Tag Archives: immigration

Sam Bowman

The Independent View: The Lib Dems can – and should – be the Party of the Entrepreneurs

By Sam Bowman | Mon 7th October 2013 - 10:30 am

Every party claims, in some way, to be on the side of small business, but none has really given new and potential businesses much time or attention. Firms that do not yet exist are much less easy to champion and harder still to help than existing small businesses, but they are no less important.

It may be no wonder, then, that not one of the three main party leaders mentioned entrepreneurs in their Autumn conference speeches. That’s why today we at the Adam Smith Institute are helping to launch The Entrepreneurs Network, a new think tank dedicated to giving …

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Caron Lindsay

Go home posters still up in Glasgow…

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 20th September 2013 - 3:30 pm

We know that Liberal Democrats within the Government have said that there will be no repetition of the Go Home poster vans which were sent to drive round certain boroughs in London.

We also know that there will be no repetition of the Go home posters displayed in the Glasgow UKBA office, again thanks to Liberal Democrats within the coalition. Sadly, though, these posters have not been taken down as some asylum seekers I met earlier this week at the Liberal Democrat Seekers of Sanctuary fringe meeting on Monday were able to verify on Tuesday afternoon.

Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Nico, …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
Lester Holloway

Opinion: Clegg’s rethink on immigration visa bonds needs a rethink

By Lester Holloway | Sun 15th September 2013 - 5:35 pm

Plans to impose a blanket £3,000 ‘bail’ bond on all visitors from Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are on hold after Clegg refused to “sign them off”, according to the Guardian .

However speaking on the Andrew Marr show this this morning Clegg confirmed that a pilot scheme would go ahead. He suggested the bail bond becomes a general tool for border officials rather than a blanket policy covering all visitors irrespective of how genuine they appear.

The danger is that border staff could now have a new weapon in their armoury to disproportionately exercise against citizens of colour …

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
Merlene Emerson

Conference: Emergency Motion – Home Office Immigration Poster Vans and Attitude to Migrant Communities

By Merlene Emerson | Fri 13th September 2013 - 1:03 pm

Go Home Poster VanI was a witness at an Immigration tribunal hearing earlier this year for a friend. Let’s call her Little Red. She came to the UK from China as a masters student and worked for the NHS on graduation. But following a painful divorce she found she no longer had the right to work and live in the UK. Little Red has appealed the Home Office’s decision but is still waiting for an answer. Hers is merely one case in half a million back log of cases currently with the Home Office or in the appeals system.

At a packed meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration at the House of Commons on 9th July, I met a Welsh lady who had responded to their enquiry. She recently became a grandmother and her new grandson was only two weeks old at the time. But as her daughter did not earn more than £18,600 per year, she could not sponsor her non-EU spouse under the Family Migration Rules that came in a year ago. It was heart breaking to see a young family torn apart.

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Suzanne Fletcher

Opinion: 3 real life reasons why we need a fair asylum system and 3 chances to argue the case

By Suzanne Fletcher | Wed 11th September 2013 - 11:18 am

I am going to write about 3 people who sought sanctuary in the UK.  All people I know well.

K came here, fleeing from the terror on Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. She is a strong determined person, passionate about democracy, and held a good responsible job in administration and had children. She fled here, in fear of her life, leaving job and family behind.  She has not been given permission to stay here, but as we all must know by now, Zimbabwe is not a safe place to return to.  So she had no job, no benefits, and no home. She does voluntary …

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Nick T

Immigration, Asylum and Identity consultation paper now available

By Nick T | Thu 15th August 2013 - 5:34 pm

The working group focusing on the party’s policies on immigration, asylum and identity, chaired by Andrew Stunell MP, has just released its consultation paper ahead of next month’s conference.

The paper’s introduction sets out its aims thus:

1.1.1 The policy working group Immigration, Asylum & Identity aims to craft a practical, liberalpolicy which rebuilds public confidence in an immigration system that should be robust, efficient,and fair.

1.1.2 This consultation paper focuses on the future of migration as it affects the UK, theoperation of the asylum process in the context of our obligations under international law, and theintegration of immigrant communities and new citizens

…

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Caron Lindsay

Michael Moore: Liberal Democrat achievements in government are winning back friends

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 12th August 2013 - 2:28 pm

Michael Moore has been talking to Scotland on Sunday’s Eddie Barnes. They covered everything from the Liberal Democrats’ record in government to the forthcoming referendum on independence.

