Speeches by Murray.

“I will first declare an interest: I worked at the UK embassy in Paris—the quality has improved a lot since I left. I completely agree with the right hon. Gentleman: the UK staff in France, both in Paris and in the consulates, and the French staff here in the UK, both in the embassy in London and in the consulates—inclu…”

“I agree entirely with the point my hon. Friend makes. Like him, I have worked a lot with the Franco-British Council, and he is right that Europe’s strategic autonomy and ability to act collectively and in coalitions of the willing—an issue I will come to in a second—is important, given the changing geopolitical situati…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have had the entente cordiale, the entente industrielle, which I referred to earlier, and the entente amicale. Bilingual schools have a huge role in allowing children not only to understand one another’s cultures, but to live both sides of their identity. In the 21st century, that…”

“I did not know that the Festival Interceltique de Lorient was focusing on Cornwall this year, but I have another interest to declare, because I remember going to that festival as a schoolboy; it is one of the things that inculcated in this Scottish person a love of French and Celtic culture. I absolutely know the impor…”

“The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Speaking as an MP whose constituency is a tourist centre—we welcome people from across the world, and particularly from France—I know that such organisations contribute so much. Many businesses in my constituency are dependent on tourism from France but find it difficult to …”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that relationships between political leaders are critical to developing relationships between nations, and I look forward to the work we will be doing on the APPG in that regard. I welcome the return of the Erasmus+ and youth experience schemes. I studied in France under Erasmus a…”

“The hon. Gentleman is right that, strategically, our interests are aligned, even when there are key issues. I will come on to migration in just a second.”

“My hon. Friend makes a really important point. The immigration system needs reform and needs to meet the public’s expectations, but that must happen in a way that works for the economy and works for families and individuals, taking cognisance of the fact that these are people’s lives. I believe that is possible within …”

“I wish everyone a very Murray Christmas. The communities of Niddrie, Bingham, Magdalene and The Christians are fantastic places full of hard-working people who take pride in their community. Sadly, they have been let down by austerity in recent decades. Will the Leader of the House join me in strongly welcoming the £20…”

“I strongly welcome today’s announcement, which is important not only for workers in Grangemouth but for the wider Scottish economy. Whether it is today’s announcement about Grangemouth, protecting shipbuilding on the Clyde or the supercomputer in Edinburgh, the Labour Government are standing up for workers and for Scot…”

“No, not at all. Do you think this will have an impact on homelessness, especially for recognised refugees? There is a housing emergency everywhere across the country; there is a homelessness challenge everywhere. I know it from my own city of Edinburgh. How do you see this intersecting with the homelessness challenge w…”

“Do you think they should be looking at who comes in through the student visa route?”

“An asylum seeker, for whom there is a power to provide support. Is there a possibility that they will become homeless, or refugees who have been recognised? So both.”

“One aspect of the Danish system, which the Home Secretary was clear that she will not be taking up, is the seizure of jewellery. Are you saying that might be one of the things that made the difference in Denmark?”

“You touched on one of the points I wanted to address.”

“I have one more question if that is okay. Thank you, Chair. One of the things that was also announced when the Home Secretary was in Parliament a fortnight ago was the toughening of the support given to asylum seekers. What is your view on moving from a duty to a power to provide support to asylum seekers? What will th…”

“One of the things that the Home Secretary mentioned recently was the creation of safe and legal routes, which is something the refugee rights sector has been calling for, for a very long time. Do you welcome that announcement? What will you be looking for it to include? What kind of number should we be looking for? Obv…”

“That is interesting, and it was going to be my follow-up question. I want to ask about international comparisons, especially Denmark, which we have talked about. Dr Cuibus, you said that a lot of the changes in Denmark predate the toughening of its immigration policies. Could you go into a bit more about that? What wer…”

“I hear and understand that people might realise they are gay when they come to the UK, or their home country might go to war during their course year, but do you accept that there is also a likelihood, or at least a possibility, that it is people trying to use the asylum system as a mechanism to stay in the UK beyond t…”

“I will ask a small follow-up on the specific type of asylum cases that we are seeing. There has been an increase in people coming to the end of their student visas, applying for asylum at the point it runs out and moving from student accommodation into an asylum hotel. There is a lot of public mistrust around why it is…”