Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation
Seamus Logan Excerpts(2 days, 7 hours ago)
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Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I acknowledge the petitioners and their call for
“a cessation of financial and other support”
but I rise to challenge the petition. I thank the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for his very learned contribution to opening the debate.
I will begin by responding to people who believe asylum seekers are a problem in our local communities. Those people’s real enemy does not arrive on these shores in a small boat, wearing a lifejacket. Their real enemy arrives in a private jet, or in a big plane, wearing designer clothes and expensive jewellery. Some of the real enemies of the people sit on the Benches of this place and the other place. They appear on radio and TV, selling falsehoods like snake oil salesmen.
The SNP Government in Scotland have been clear: Labour must end the hostile environment for asylum seekers and deliver an effective and humane asylum system that meets the UK’s international legal obligations. That means putting an end, as soon as possible, to accommodating asylum seekers in hotels. Politicians also need to end the ridiculous disinformation around those locations that suggests they are some form of luxury accommodation. As anyone who has visited such a facility knows—the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) has visited one, so he will know—they are nothing of the sort.
Labour’s proposals to consider using large industrial sites and military locations are equally concerning. These people have fled war, persecution, famine, drought and terrorism. Military bases are not acceptable, nor is a lack of support services. That lack will exacerbate their problems, which often include mental health problems.
Chris Murray
How does the hon. Gentleman reconcile his point about the UK Government with the fact that, under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the Scottish Government’s policy was to house Ukrainian refugees in hotels across Scotland, and on cruise ships?
Seamus Logan
I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, but what he is describing is not quite the same thing.
Many asylum seekers have valuable skills and are keen to contribute to society and the economy; it is Home Office dogma inherited from the Tories and driven by Reform UK that prevents them from doing so. The term “illegal migrant” is divisive, dehumanising and inaccurate. People are not illegal. The UK is a signatory to the 1951 UN refugee convention and the supporting 1967 protocol, meaning that it has international legal obligations to recognise refugees in the UK, to protect them and to meet minimum treatment standards. Article 31 of the convention gives refugees the right not to be punished for irregular entry into the territory of a contracting state. The UK is an island and it does not allow people to apply for asylum from overseas. Similarly, there is no visa allowing people to enter the UK to make an asylum claim.
People of course have the right to peaceful protest in a democracy, but the protests outside hotels and the accompanying rhetoric have often gone far beyond what is acceptable. Those protests are creating a sense of real fear and alarm for people who have been through so much. Refugees must not be scapegoated. They should be treated as decent human beings and their potential to be full members of our communities should be recognised.
Successive UK Governments’ mismanagement of the asylum system is creating serious pressure for local authorities, especially Glasgow city council. The Scottish Government are making more than £115 million available in Glasgow to support the delivery of more social and affordable homes, but the Home Office must also urgently provide more financial assistance to enable local authorities to provide safety and sanctuary for people seeking asylum.
UK Ministers must also engage with the Scottish Government, who have called repeatedly on the Home Office to meet them and Glasgow city council, but to no avail. In April, the Scottish Refugee Council invited Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice to attend a roundtable meeting with the council and the UK Government. Disappointingly, UK Government Ministers chose not to attend.
Asylum seekers are not coming over here, taking all our jobs and our houses, living high on the hog on benefits, and clogging up our GP surgeries and schools. Those are the lies peddled by some politicians and wannabe leaders to distract us from the real issues that should concern people: the rising cost of living, sky-high energy bills, and wages stagnating while the rich grow richer at the expense of the working men and women of this country. They are distracting us—“Look over here. Get angry about this!”—instead of focusing on the real issues. Scotland and its people want to take a different path—a path that echoes the best traditions of our ancient Celtic people, who prided themselves on providing hospitality and a welcome to the stranger.
The following facts might sit uncomfortably with the people in my constituency who signed this petition, but facts they are. Our birth rate is falling. Our workforce size is decreasing—declining. Our older people are living longer and growing in number. Who will care for them, treat them, feed them and pay taxes to run their public services? We need migrants to fill our labour shortages. Our health services need their skills. Our social care teams need their help. Our fishers and fish processors need them urgently. Our farmers need them. Our hospitality and tourism industries need their help. Therefore, rather than closing our borders to all, let us find safe and legal routes for the asylum seeker. Let us make migration routes clearer and easier to understand, not harder.
To conclude, I have four requests of the Minister and this Government. I ask them first, to end the use of hotels; secondly, to provide safe and supportive accommodation; thirdly, to grant asylum seekers and their dependants the right to work; and finally, to reframe messaging on migration in a more positive and humane way.
Sarah Pochin
No, I am going to continue. We have to stop the incentives to come to this country. We need to protect the public, particularly women and girls, from these sexually active young men currently free to roam our streets.
Sarah Pochin
No, I am nearly finished. We need to prioritise our own citizens and stop this betrayal of our culture and our country. To finish, I would like to make this observation. The Home Office has just put out a contract to tender for asylum support and accommodation services to run from 2029 to 2036, so clearly, the Government have no plans to stop these hotels and are, in fact, facilitating them. The Minister can shake his head, but it is there online.
