argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Queen’s Speech — House of Lords, 2022-05-17
Topic: Immigration
Rajinder Paul Loomba (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, like so many of us, I am appalled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I will focus on the welfare of Ukrainian refugees, a subject no one has spoken about today. I declare my interest: the Loomba Foundation, of which I am the chairman trustee, has extensive experience of the impact of conflict in many parts of the world, particularly in driving up numbers of vulnerable widows and single mothers with dependent children and the massive upheaval this causes for families and communities. We have seen how this is the predominant feature of the Ukrainian refugee crisis today and we know the range of support that is essential for these mothers to create the stability they crave for their families I am deeply moved by the generosity of the British people, including those who have opened their homes to families from Ukraine. However, the current system the Government have put in place simply does not provide enough support for the vulnerable women and children arriving in the UK. In particular, those arriving on the Ukraine family visa scheme do not have enough protection. Some will have suffered terrible trauma and this may make it difficult for their families to cope We need to put measures in place so that, if their living arrangements break down, local authorities receive funding to match them with another family or provide alternative accommodation. We also need funding from central government to provide pastoral and mental health support for these refugees. We know that children, as well as adults, who have suffered trauma need the right help as early as possible so that they can start to build a new future in the UK The Loomba Foundation and other charities are doing what they can to fill the gaps and meet immediate needs. Barnardo’s, of which I am vice-president, told me about the case of a woman who arrived in the UK from Ukraine heavily pregnant and with just what she and her husband could carry. They came to live with family in the UK but did not have the basic things they needed for their new baby. Fortunately, Barnardo’s was able to give her all the things that new parents need, including a cot, nappies and clothes. Afterwards, the mother emailed Barnardo’s to say thank you. She said: "In this world there are more good people than bad. Thanks to you we are safe and have our little baby." As this example shows, charities can make a difference to the lives of vulnerable women and children arriving from that war-torn country, and we are currently finalising a partnership scheme whereby the Loomba Foundation will fund vouchers for Ukrainian refugee families to obtain essential items from any one of Barnardo’s nationwide network of more than 630 shops. Important as such measures can be for individual families, we cannot rely on charities alone to support the Ukrainian families and their British hosts, and I call on the Government to engage with us to help define the wider support that is needed and to provide due resources for it.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Other
David Alton (Crossbench, Unknown): In that case, why do we not wait for that legislation and do it comprehensively, rather than put into law things to which there is so much opposition? Does the Minister also accept that, in 2015, a number of really positive changes were made to that Act in your Lordships’ House because the Government chose to listen?
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
David Alton (Crossbench, Unknown): I am grateful to the Minister, but it seems to be the wrong way around. Normally, there is pre-legislative scrutiny of complex and sensitive issues, and this is a classic example where there should have been pre-legislative scrutiny, as there was before the 2015 legislation, in some detail and at some length. Why was it thought that in a Bill dealing specifically, as the noble Lord, Lord Deben, said, with nationality, borders and immigration, we should deal with an issue of this sensitivity? Would it not be better for the Government to withdraw this section of the Bill and come back with comprehensive legislation that we could all support?