The pro-union cause is often accused of negative campaigning. Moore rejects this, saying that they have been highlighting the positives of Scotland remaining within the UK:

I absolutely reject the way you characterise our side of the argument,” he responds. He points to the series of lengthy documents issued by the UK government, which have highlighted the “positive strengths” of the UK. “At no point do we say, this bit is rubbish,” he says.

He …

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Sebastian Bench

Opinion: Where does Lib Dem immigration policy go from here?

By Sebastian Bench | Thu 8th August 2013 - 1:00 pm

The recent furore over the home office ‘go-home’ billboards has put immigration back in the headlines and highlighted the divide within the coalition over immigration.

It was Sarah Teather who first voiced objections to the billboards, with a number of Lib Dems including Nick Clegg condemning them since. There has been little or no such criticism from Conservatives, who approved the billboards without consulting any Lib Dems.

This is not too surprising given Conservative immigration policy over the past three years. The Conservatives have been promoting anti-immigration policies and rhetoric since the start of the Coalition, including …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 17 Comments
Stephen Tall

David Cameron poaches Lib Dem tax-cuts idea. (But that’s not half as annoying as the Tory ideas my party’s trying to claim.)

By Stephen Tall | Wed 7th August 2013 - 8:00 pm

It’s amazing how much more popular with David Cameron the Lib Dems’ flagship policy of taking the low-paid out of income tax is these days… Just today he celebrated delivering an income tax cut for 25 million people and lifting 2.4 million low earners out of tax:

It’s all a bit of a contrast from the first 2010 televised leaders’ debate, when David Cameron argued the policy was unaffordable… unlike the Tories’ own proposals for raising the inheritance tax threshold to £1m or tax breaks for married couples, of course.

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Caron Lindsay

What are your rights if stopped by Home Office officials in the street?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 3rd August 2013 - 11:38 am

I don’t often swear online. It usually takes an immense act of stupidity from a Formula 1 driver to incite me to do so, and the last time I tried that, the Chief Whip told me off mere seconds later. So profanity, even mildly, in a blog post is very unusual, particularly when directed at our leader. Which is why I did my little rant about these burly Home Office types turning up at tube stations and conducting checks on people’s immigration status on my own blog.

This is the second Home Office show of  disproportionate force in the last …

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Stephen Tall

Lessons of Coalition: what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 30th July 2013 - 8:00 am

ldv coalition lessonsWe’re more than three years in. What started in the Rose Garden has turned into a bed of thorns. The quieter summer weeks are as good a time as any to reflect on the key lessons the Lib Dems need to learn from this stint in government. Who knows? We may have a second chance after 2015: best to plan ahead now to avoid the obvious pitfalls we fell into this time (tuition fees, NHS Bill, secret courts) as well as to max-out the successes we’ve delivered (tax-cuts for the low-paid, the ‘pupil premium’, new apprenticeships).

Over the next few days, we’ll be running a daily feature, ‘Lessons of Coalition’ to which those of us who contribute to LibDemVoce will be adding. But we welcome reader contributions as well. The word limit is no more than 450 words, and please focus on just one lesson you think the party needs to learn. Simply email your submission to [email protected]. Here’s mine for starters…

Stronger policy development and campaigning on issues that matter to the public (AKA where’s our liberal equivalent of the benefits cap?)

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Caron Lindsay

Parking and poster vans provoke Coalition differences

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 29th July 2013 - 9:24 pm

There are some open differences of opinion going on in the Coalition Government at the moment. Eric Pickles was taken to task by our Norman Baker over his idea to allow people to park on double yellow lines.

The Guardian says:

Asked about the plan, Baker said on Monday that “both sides of the coalition” wanted high streets to prosper and that he agreed that over-zealous action by traffic wardens could be a problem.

But he also expressed reservations about Pickles’s idea. “The idea of actually having cars parked for a very long period of time on a double yellow line

…

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Caron Lindsay

Vince Cable: “Go home” poster vans “stupid and offensive”

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 28th July 2013 - 12:55 pm

Those of you who have not been willing to take the word of senior Liberal Democrat sources on those notorious poster vans, and have been waiting for a minister to say something will not be disappointed by Vince Cable’s comments on today’s Andrew Marr show:

It’s stupid, as Trevor Phillips said, the idea that illegal immigrants have got a sophisticated grasp of English, read at a distance and I think it is offensive. It is designed, apparently to create a sense of fear within the British population that we have a vast problem with illegal immigration. We have a problem, but

…

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Caron Lindsay

The ingenious humour of the British public vs the Home Office

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 27th July 2013 - 10:30 am

Yes, I know I’ve banged on a bit about these awful Home Office poster vans this week, but bear with me. This is funny.

