Speeches by Lam.

“Clause 48 details who can apply to make orders and interim orders, and it replaces and extends the previous list in section 8 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. Can the Minister please explain how long an application for an interim serious crime prevention order might take when made to either the High Court or the Crown co…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair this afternoon, Dame Siobhain. I am grateful to the Petitions Committee and the well over 200,000 members of the public who have requested that we debate this topic today. Some may be uncomfortable with the petition before us, which calls on us to suspend all immigration …”

“It is important to say, as my right hon. Friend’s intervention reflects, that we absolutely can have a multi-ethnic society, but that it is fundamental that we are one country and one people with one perspective. The kind of immigration system that I have discussed is one that the British people have voted for time and…”

“That is very helpful, but I just want to check that I fully understand what the Minister is saying. The power already exists, but it is about locational flexibility—is that right?”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“rose—”

“Clause 34 provides a power for an authorised person to take biometric information when the Government are in the process of facilitating their exit from a state or territory. The purpose of the power is to ensure that only those who qualify under particular evacuation schemes are able to come to the UK. The power to ta…”

“Clause 32 makes general provision about the powers of disclosure in clauses 30 and 31. Subsection (2), as the Minister laid out, clarifies that nothing in clauses 27 to 31 authorises disclosure where it would otherwise contravene data protection or investigatory powers legislation. How much difficulty does the Minister…”

“Clause 30 provides a power for the Secretary of State for Transport to supply trailer registration information to the Secretary of State for the Home Department for immigration purposes, law enforcement purposes, human welfare purposes, purposes connected with functions under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, protecting …”

“I take the Minister’s points about practicality, but in situations where new clause 23 created additional complexity, the Home Office would retain the option to adhere to the GDPR if it wished to; it would just not be forced to do so. We really think that the provision would be a useful addition and we hope the Governm…”

“We welcome the powers in these clauses to share HMRC data. Border Force is responsible for clearing both people and goods at the UK border. There is international precedent for moving towards joint targeting centres for people and goods. From a law enforcement perspective and from ours, the more customs information tha…”

“I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman would like to share with the Committee whether under the Dublin agreement we were net recipients of migrants or removed more than we received?”

“Clause 36, as the Minister has laid out, extends biometrics powers to ports in Scotland. As we understand it, immigration enforcement already has the power to take biometrics from people arrested in the UK, including at ports, if they are suspected of having entered or remained in the UK illegally. How does the Ministe…”

“For those who aren’t familiar with it, lane rental charges by the day rather than a flat fee and a fine. I am an MP in Kent, which is one of the few areas in the country that has a lane rental system, although I understand from the county council that it only covers about 5% of roads, and they have to be agreed by the …”

“I think the Government have proposed doubling the fines, but it sounds like you are suggesting something more cumulative. Maybe it is a doubling and then a tripling as it goes on.”

“The final piece of this puzzle is immediate work permits, which are not really permits because they do not involve permission. What I hear a lot is that you get an emergency—particularly a repeated emergency in the same place—and if you have an immediate work permit, you can dig up a new road, which is very painful giv…”

“We were talking earlier about co-ordination. Is that still possible in an urgent, emergency, immediate work permit scenario, or not really?”

“Presumably, it is much harder to do it at short notice.”

“So two hours—”

“Of course, street works cause lots of disruption when they are actually going on. The thing that seems to exercise people more than anything in the medium term are potholes and road quality. In your view, do utility companies do a good enough job of repairing the road? How often is there a difference of view about the …”