Speeches by Tapp.

“Okay. My next question is more about independence. We have had past concerns, particularly in 2016 to 2018, that included fears that commissioners who resisted MOJ-driven structural changes were not reappointed. The Law Commission report stressed that perceived independence matters as much as actual independence. In yo…”

“Hello.”

“Thank you. The final question is this. The commission also proposes replacing direction power because being compelled to act on judicial orders risks treating the CCRC as a subordinate body. What is your position on the proposal to change the Court of Appeal’s power to direct investigations into a request?”

“I have a few more questions if you don’t mind, Chair. The commission strongly recommends introducing external inspection as there is no external scrutiny mechanism at the moment. What are the CCRC’s feelings on that?”

“Thank you.”

“Q5. While the last Government resorted to damaging keyboard diplomacy, this Government are leading, bringing 14 nations together this week to tackle illegal immigration. Like the Prime Minister, I have seen at first hand how counter-terror powers can disrupt threats before lives are lost. That same approach is essentia…”

“It is widely accepted across the whole country, including in my constituency, that the Conservatives left us with open borders, with 150,000 people crossing on their watch and the opening of 400 asylum hotels, costing our taxpayers £9 million per day. This Government have already established Border Security Command and…”

“What are the other methods, and how accurate are they?”

“How safe would be the procedures that the hon. Gentleman is not telling us the names of to detect whether somebody is a child or an adult? How safe would they be, particularly if the person turned out to be a child?”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“Given that the hon. Lady worked previously in a special adviser role and is lecturing us about caps, how were her Government successful with the caps that they set?”

“What are the other methods, and how accurate are they?”

“I appreciate the collegiate working environment that we are now in. In which case, will the hon. Lady expand on the caps set by the previous Government and the results that came after?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. The hon. Member for Stockton West has made a creative argument, and I will try to bring some sense to it. First, we have to look at what the new clause would actually do for the country and our judicial system. Public hearings could expose vulnerable indiv…”

“The hon. Member has a lot to say in Opposition, but the big question is: why did he not do this when the current Opposition were in government?”

“To go back to what the Minister said, does the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that the UNHCR schemes do precisely that?”

“Does the hon. Member realise how ironic it is for him to be lecturing us on British citizenship when he does not particularly want his?”

“This is another rare moment of general agreement with the hon. Members for Stockton West and for Weald of Kent. We will savour this moment. I will make some quick points on the new clause. It does create an additional pull factor for those seeking to travel. We do not know who is a genuine asylum seeker until their cla…”

“It is worth noting that, prior to February 2019, there was a six-month standard time. That was abandoned by the previous Government around the same time that they decided to open the borders. Home Office Ministers have been looking to speed up processing as much as possible. The new clause would be unhelpful because th…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East for making a compelling argument around the balance between our decency and humanity and not creating a pull factor that will cause more risk. I draw the Committee’s attention to our work as a Government with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which…”