonour, but I want us to be leading international policy in this area, rather than trailing it.
I am, frankly, aghast that my party has been willing to sign up to new clause 18. If a Division is called on it, I would strongly encourage my colleagues to vote in the No Lobby. It is difficult for any Liberal Democrat to support such a measure, especially as the safeguards that the Home Secretary talked about will be set out nowhere in the Bill.