Illegal Migration Bill

Lord Touhig Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 10th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Touhig (Lab)]

My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kirkhope, who made one of the best speeches we have had in this debate. He made it very clear why this is a bad piece of legislation.

“Across Europe, we live in times in which feelings that so many of us had thought outdated now appear to be re-emerging and spreading”. Pope Francis spoke those words when he reflected on the rising tide of intolerance on our continent. He went on to talk about the feelings of suspicion, fear, contempt and even hatred towards individuals or groups who are judged to be different based on their ethnicity, nationality or religion. Britain will face a state of moral decline if bigotry, intolerance and hatred feel at home in our country. Intolerance of people because they are different will dehumanise our society.

Recently, we have seen politicians stoking up intolerance of refugees and migrants, but the Britain of my lifetime has been a beacon of freedom, tolerance and justice, and that is how I want it to remain. British people have actively built links across communities, challenging hatred, welcoming refugees and standing up for those who are victimised. I believe we have seen no greater evidence of this harmony, tolerance and community than the scenes we have witnessed across the country in the last few days following the Coronation of the King and Queen.

It is a privilege to sit in this place, but with that privilege goes a duty not to allow vile ideals to grow and spread without challenge. The great social reformer Leo Abse MP, who was a dear friend of mine, once said: “Tolerate everyone, tolerate everything, but never ever tolerate the intolerant”.

I believe we must seek to resolve the issue of migrants crossing the channel in small boats. Several of us from this House and the other place raised this matter when we met French parliamentarians in July, and we urged them to press their Government to work with ours to find a common approach and see what we can do. But I very much regret that this piece of populist legislation is no answer and will solve nothing. Rather, it will stoke up ill-feeling towards some of the most vulnerable and desperate people on the planet—refugees—and all for short-term gain. I ask the architect of this Bill to do one thing: to heed the words of Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, who said:

“History is apt to judge harshly those who sacrifice tomorrow for today”.


My especial concern about this Bill is the awful impact it will have on unaccompanied migrant children. These refugee children not only have need of our protection but are entitled to it, because we have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet across our continent, the health and well-being of unaccompanied refugee children is being compromised, as I well know from a report I did when I was a member of the Council of Europe. Thousands of refugee youngsters are suffering; they are being abused, they are being trafficked, they are self-harming, and there is plenty of evidence that some are taking their own lives.

We must challenge those using toxic rhetoric about migration and displaying intolerance and prejudice which violates basic human rights. Political point-scoring about refugees, most especially refugee migrant children, should not be allowed to deny these children the help they need.

We should all be concerned about this Bill, because the Government do not have a good record of dealing with unaccompanied migrant children. Some 4,500 unaccompanied migrant children, some as young as 10, have been placed in hotels; 200 have gone missing and have not been seen again. Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 gives local councils alone statutory child protection powers, which include caring for unaccompanied migrant children. It does not give such powers to the Home Office.

There appears to be no legal basis for placing unaccompanied children in hotels operated by the Home Office. I twice attempted to discover which Act of Parliament has allowed the Government to do this; indeed, I asked the Minister last week. It is a simple question, and I ask it again: which Act of Parliament allows the Government to put these children in hotels?

This Bill will make the plight of unaccompanied migrant children even worse, denying them the right to claim refugee protection and making provision for them to be detained; and it will allow them to be removed from this country, despite their being youngsters unaccompanied by an adult. Is the United Kingdom seriously going to deport traumatised, in-need and unprotected children? If we do, shame, shame, shame on us.