I said at the time that we needed some sort of original and creative way of protesting against them. Really, they were crying out to be mocked.  The internet has not disappointed.

Liberal Conspiracy has a few examples, although it should be noted that it’s not found the time within its articles on this subject to mention the Liberal Democrat opposition to the vans, nor that they were never cleared by any Liberal Democrat minister.

The #racistvan …

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Caron Lindsay

Finally, the media pick up on Coalition split on offensive poster vans

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 26th July 2013 - 1:30 pm

There’s a big lesson to learn from the offensive poster van fiasco this week. Sometimes we Liberal Democrats, including me, can be quick to feel a dividing line between those inside the Whitehall Bubble and the rest of us. This week, we spoke with one voice. Liberal Democrats inside Government were every bit as livid as those of us outside at the presence of these vans on our streets. With their stark message “Go home or face arrest”, illustrated by handcuffs, they can only inflame tensions in communities.

We now know that the Tories have pulled a fast one on us. …

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Caron Lindsay

Exclusive…Liberal Democrats: “Go home” poster vans “disproportionate, distasteful and ineffective”

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th July 2013 - 2:01 pm

go home illegal immigrant posterThe Liberal Democrats, so I hear, had nothing to do with the poster vans sent by the Home Office into 6 London boroughs which have caused much anger in Liberal Democrat circles  as I wrote earlier.  I said that I had seen no evidence that Liberal Democrat ministers had cleared them and it seems that my instincts were right.

A party spokesman told me:

These poster vans were not cleared or agreed by Liberal Democrats in government. We are totally committed to tackling illegal immigration but this is

…

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Caron Lindsay

“Go home” billboards – an open letter and blog round-up

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th July 2013 - 12:55 pm

Since my post on Monday about the Home Office’s plan to send mobile billboards proclaiming that people who are in this country illegally should go home or face arrest, a number of bloggers and party members across various internet fora have expressed emotions ranging from horror to anger at the plan.

Sarah Teather is, as far as I can tell, the only Liberal Democrat MP to have passed any comment at all, and just to remind you, she wasn’t chuffed:

Vulnerable individuals who are fleeing persecution and violence are treated with disbelief and a complete lack of compassion in a rigid

…

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Caron Lindsay

Teather slams Home Office “Go Home” billboards as “straightforward intimidation”

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 7:47 pm

The Evening Standard reports that the Home Office is planning on sending large billboards with “Go home or face arrest” on them around six London boroughs:

The billboards will also display the number of illegal migrants arrested recently in the relevant part of the capital.

Ministers say that the hardline message is intended to encourage visa overstayers or others here unlawfully to return voluntarily.

A phone number offering help – including potential free flights and other travel assistance – will also be shown on the adverts along with the promise that those who come forward voluntarily will not be detained while they

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 39 Comments
Lester Holloway

Sarah Teather: Liberal Democrats must tell positive story on immigration because nobody else will

By Lester Holloway | Wed 17th July 2013 - 8:56 am
Ex-minister Sarah Teather made an impassioned plea to Liberal Democrats yesterday not to give in to fear of the Daily Mail on immigration but instead to “stand for something” on the issue.
Delivering the Gladstone Lecture in Westminster the MP for the heavily-diverse seat of Brent Central repeated her call in a recent Guardian article to bravely challenge popular language that “dehumanises and degrades” immigrations who make a positive contribution to British life and culture.
She accused the coalition government of splitting up thousands of families just so that David Cameron can boast about reducing numbers of immigrants at the next

…

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Stephen Tall

Teather’s alternative voice on immigration: “it bothers me that there is a consensus among the three party leaders”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 14th July 2013 - 6:45 pm

teather_cleggGood on Sarah Teather. This weekend’s Guardian carries an excellent in-depth interview with the Lib Dem former children’s minister by Decca Aitkenhead in which she makes clear her deep unease not only with the Coalition’s immigration policy, but also the political consensus of the three party leaders that public concern about immigration means they must be seen to crack down on it, regardless of whether it’s the actual cause of the problems the public is concerned with.

Sarah begins by talking about the Tories’ perverse decision to heap more and more …

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NewsHound

Sarah Teather on landlord immigration checks: “I just foresee an enormous amount of misery”

By NewsHound | Tue 2nd July 2013 - 6:04 pm

Sarah TeatherSarah Teather was interviewed on The World at One about the Government’s plans to make landlords check an individual’s immigration status when they came to rent a property. She said that unless there were drastic changes to the plans, she couldn’t see herself voting for it and she said that Liberal Democrat MPs weren’t happy about it either.

