Speeches by Tapp.

“It is an absolute fact that many of our returns agreements are underpinned by our membership of the ECHR. I will now make some progress. That is why we are embarking on the most significant set of asylum reforms in a generation. Under our plans, the UK will continue to play its part in helping the world’s most vulnerab…”

“This Government recognise the importance of a prompt announcement on visa numbers to enable the agriculture industry to plan and prepare. The Government are committed to supporting the UK horticulture sector, but it is important that the sector reduces its ongoing reliance on significant numbers of seasonal workers fro…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her important question. I work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and many sectors in agriculture to ensure that they can operate if they need access to foreign workers. Of course, we are looking to reduce the need for that, and I am happy to meet afterwards a…”

“We must remember that the ECHR, which I will say more about later in my speech, underpins many of the exact returns agreements that we rely upon to deport and remove people.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. I will ensure that we work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—we already do—in engaging with the sector to ensure that the announcement on numbers is timely, as it needs to be, so that farmers can plan.”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her important point. It is essential that we keep those who are here safe. The Minister for Security is keeping this matter under review, and will write to her in due course.”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. I thank the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for clearly and comprehensively articulating the key facets of the petition that has resulted in us all being here on this sunny afternoon. I am grateful to him, to the petitioners and to all…”

“We assess that the route has been a success. Since it launched, more than 170,000 Hongkongers have moved to the UK, and thousands have now been granted settlement. The Government remain steadfast in our support for the Hong Kong community in the UK and those who will arrive in the future.”

“We have consulted widely on earned settlement. We are considering the responses, and will bring forward reforms at the earliest opportunity. In the meantime, those on the BNO route can continue to apply, and the service standard for those on that route continues to be six months. If there are any individual circumstanc…”

“The hon. Member’s party had 14 years to make changes, but they absolutely failed. We inherited their open borders and their broken system, but we are working hard behind the scenes, as we speak, to make the ECHR more fit for purpose. Let me move on to the contribution of my hon. Friend the Member for Clapham and Brixto…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) on securing this debate on a topic of great significance. We have had a number of contributions, and I am grateful for them all. I respect the valid concerns and absolutely agree that having th…”

“I thank the hon. Member for her contribution. I absolutely disagree with the framing that we are not taking this issue seriously. We are here today having a debate, and on top of that we are working day in, day out to fix the immigration system that we inherited. Deportations, removals and asylum processing are up, and…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his well-made points. I disagree that those important diplomatic relations and agreements are hollow, but I will take away the point about the Irish border and feed it back to officials. That is disturbing, and of course I absolutely disagree with it. I turn briefly to our work on i…”

“[Sir Jeremy Wright in the Chair]”

“Sitting suspended.”

“I thank the hon. Member for her questions. On the first one, tech at the border is under continuous review, I meet with officials on a regular basis to look at friction rates, data and stats. We can adjust accordingly if needed in future. Those are under continuous review. On the anti-slavery question and whether there…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) (Amendment) Order 2026. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Betts. Lowering the e-gate age to eight is a logical next step in realising our vision for the future border and is an extension of existing Gove…”

“Committee rose.”

“I thank the hon. Member for his pertinent question. Our best mitigation to counter any safeguarding concerns is our Border Force officers. Officers will continue to be deployed to provide a visible presence to counter risks and interact with passengers should any safeguarding concerns arise. Border Force will continue …”

“That sounds like a fantastic restaurant. As the Home Secretary has already laid out, there are around 1 million young people currently out of education, employment or training. We are creating a system that is firm, protects the economy, protects welfare from rising further and avoids more pressure on our social housin…”