Speeches by Ribeiro-Addy.

“What was the evidential basis on which the Government said that the decision should be overturned? Was there any political element to that?”

“We have heard Ministers publicly express their opinions on this decision. Do you think it was appropriate for the Government to comment on operational decisions made by an independent police force? Do you think that standard safety decisions were being politicised?”

“Were there any discussions on the communications surrounding this? Rather than it being that “Jewish fans” were not welcome at the football match, were there any discussions about it being that “these particular fans” were not welcome at the football match? Were there any discussions about putting that view across?”

“Yes.”

“I want to ask the same question I asked the officers. A number of Cabinet members expressed their opinions on this particular decision. Do you think it is appropriate for the Government to comment on operational decisions made by independent police forces? Did that in any way affect the standard safety decisions?”

“Fans have previously been banned in the UK. Most notably, Celtic and Rangers fans were banned from visiting each other’s grounds between 2023 and 2025. For consistency, on what basis would you say that was right or wrong?”

“So what was the basis for saying that what they had decided was wrong?”

“Lord Mann, you talked about coaches being put on in the UK for similar scenarios. Has this ever been done specifically because of threats of racist violence and particular threats to local residents, as opposed to people involved in the match?”

“Did the Government have any access to intelligence that contradicted what West Midlands police had in its risk assessment?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for securing this crucial debate and for the incredible work that she has always done to shine a light on this issue. I want to be absolutely clear that we are discussing specifically m…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be better to tackle channel crossings by introducing more humanitarian visas and, once we have, not pulling the rug out from underneath people?”

“My understanding was that the Government’s immigration plans were geared towards tackling so-called illegal immigration, such as channel crossings—although I would argue that they are in fact irregular, not illegal, because it is not illegal to seek asylum. The measures we are discussing today are about retrospectively…”

“Finally, did you include consultation with the trade unions in the sectors that you were looking at?”

“I know that stage 1 was meant to be six months, as was stage 2, but I think stage 1 was actually completed in three months. Given what you have said about not necessarily including a certain sector, do you think that you could have done more stakeholder engagement, if you had been allowed to include other sectors?”

“But you do realise that it has literally changed the status of these particular jobs, which means that some of those individuals, having worked here probably through the pandemic as well, could likely be deported or asked to leave on the basis that their jobs are no longer considered skilled.”

“I wanted to ask you about a recent proposed change. You might be aware that there are a number of operational transport workers that are going to be impacted by this recent change, including a number employed by Transport for London. I suppose that it might also stretch across other industries across the city and the c…”

“Correct me if I am wrong, but presumably it would not be difficult to obtain that data. It might be difficult to analyse it, but not necessarily to obtain it.”

“Given that you are across the data, and given the data that you have—and I am not trying to get you to answer a question for which you cannot have the absolutely correct answer—is it your finding that those who are on those particular routes are more likely to claim benefits? In some of the rhetoric, that is the idea a…”

“What advice would you give if you were asked to advise on those changes? If you were asked, what role would you be expected to play?”

“I understand that you have not been asked to give advice on the changes that have been announced, or to consider the planned changes—is that right?”