Asylum Reforms: Protected Characteristics
Debate between John McDonnell and Rupa Huq(1 week, 1 day ago)
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John McDonnell
It is nice to be buttered up, but that usually means that the Minister is ignoring me. On safer routes, the Government have put forward sponsored routes. Those are different from some of the proposals put forward by the PCS and others for specific visa routes, but we can debate the detail of that.
One issue that I did not raise, because I got an answer from the Secretary of State, was the detention of children. I gave the example of how I used to visit Harmondsworth to see children there, which was distressing, and the Secretary of State gave an assurance that there would be no detention of children. There needs to be more clarity on the removal of families in particular and on how that process will be dealt with. That was happening under the previous Government, and at one point it drifted into the detention of children for long periods.
Dr Rupa Huq (in the Chair)
Order. I remind the Minister that Kirsty Blackman needs time to conclude the debate.