Speeches by Naish.

“May I clarify? Relative to the last time you went through something similar in the FCDO, albeit not on this scale, what is the sense of change? Were you speaking to people at different levels in those previous instances, compared with now? What would be the three or four identifiable differences, so we can say, “This i…”

“That 500 is not part of the 1,885. That 1,885 is on top of the 500.”

“Is this the Development Minister or the Foreign Secretary overall, because these staff are ultimately all part of the FCDO?”

“Have you seen any evidence of that already? Obviously, the cuts were announced in February; we were actually on the way to Abercrombie House as they were announced. Have you seen evidence of the workforce starting to leave? Is that part of the strategy?”

“And for how long have you been told it is coming?”

“Are they telling you that is coming?”

“Could you clarify what the cadence of updates is? Are there weekly meetings? How structured is the approach? It sounds like absolute chaos.”

“Financially, that will not be making a big difference anyway.”

“I have a quick question. Do you have any idea of the value of the work? If you are talking about 2,000 jobs, give or take, do you know roughly how much of the FCDO’s budget that would equate to, or have you not calculated that?”

“I will come on to five groups who need to be given special consideration, including those that the hon. Member has just mentioned. Over the weekend, more than 5,000 BNO visa holders completed a survey about the proposals. The results show that if the requirements outlined were strictly applied with no transitional arra…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential impact of immigration reforms on humanitarian visa routes. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward, and I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this debate. I will focus today on two groups, Hongkongers and Ukrainians,…”

“Absolutely. I think that the concept of a retrospective introduction of criteria is what is really concerning residents, and I am sure my hon. Friend the Minister will have been listening to the point that my hon. and learned Friend just made. With months to go until many BNO families hit the five-year mark, the possib…”

“The right hon. Member has been a tireless advocate for this group of people. I completely agree with everything that he said and I am sure we will continue to work together on these issues. Over the weekend, I received hundreds of real-life stories from Hongkongers who fell into five main groups, of which a couple have…”

“I will.”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to note that applications fluctuate. Certainly, the 200,000 members of the BNO community who are already here are very much part of our community, but the numbers coming through now are much smaller. That brings me to why this issue matters. ILR is not a technicality for Hongkongers; …”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I absolutely agree. My hon. Friend and I worked together at Bassetlaw district council and welcomed a lot of Hongkongers into our community, so I thank her for her support today. I will now turn much more briefly to Ukrainian humanitarian visa routes. It is 11 years since the beginning of Russia’s illegal occupation of…”

“Yes, I absolutely agree. I will come on to why that issue matters and I will cover both of my hon. Friend’s points. Given that the route was designed as a safe and secure five-year pathway for intergenerational families fleeing a severe crackdown on civil liberties, the figures are worrying. They highlight the importan…”

“I thank the Minister for his response and for the many issues he has dealt with. In the remaining 45 seconds, I want to say that we in this Chamber all recognise the challenge that the Government have in balancing illegal and legal immigration. It is an immense challenge, but the tone today has reflected the fact that …”

“When you say “they”, where is the drive coming from? Is a consulting firm being brought in to add the speed and pace necessary to achieve this work, or is it being left to staff to deliver—or do you not know the answers to those questions?”