Oral Answers to Questions
Seamus Logan Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Dame Angela Eagle
As it happens, I can. We have extended the move-on trial until the end of the year.
Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)
The seasonal worker route is designed to support the horticulture and poultry sectors, both of which have short-term seasonal production peaks. I discussed these issues with the Scottish Minister during my visit to Peterhead fish market in February. There is not the same evidence of seasonal patterns in the fish processing sector, which would require significant but short-term increases in labour, but I am always happy to discuss these matters with colleagues in the House.
Seamus Logan
May I begin by acknowledging the passing of a giant of our movement, Mr Alex Sim from Peterhead, whose funeral is taking place at the moment?
On Wednesday 5 March the Prime Minister told me from the Dispatch Box, in answer to a question about the fishing industry in my constituency:
“We…want to tackle the problems of labour shortages”.—[Official Report, 5 March 2025; Vol. 763, c. 280.]
However, it is not just a question of fishing. Last week, Moray chamber of commerce told me of hospitality sector business closures, in some cases related to the inability to recruit key staff. Can the Minister tell me what progress has been made in this vital area? She has mentioned discussions with the Scottish Government, but when will we be informed of sector-specific progress ensuring that these industries, which are crying out for help, receive it?
Seema Malhotra
As the hon. Gentleman will know, we work closely on this issue with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, but we must also focus on addressing the underlying causes of recruitment problems. We recognise the position in which some of our fishing communities find themselves in relation to workforce challenges, but the hon. Gentleman will, I hope, welcome the news that through our new labour market evidence group we will be engaging with devolved Governments in the gathering and sharing of data and evidence on the state of the workforce, on training levels and on participation by all parts of the domestic labour market, so that we have an immigration system that is well informed and works for the whole United Kingdom.
International Women�s Day
Seamus Logan Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)
It is a true privilege to speak in this year�s debate. I will start by acknowledging just some of the women in Scottish politics who are inspiring and paving the way for future generations of women in Scotland, especially the next generation of female politicians. There is our Chief Whip, my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman), who would have loved to be here today but sadly could not make it; Karen Adam, our MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast; and two�only two�of our local councillors in Aberdeenshire: Gwyneth Petrie, our opposition group leader, and Louise McAllister, our group chair.
I pay tribute to the tireless work done by Sally Donald, a member of staff for my neighbouring MP, my hon. Friend the Member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey (Graham Leadbitter). As co-chair of ParliGender, the workplace equality network advocating for gender equality in Parliament, she has introduced a mentorship scheme for female members of staff, which has been very popular, showing the demand for such schemes in this place.
While I stand here and thank the women who have committed their time, energy and lives to the people of Scotland, I want to take a second to note that at our current pace, a girl born today will be nearly 40 years old before women in this place hold as many seats in Parliament as men. That is a devastating statistic in the face of this year�s theme: rights, equality and empowerment. Although we are honoured to be in a Parliament that has the highest number of female MPs in history, let us not forget that women were only able to stand in elections as late as 1918. Up until 1997, women had never held more than 10% of the seats in Parliament.
On this day dedicated to the rights, equality and empowerment of all women, I want to acknowledge the additional challenges that exist for women in today�s society, the obstacles they face to enter the world of politics and those that persist once they are here. I want to acknowledge how much stronger and more diverse this House would be with more female colleagues sitting on these Benches.
I pay tribute to the great women of our independence movement in Scotland. There are too many to mention, but I will name two: the late, great Winnie Ewing, who was an MP here, and the late president of the Fraserburgh SNP branch, Nancy Duffy. I am endlessly inspired by my female colleagues and the female Members on these Benches. I ask the Minister what initiatives the Government are taking to encourage more women and girls to access a career in politics, so that they may follow in the footsteps of all my female colleagues and ensure that the equal rights of all women are at the core of everything this Parliament is working towards.
Finally, I congratulate the hon. Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) on securing this debate and on the powerful speech she made. The hon. Member for Bolsover (Natalie Fleet) talked about the need for us to speak out about rape cases. In the debate on SLAPPs�strategic lawsuits against public participation�in November, I brought to the Minister�s notice a rape case. I was promised a ministerial meeting, and I am still waiting on that meeting. That was five months ago, so perhaps the Minister here today could respond to that.
Oral Answers to Questions
Seamus Logan Excerpts(9 months, 1 week ago)
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Seema Malhotra
My hon. Friend makes an important point. We are committed to making changes so that the scheme is accessible and so victims of the Windrush scandal are far better supported in applying for compensation. It is why, in July, we brought in a single named caseworker approach to streamline the process, improve consistency and remove duplication, and it is why we announced £1.5 million of grant funding for organisations to provide extra support for applicants. If she would like to meet to discuss her constituent’s case further, I would be happy to do so.
Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)
The Windrush scandal involved people coming to this country in good faith who were then falsely labelled as illegal immigrants. One thing that the Minister could do to avoid such circumstances happening again is make it easier for people to come here through a reduction in the English language requirement. Is that something that she would consider?
Seema Malhotra
Our priority is to understand and learn from the events in the past and focus on the future by ensuring that the Department is inclusive and considers the impact of all its work on people from every background.