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
Andrew Fleming (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I support Amendment 183 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, which I am cosponsoring along with the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, and the noble Lord, Lord Rooker. I do not always agree with the Lib Dems, but I think the noble Lord’s arguments were very powerful and need to be listened to. The effect of this route is to sell permanent residence in the UK, and later even citizenship, to anyone who turns up with a couple of million to spare, with no questions asked about where that money came from. It is an extraordinary outcome. I can see why one might have thought this was a good idea initially, but it has turned into a nonsense As the Committee may know, this route is for individuals able to make an investment of £2 million. The applicant does not need a job offer or sponsor, and the visa includes all immediate family members. The tier 1 investor visa is initially granted for three years and four months and can then be extended for another two years by providing evidence of an investment of the required amount. The funds must be invested in UK gilts, bonds and equities only—of course, the money can be taken out of those afterwards, so it is a very convenient little entry for your money Currently, if you invest—so called—£2 million, you will get your permanent residence in five years; if you have £5 million to spare, it is three years; and if you have £10 million in your pockets, it is two years. The whole thing is just absolutely absurd, frankly. Indeed, between 2008 and 2020 it has led to a total of more than 12,000 such visas being issued. There is not even any economic benefit to the UK in this. According to Sir David Metcalf, a former chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, in 2014, "the main beneficiaries are the migrants. Investors benefit from, for example, rule of law, property rights and access to efficient markets. Second, at present, the investment is a loan, not a gift." A MAC report from 2015 noted that the main proponents of this type of visas are—guess what—law firms, accountants and consultancies that help organise the affairs of such extraordinarily wealthy investors. There are also speculative concerns around whether this investor visa is being used by criminals. In an October 2015 report, Transparency International UK argued that it was highly likely that substantial amounts of corrupt wealth stolen in China and Russia had been laundered into the UK via this visa programme It is not clear what will happen to the tier 1 investor visa under the new points-based system—at least, it is not clear to me—but it seems that it will remain in place. I suggest that a thorough review is in order and, meanwhile, the route should be closed, as set out in this amendment.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
Michael Berkeley (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, it is a pleasure and privilege to make this trio of noble Lords—of naughty boys—into a quartet led by the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, because I strongly support all the points that have been made. On this occasion, I am talking not about people with millions of pounds, but about domestic workers, mentioned in the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. Here, there is another financial imperative for the Treasury, because I have long thought that we force people into the black economy because they simply cannot find a legal way to stay here I suggest to the Minister that this amendment would at least help a lot of people to come out into the open and pay taxes. If they could extend legal visas, those people would not go into the black economy and extend that uncontrolled area of work.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
Andrew Fleming (Crossbench, Unknown): Is the Minister aware that, in some countries, applicants choose those families that come to London regularly in the summer, with a view to leaving them after a month or two and settling, legally or otherwise, in the UK? The system needs to be fairly tight to avoid trouble on that front.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
Alan Brooke (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I support the amendment moved by the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie. I had not necessarily thought about saying anything, but she mentioned me in her speech. First, I declare an interest in that we are involved in tourism at home. Secondly, my brother is chairman of Tourism Ireland, a cross-border body that survives on funds from both the United Kingdom and Ireland to market the island of Ireland. Therefore, this particular regulation would make a complete fool of the whole practical implementation of it People ought to understand what the border really is—or, in fact, what it is not. We have come through all the Troubles. Before them, we had a border and we had to have certain papers to cross it. Then we all joined the European Union and that side was taken out of it. But then we had the Troubles so, in effect, the border was reinstated, albeit for a different reason. We do not have those border checks now; there is no border under the Good Friday agreement and everything since, including the protocol. That is the way it should be. Whether the noble Baroness and I are supporters of the protocol is neither here nor there; it is about the practical problems raised by this Whether tourists from another country cross the border, and who polices this, is of course an issue. In fact, they will not know whether they are crossing it, so it becomes rather ridiculous—on the whole, they do not have a clue. During the Troubles, there was a time when even our own British people—soldiers and police—did not know whether they were crossing it, so they used to draw yellow lines on it so that they knew when they were. A certain part of the population moved the yellow lines, so they still did not know where they were and then there were diplomatic incidents I live in County Fermanagh, which is one-third of the border in Northern Ireland. The border does not just affect it in terms of regulations—people cross it not just from day to day but time and time again in one direction or another to do very simple things. I know that you can use euros here if you are pushed, but every shop and business there uses euros and pounds. Therefore, half the time, no one has a clue whether they are in the north or the south, even when they walk into a shop. All the people working there, and of course the ones who are straightforward British or Irish, are not covered by this However, a wealth of people who are not British or Irish live and work within a few miles of the border and they do not think twice about it. If you cannot get a plumber very locally—we might get one from further afield anyway—you just ring up the nearest person. We are five miles from the border and he could well be from either side of it, and he might not be an Irish or British citizen I entirely support this amendment. I know that what I have said is not technical and I can only be very grateful to the noble Baroness, as we all can, for going into it in such detail because there is very little for us to say, except for the Government to sort it out.