Amanda Martin
Main Page: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)Department Debates - View all Amanda Martin's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(2 days ago)
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John Healey
I am not in a position to make a decision about publishing the legal advice that led the previous Government and Defence Secretary to extend the scheme. It is not legal advice that I have had access to or seen. On the question of costs, the hon. Member for North Cotswolds (Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown), Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, will do the job. I can confirm that the total cost of all Afghan relocation schemes to date, for those 36,000 Afghans who have been brought to this country, is around £2.7 billion. The expected cost over the entire lifetime of those schemes, to bring in anyone who may subsequently prove eligible, is between £5.5 billion and £6 billion. That is at least £1.2 billion less because of the policy decisions I have taken this afternoon.
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)
I thank the Secretary of State for his openness and transparency, and for his apology, and I thank Portsmouth city council for its involvement in Afghan resettlement schemes, which have helped many of those who served alongside my Portsmouth North constituents. I welcome today’s decision. The Government rightly took time to consider all the options and examine the complexities, including through the Rimmer review. They considered the cost to taxpayers and the safety of those affected, alongside the need for transparency and openness in this House and to the press and the public. Does the Secretary of State agree that we must, as a Government, reaffirm our commitment to public transparency?
John Healey
I do agree, and this House is doing so this afternoon in response to my statement. The role that my hon. Friend’s local council in Portsmouth and councils across the country are playing in making sure that there is a warm welcome and a unified Afghan resettlement programme in place for those Afghans and their families who we are welcoming into this country is remarkable. We thank them for that. Central Government and this House could not see these schemes operate effectively without our local councils.