14Apr 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Rwanda: Total dysfunction at the Home Office

Rwanda: Total dysfunction at the Home Office

Parliamentary news
Responding to Boris Johnson's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, after Refugee Minister Lord Harrington ruled out such a move just last week, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: "The Prime Minister and Home Secretary announcing a refugees policy that the Refugees Minister doesn't even know about shows the total dysfunction at the heart of the Home Office. "If the Home Office can't even manage a press release properly, how on earth will they manage this new offshoring system?"
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10Nov 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Call for emergency visas to tackle ‘self-inflicted’ care staff crisis

Call for emergency visas to tackle ‘self-inflicted’ care staff crisis

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are calling for emergency changes to the immigration rules to make care workers eligible for visas, as the Government’s vaccine mandate comes into force, threatening to add to the 105,000 vacancies in social care. 60,000 social care workers could lose their jobs according to data from the National Care Forum and the Department of Health and Social Care. UNISON and the National Care Forum have warned that the “recruitment and retention emergency” has been caused by “low wages, staff burnout, and mandatory vaccination”. Under the Conservatives’ new immigration rules, which came into effect in January, most frontline care roles are not eligible for skilled worker visas, leaving no route for employers to recruit care staff from abroad. The Liberal Democrats are calling for that rule to be…
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17Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Butcher visas: Groundhog day for half-baked visa schemes

Butcher visas: Groundhog day for half-baked visa schemes

Parliamentary news
Reacting to the Government giving overseas butchers a six month temporary visa, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Food and Rural Affairs Tim Farron MP said: “It is groundhog day again as Ministers scramble to rush out another half-baked and inadequate visa scheme. "If Ministers think the answer to the shortages we face is a handful of temporary visas for one sector after another, they are badly mistaken. They just can't seem to learn from their mistakes. “Businesses across the UK are suffering because of the Conservatives’ damaging new immigration rules, imposed in the midst of a pandemic. The answer must be to rewrite those rules and abolish the arbitrary distinction that rejects key workers such as care staff and HGV drivers as ‘unskilled’.”
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07Jul 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Priti Patel’s Anti-Refugee Bill is “cruel and counterproductive”

Priti Patel’s Anti-Refugee Bill is “cruel and counterproductive”

Parliamentary news
Responding to the publication of the Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill today, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “This Anti-Refugee Bill is a truly nasty piece of legislation from a Conservative Government that is ripping up the UK’s proud tradition of providing sanctuary to refugees. “We need to fix our asylum system, combat the criminal gangs who profit from trafficking and smuggling, and stop people from making dangerous attempts to cross the Channel. “Priti Patel’s proposals will do nothing to help. In fact, the Anti-Refugee Bill will make those problems worse. It will add even more delay, increasing the Home Office’s already huge backlog. And it will play into the hands of human traffickers, by making it harder for their victims to come forward and get the…
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30Jun 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Touring Visas: Govt apathy is alarming

Touring Visas: Govt apathy is alarming

Parliamentary news
Reacting to evidence submitted by Lord Frost and Caroline Dinenage MP on EU visa arrangements for touring workers at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee today, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for DCMS Jamie Stone MP said: "Lord Frost's attitude of apathy today raises serious concerns about the way this Conservative Government is sacrificing people's jobs in favour of its anti-immigration ideology. As ever with the Tories, sorry seems to be the hardest word. “Our touring professionals have been devastated by this pandemic and are desperate for some clarity and reassurance on their ability to travel around Europe for work. But this Government's botched Brexit deal means that hope is but a candle in the wind. “Refusing to negotiate with the EU on visa waivers is a galling decision for thousands…
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28Jun 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Home Secretary must drop “dystopian” asylum proposals

Home Secretary must drop “dystopian” asylum proposals

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Home Secretary’s plans to hold asylum seekers in an offshore “processing centre”, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “Shipping asylum seekers off to so-called ‘processing centres’ in Rwanda would be an appalling and inhumane way to treat some of the world’s most vulnerable people. “The UK has a proud history of providing sanctuary and support to those in need, but now Priti Patel and the Conservatives are turning their backs on refugees who are seeking safety. “Treating seekers of sanctuary as criminals is wrong and will only strengthen the position of people smugglers and human traffickers who prey on desperate people trying to cross the Channel. “The best way to tackle these criminal gangs and stop dangerous boat crossings is to provide safe and…
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24May 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Immigration: Home Secretary has failed to get a grip on broken system

Immigration: Home Secretary has failed to get a grip on broken system

Parliamentary news
Responding to Priti Patel’s speech this morning on immigration, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “No amount of tough talk and bluster from the Home Secretary can hide the fact that she has utterly failed to get a grip on the UK’s broken immigration system. Years of Home Office failure, coupled with hostile policies and rhetoric from successive Conservative Home Secretaries, have shattered public confidence. “Instead of fixing the broken system, Priti Patel is pressing ahead with damaging plans that will create more chaos and make it harder for British employers to recruit the workers they need. “She talks about a new ‘digital border’, but apparently forgot to mention that the existing project is years behind schedule and more than £170 million over budget. And she is refusing…
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21May 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Take Windrush scheme out of Home Office

Take Windrush scheme out of Home Office

Parliamentary news
Responding to the National Audit Office's report on the Windrush Compensation Scheme, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Alistair Carmichael commented: “The Government’s response to the appalling Windrush Scandal is rapidly turning into a new scandal all of its own. “It should never have been left to the Home Office – which caused so much harm in the first place – to put things right. That’s why Liberal Democrats called for the compensation scheme to be fully independent from the start. “Conservative Ministers must finally admit their mistake and take the Compensation Scheme out of the hands of the discredited Home Office. Then we can finally get on with righting the wrongs done to the Windrush Generation and restoring public confidence in the immigration system.”
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29Apr 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Tory MPs vote to lock up more modern slavery victims

Tory MPs vote to lock up more modern slavery victims

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have accused Conservative MPs of “placing anti-immigration ideology ahead of tackling the scourge of modern slavery”, after the Tories voted for new legislation that will weaken safeguards for victims and lead to more of them being held in immigration detention centres. The Immigration (Guidance on Detention of Vulnerable Persons) Regulations were passed by 358 votes to 270, with all Liberal Democrat MPs voting against. Following the vote in the House of Commons today, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “Victims of trafficking and modern slavery should never be held in immigration detention. It is unnecessary, expensive and inhumane. “This legislation will result in more victims of trafficking and modern slavery being locked up in detention centres and detained for longer. “Yet again, the Tories…
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15Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Domestic Abuse Bill must protect migrant women

Domestic Abuse Bill must protect migrant women

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are fighting today to amend the landmark Domestic Abuse Bill to ensure migrant survivors are protected. The party is backing three cross-party amendments, due to be debated in the Lords this afternoon, that would offer protection for some of the most vulnerable survivors of abuse, for whom protections under the current law are woefully inadequate. The Lords will vote on a law to block the Home Office from using data gathered when survivors of domestic abuse seek support or assistance for immigration purposes. Another amendment would give migrant survivors of abuse temporary leave to remain and access to public funds, so they are not excluded from crucial support services. A third would ensure that all survivors of domestic abuse are protected regardless of their immigration status, as…
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