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alan Brooke (Crossbench, Unknown): Can I just make one point? Northern Ireland is the size of Yorkshire. What the Minister is really stating is that somebody who goes on holiday to Yorkshire must not go to a neighbouring county for any reason without complying with this regulation. I am terribly sorry, but this is complete and utter rubbish. It is nonsensical and it is not going to work. What do people do if they go touring in Yorkshire? They tour outside it. If tourists go to Ireland, why should they not simply tour Ireland? No amount of communication will do—I am very sorry—and there is nobody to police it. What the Government are talking about is simply unworkable and disastrous.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
Frances D'Souza (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, has said, my amendment falls within this grouping. This new stand-alone clause would expand eligibility for the ARAP scheme by amending the Immigration Rules. It would insert into the rules the current Home Office guidance on the extended eligibility for the relocation of additional family members. This amendment would also narrow the basis for those who would otherwise be eligible for relocation under ARAP being excluded from the scheme. This would bring the ARAP provisions into conformity with the standards set out in the 1951 refugee convention—including, for example, ensuring procedural safeguards in relation to any exclusion decisions.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
John Kerr (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I would briefly like to support both amendments. There is an advantage in putting both ACRS and ARAP on a statutory footing. It is important to understand the need to add a right to family reunion. The fact that the 15,000 people we got out have been given only temporary leave to remain—they do not have refugee status as such, and they are not entitled to any family reunion rights—is shabby, to be honest, and it would be good to put it right, as the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, would do I have only one query about the amendment. The conditions on links to the UK and help to the UK which would justify inclusion in the scheme are quite tight. One of the conditions applies to any person who worked in Afghanistan "alongside a UK government department" Is the British Council a UK government department? Is the World Service a British government department? That seems to me a little too narrow—but the spirit of the amendment is absolutely right. It is important to avoid being shabby. We suffered a serious defeat, but we really need not suffer dishonour.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
David Brownrigg Craig (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I have put my name to both these amendments. I shall speak to Amendment 185, in my name and those of the noble Lords, Lord Alton of Liverpool and Lord Coaker, and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Newnham. It follows on from the welcome remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, when she summed up at the end of Second Reading. She said, in relation to the requests about citizenship and right of abode that I had raised about these veterans of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces who were recruited and served in Hong Kong and elsewhere, that "the Government have identified a potential solution to this issue" That is of course potentially welcome news.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
Alan Brooke (Crossbench, Unknown): As I understand it, people are allowed to apply before they leave the services. While people are serving, the Government have huge charges for every soldier, airman and seaman every day of the week. For those who choose to apply for citizenship prior to leaving, why could this not be a normal cost of administration suffered by the MoD as part of its commitment to them?
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Other
David Alton (Crossbench, Unknown): I know the Minister would expect us to be prepared to do whatever is necessary on Report. However, on the basis of the debate we have had, I thank him for the way he has responded and beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
Igor Judge (Crossbench, Unknown): The noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, has had to leave and has left me to speak. I start by apologising to the Committee that I did not speak at Second Reading. I hope that every Member of the Committee will be satisfied that, by sitting here till 10 pm on the Thursday when we are all supposed to be going home, I have done due penance. I shall also be very short The Government have expressly and repeatedly asserted, and continue to assert, that they will make sure that the Bill is compliant with our obligations under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees—good. Nevertheless, for all the assertions, for many of us—I include myself in it, although I only had to listen to the debate on the television—our concern about some of the provisions in the Bill arises simply from the fact that we do not see compliance or even consistency. That is an issue which will have to be resolved when we come back; today is not the time to list the various provisions in the Bill which seem non-compliant or inconsistent The purpose of the amendment is first to ask for the Minister to confirm, here at the Dispatch Box, that nothing in the Bill is intended to undermine the obligations of the United Kingdom under the convention. That would be a start. We then would presume that if the Government did not accept the proposals to amend that will come up on Report, that would have been based on the advice of government lawyers. You do not need to be a lawyer to know that there is a privilege position between the advice given by the lawyer to the client, but there is of course nothing to prevent the client saying, "It is my privilege"—which it is—"and I am prepared to disclose the advice that I have been given." Speaking for myself, I would need a great deal of convincing that the Bill as it now stands is compliant. If the Government were so advised and prepared to disclose their legal advice, we could examine it. I do not expect them to do so; that would be launching into the unknown in a way that no Government ever would In the end, this amendment is down really as no more than a marker, a warning, that the issue of non-compliance with the convention—to avoid its long title—is live and kicking, but it would a great start if the Minister were prepared to accept at the Dispatch Box the words that I have used in the terms of the amendment. I beg to move.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Immigration
