Illegal Migration Bill

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 10th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bilimoria (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as an immigrant— a proud immigrant. This country has given me so many opportunities; to build from scratch a consumer brand loved by this country, Cobra Beer, a household name in the UK; to be the youngest university chancellor in this country from 2005 to 2010, at the University of West London; to be the first Indian-born chancellor of a Russell group university in this country, the University of Birmingham, which is the third-largest university in this country; to join this House as one of its three youngest Peers, 17 years ago; and to be the first Zoroastrian Parsi to sit in this House. I hail from the smallest minority community in the world, the Zoroastrian Parsis. There are just 100,000 of us. We fled from Iran—Persia in those days—to escape religious persecution. We went to India, and I am proud to say that, over the centuries, per capita of achievement it is probably one of the most successful communities in the world.

That is because good immigration has always worked. The 14% of immigrants here contribute so much to make sure that this country, with 1% of the world’s population, is still the sixth largest economy in the world. The immigrants in this country and their children are reaching the very top. There is no better example than our Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

The Minister started the debate by saying that the purpose of the Illegal Migration Bill is

“to prevent and deter unlawful migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes, by requiring the removal from the United Kingdom”.

Yet, as we have heard from so many noble Lords today, the Bill creates a hostile image of immigration, even more so than Theresa May did. From 2010 to 2019, when she was Home Secretary and Prime Minister, she created a hostile image of, and approach to, immigration. For example, in 2012 she removed the two-year post-graduation work visa for international students, which I spearheaded in 2007-08. Boris Johnson brought it back, to start again in 2021.

The Bill is focusing on the boats, one of the Prime Minister’s five pledges. We all want the boats to stop. That is not the question. It is how we do it that matters: not in an inhuman way, not in a way that breaches international law, not in a way that breaches international commitments—the Bar Council considers that the Bill as currently drafted is incompatible with the principles which underlie the rule of law—and not in a way that removes this country’s centuries-old reputation for fairness and justice, which is respected around the world.

The Bill is meant to be a deterrent, but let us put this in perspective. The 45,000 people who came across in those boats last year make up less than 10% of the net migration of 500,000 people into this country. A fear of immigration is created—a fear that led to David Cameron and Theresa May wanting to bring it down to the tens of thousands. Where are we, in the tens of thousands? It is at 500,000. It is a fear of immigration created, for example, by Angela Merkel, when she said she would allow 1 million refugees to settle in Germany in 2015 at the height of the Syrian crisis. Whether we like it or not, that fear played a major part in the Brexit vote turning out the way it did.

Yet look at today: according to a study brought out by King’s College London on 23 February this year, the UK public have among the most positive attitudes to immigration. The study ranks the country at the top of an international league table as the most accepting of new arrivals. So where is this will of the people? There it is. This is the latest study that has come out.

Will the Minister please explain to me why our international students are included in the net migration figures? International students have now reached a record high of 680,000, and this is primarily because of the two-year post-graduation work visa being brought in. They are not immigrants; on the whole, they return to their countries. In fact, if you look at the immigration figures, the highest number is of students—it is higher than people who come to work. This is because the UN says that, within one year, you have to categorise people as immigrants. Even a one-year master’s degree means an international student is categorised as an immigrant. Other countries exclude them from their net migration figures.

Why are the Government making a rod for their own backs? Why are international students being used in this way? Is it being used to create a fear of migration? Is it being used to create a hostile approach to immigration? I just do not understand it. I am like a stuck record: in his winding up, please can the Minister address this point? I am co-chair of the All-Party Group on International Students and president for the UK Council of International Student Affairs. International students bring £30 billion into this country and are one of our strongest elements of soft power.

To conclude, of course we want to address the asylum claims: the backlog of 138,000 is unacceptable, and we need to process them quicker. Of course we need to address, tackle, and stop the illegal immigration and these awful, dangerous and tragic small boats crossing the channel. But let us never take for granted the good immigration that has benefited this country, and for which we should always be grateful and appreciative: the good immigration has made Great Britain great.