This week, Parliament finally passed a firm commitment to deliver compensation to the infected blood victims, where up to 30,000 people were given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 80s.
The Government rightly set up the Infected Blood inquiry in 2017 and had wanted the independent report to finalise its conclusions. However, the interim report had already set out the principal of compensation and with sadly a further victim losing their life every four days, we simply could not delay further. Therefore, both Robert Buckland MP and I joined other cross-party MPs to secure a narrow victory on this important issue which we now would expect a compensation process to be in place within three months.
This week also saw the introduction of emergency legislation - the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, supported by a legally binding international treaty, to help tackle the ongoing issue of illegal Channel crossings.
We are making progress with the number of arrivals is down by a third – the first-year numbers have dropped since this problem started, while crossings to other European countries are up by 80 per cent. The initial asylum backlog is down from 92,000 to less than 20,000.
We must go further. To fully solve this problem, we need a strong deterrent. We saw with Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders programme that it reduced the number of small boats arriving in Australia from 18,000 in 2013 to virtually zero in subsequent years. For the UK, our deal with Albania also shows, deterrence works: Albanian arrivals are down by more than 90 per cent this year.
Only by removing the prospect that illegal migrants can settle in the UK can we control our borders and save lives at sea. There is more to be done to end these dangerous crossings and the evil smuggling gangs who are facilitating them – too many lives are lost to simply do nothing.
This is why the government has introduced the toughest immigration legislation this country has seen – all our initial measures opposed by Labour over 70 times.
Specifically on Rwanda this will be done through a legally binding international treaty which sets out the obligations on both the UK and Rwanda within international law and outlines why Rwanda is and will remain a safe country for the purposes of asylum processing. This now addresses the issues raised by the Supreme Court and ensures that the policy is lawful. This will end the illegal migration delay tactics that we have seen so often and will let people know that if they come here illegally, they won’t get to stay. The Prime Minister committed to stop the boats, and we will deliver on that – restoring fairness to our immigration system and breaking the grip of the criminal gangs who seek to bypass the legal routes and rules.
On a very positive note, once again we have had a lovely response to my annual Christmas gift appeal for Women’s Aid. It is heart-warming to see the generosity of local residents who buy something extra for someone they don’t know. The gifts have been collected by Women’s Aid and will be used over Christmas to give to the families who find themselves in the refuge. Thank you to every one of the residents who donated something, I really do appreciate it and their efforts really will make a difference over the festive period.