John Kerr (Crossbench, Unknown): I love surreal art, even if I do not always understand it. This amendment seems to be completely surreal Twenty-six pages of the Bill are clearly non-compliant with the refugee convention, starting with Article 11. The Committee will remember Magritte’s "Ceci n’est pas une pipe"—a large canvas with a picture of a large tobacco pipe, nothing else, with across it the words, "This is not a pipe". It is really dangerous for a Cross-Bencher to cross swords with the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers—there are terrible penalties for it—but the amendment is quite surreal in a Bill where a substantial part, 26 pages, is clearly not compliant with the convention and the protocol. That view has been supported by a number of extraordinarily distinguished lawyers in the Committee—by the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, for one, and I would like to say that at every stage of this Committee I have found her interventions particularly helpful The noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, has now made clear that with this amendment he is merely sticking a pin in the Government; it is a warning of intention. If we were to get an Act of Parliament along the lines of Part 2—the asylum provisions—that included the amendment proposed by the noble and learned Lord, I cannot see what the effect would be in the courts. Would a court pay any attention to the amendment? The court would have to be guided by the 26 pages of specific, detailed provisions that are in breach of the convention, so if the amendment were there it seems to me that it would be surreal and would have no effect. However, if it is merely a warning to the Government, then fine. I certainly share the noble and learned Lord’s view that what is required here is not the ineffective sticking plaster that the amendment would be but radical surgery.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-10
Topic: Other
Igor Judge (Crossbench, Unknown): I shall of course withdraw the amendment for today, reflecting with some sadness that there is no Whip among the Cross-Benchers—I am very sorry about that. The issue cannot be resolved without the main provisions of the Bill being amended. It will take a great deal to persuade me and many Members of this House that some of the 26 pages of provisions are compliant with the convention. I was hoping that the Minister would positively assert that "Nothing in this Act" was "intended to undermine" our obligations but, as she has not, we have to draw our own conclusions. For today, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Champions League Final — House of Lords, 2022-06-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Birt (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I am a Liverpool supporter and I attended this shamefully managed event. The inquiry announced by UEFA needs to explore quite a number of things: first, the manifest limitations of the design and management of the Stade de France; secondly, the prior planning and operational response of the French police; and, thirdly, the quality of oversight of UEFA itself. Will the Minister endeavour to ensure that the inquiry has the power, capability and capacity to do all those things?
Champions League Final — House of Lords, 2022-06-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Alton (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, undoubtedly the saddest time of my life as a Member of Parliament in Liverpool was visiting the homes of constituents who had loved ones who had died or been injured at Hillsborough, including the family of a child. That was compounded by the collective character assassination which immediately occurred in the media, referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, and also by the lies that were told by people in authority. Given that French Ministers immediately tried to put blame on the Liverpool fans, I wonder whether the inquiry by UEFA will look into how the authorities responded in the immediate aftermath of these events, when spectators had tear gas and pepper sprayed into their faces.
Nigeria: Killing of Church Worshippers — House of Lords, 2022-06-06
Topic: Civil Rights
David Alton (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, notwithstanding the Minister’s comment about the shortage of resources, with which I agree, a lack of resources does not walk into people’s homes and behead them. It does not abduct young women such as Leah Sharibu, rape them and impregnate them. It did not walk into a church and kill over 50 people yesterday. Ideology, impunity and insecurity are words that stand together in Nigeria. For far too long there has been indifference to the widespread killings of minorities, especially in the north of the country but now in the south as well. In 2020, the all-party group on freedom of religion or belief produced a report which asked the question: is this an unfolding genocide? The Africa Minister at the time dismissed it and said that this was a wrong appreciation of what was under way. Will the Minister at least undertake to go back and read that report to look at some of the issues around ideology, Boko Haram, ISIS West Africa Province and a multitude of other organisations coming out of the Sahel?
Beyond Brexit: Policing, Law Enforcement and Security (EUC Report) — House of Lords, 2022-03-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Anderson (Crossbench, Unknown): Before the Minister sits down, she made a most intriguing reference when discussing extradition to a small handful of states where specific problems had presented themselves, and to one state, if I heard right, where those problems continue. Is she able to be any more specific?