Speeches by White.

“We understand that they are filmed, and it would be helpful for us to have a better picture if you could send us the films.”

“Thank you. So we can have a context of who you are and what your responsibilities are, could you set out the legal position of your council’s responsibilities in relation to the attendance or non-attendance of away fans and how their safety is managed?”

“What changes does the Home Office need to make to ensure that the asylum system is functioning effectively, efficiently and fairly to reduce the pressures on the appeal system?”

“Where refugees have been granted protection and the situation in their home country has changed, when is it justified to return them?”

“Thank you very much for coming to this session. The Government have determined that we should now have a core protection model. How do you think this will impact the asylum system as a whole?”

“One of the things I am interested in—and something I have been talking about to other people—is that you create those safe and legal routes at the nearest point of safety, perhaps in the horn of Africa or in the Middle East, and perhaps being handled by visa centres, or centres run by the UK, with the claim being proce…”

“We have already touched on safe and legal routes to reduce irregular migration. We also touched on community sponsorship as a viable core model for delivering settlement. What do you think are the limits to community sponsorship?”

“Obviously there are people who use the ECHR to potentially slow down their claims or create the reasons for why they should remain. How significant do you think that is in slowing down claims or people using it as a right to remain?”

“You are suggesting that Britain is seen as a last resort, rather than people leaving their country of origin and trekking thousands of miles across continents in order to arrive here—that their target is Britain. You are saying this is where they are ending up because they cannot go anywhere else.”

“This is a very interesting session. We have addressed a lot of this, but obviously one of the biggest challenges is how we return the failed asylum seekers. Obviously, most of them get lost in the system. What is your analysis of the Government’s proposals on how we deal with this?”

“The Hong Kong national security law and the conviction of Jimmy Lai are a breach of the 1984 Sino-British joint declaration. It is a politically motivated attack on freedom. Can the Foreign Secretary reassure this House that all possible actions are being pursued, first to ensure that Jimmy Lai obtains his legal access…”

“This quagmire needs much greater scrutiny, and to be brought out into the disinfectant of daylight. Let me repeat the question: why have no safety advisory group minutes been produced? How many times did the SAG meet on this issue? Will the Minister ask whether there was a UEFA representative at the safety advisory gro…”

“I am a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[1]”

“I find it quite presumptuous that you assumed that the Dutch police were under pressure. Was there any exploration of the assumption that they were under pressure to present to your chief inspector a picture very different from the reports we had had?”

“Everything else, we could say, is entirely trying to talk about events that never actually happened. But what would have happened if the SAG had still said no? How could we overcome a SAG decision?”

“I am surprised that you were not having any discussions with Maccabi Tel Aviv immediately before you made that decision, because the understanding that the ultras were not coming would have been absolutely critical to any decision making.”

“Okay. You identified that you felt there were threats to the Israelis from the local community; what assessments or links did you make, or communications did you have, with local community groups, and what risks were felt from those?”

“I have two questions. First, most SAGs in other areasdo not have political representatives. Do you think that is an appropriate way to go forward? Secondly, Young Boys fans do have a history of violence outside football grounds, such as in September and February, so surely different policing responses should be conside…”

“Following the announcements that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would be banned, what contact did you have with West Midlands police?”

“It is commonplace for people to protest, particularly in today’s times, but isn’t that merely another policing matter, as opposed to a reason to decide to stop fans attending a game?”