Immigration System Debate

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Department: Home Office

Immigration System

Cat Smith Excerpts
Monday 12th May 2025

(1 day, 23 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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Yvette Cooper Portrait Yvette Cooper
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I am not sure the right hon. Lady’s Front-Bench team can answer that question. We have made clear that net migration needs to reduce substantially. We had years of targets from the previous Government which all failed and were all over the place, which undermines confidence. We should address the issue of confidence by taking a different approach: step by step, we will make progress and deliver, rather than just adding to the talk and the rhetoric.

Cat Smith Portrait Cat Smith (Lancaster and Wyre) (Lab)
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Lancaster University, like all of the leading universities in the UK, relies on operating in a global market, not just for international students, but for academic staff. Many of those staff have been in touch with me already today and they are feeling upset by some of the language that has been used, particularly around the use of the phrase “island of strangers”. Will the Home Secretary say something to my constituents who very much contribute to the economy of Lancaster and to our cultural enrichment?