Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 8 March (HL Deb col 847) concerning the legality of the new Illegal Migration Bill, what plans they have to address the legal complexities of that Bill.

In preparing the Bill our aim has been to ensure that it is legally robust to achieve the Bill’s core purpose as set out in clause 1(1). Namely to prevent and deter unlawful migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes, by requiring the removal from the United Kingdom of certain persons who enter or arrive in the UK in breach of immigration control.

The Government continues to examine ways to further strengthen the Bill, including by bringing forward amendments to make substantive provision (in place of clause 49) as to the effect of interim measures indicated by the European Court of Human Rights.