She said she was worried that landlords would simply not bother to let their properties to people whose immigration status may be in doubt. She added that if the Government modelled this new …

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Caron Lindsay

Teather, Rogerson, Beith and Huppert speak against new family migration rules

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 22nd June 2013 - 4:05 pm

Last week I wrote about a new report, contributed to by Liberal Democrats Sarah Teather and Sally Hamwee, which outlined the heartbreak and suffering the new family migration rules are causing. The income threshold of £18,600 with extra for each child, and the narrow methods by which this is calculated is stopping many people from being able to live with their spouses in this country.

Earlier this week, four Liberal Democrat MPs took part in a Westminster Hall debate to try to persuade Home Office minister Mark Hunter of the inequity of these plans. Here are some extracts from their …

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Lord Roger Roberts

Lord Roger Roberts writes…Our asylum system is crying out for reform

By Lord Roger Roberts | Fri 21st June 2013 - 11:58 am

A few months ago I met Stephen, who had just been granted refugee status having waited five years for a decision on his case.

He fled persecution in Uganda for being gay, and since his arrival in the UK, he had not been able to seek work despite holding a master’s degree in psychology.  For five years, he was  dependent on a meagre handout (which is currently £36.62 a week). His distress and frustration were palpable; but sadly, he is but one of many.

Stephen’s case exemplifies the nonsensical nature of Government policy on asylum seekers. At present, taxpayers’ money …

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Caron Lindsay

Sarah Teather slams “cowardly, politically motivated” freezing of asylum support

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 7th June 2013 - 1:37 pm

Regular readers will be well aware of Sarah Teather’s long record of campaigning for fairer, better treatment of asylum seekers. Earlier this year, she talked about a “deeply upsetting” report which told how pregnant asylum seekers did not receive the support that they need. In fact, one particularly distressing account told of a mother having to walk home in the snow carrying her newborn because she could not afford transport or a pram.

Yesterday, she described the  Home Office’s announcement that asylum support rates will be frozen for the upcoming year as cowardly and politically motivated. The freeze comes despite …

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Caron Lindsay

Vince on dangers of immigration debate and encouraging women in business – he doesn’t seem to be in the mood for resignation

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 29th May 2013 - 9:17 pm

I thought it was supposed to be holiday season for MPs. Not for our Vince, it seems. He’s been everywhere the last couple of days. Today, the BBC reports, he has been making the point that all the hot air on immigration is going to stop the very people we need to boost our economy will be put off from coming here:

But he warned that the globalised world of university recruitment was in danger of being undermined in the UK by anxieties over immigration.

He said that the “politics of identity” which worried about immigration and the economic need for

…

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Lord Roger Roberts

Lord Roger Roberts writes: Don’t try to win votes by coming down hard on migrants

By Lord Roger Roberts | Sat 18th May 2013 - 12:58 pm

This year is very special: it is the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht treaty. We have, since 1993, been European citizens, each of us endowed with the rights of free movement, settlement and employment across the Union. Of course, we are anxious about the lifting of barriers for some European Union workers at the beginning of next year. I suggest that we remove all hostility and suspicion and treat them as they are: fellow citizens of the Union. If we treat them otherwise, we are asking for trouble. Facts must take prominence; scaremongering must be stamped out.

But of course we …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Vince Cable talks sense on immigration

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 11th May 2013 - 10:34 am

Vince Cable has spoken up for the economic benefits of immigration in the Queen’s Speech debate, challenging the half truth and hyperbole in the illiberal rhetoric that’s doing the rounds at the moment. He reserved much of his ire for the Labour party:

I was hesitant about raising the subject because it is essentially covered by the Home Office, but substantial economic issues are also involved and it is important to refer to them. I was provoked into feeling that we should debate the issue in this context because a couple of days ago I was on the radio on the

…

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Tom Frostick

The Independent View: CentreForum’s three headliners for an alternative Queen’s Speech

By Tom Frostick | Wed 8th May 2013 - 10:45 am

The Queen’s Speech today looks set to be a relatively sedate affair. As Stephen Tall observes, “the Coalition is now pretty much intellectually dead” when it comes to its legislative agenda. Enthusiasm for pushing new ideas has been replaced with a business like determination to deliver what is already underway.

The content of the Queen’s Speech is nonetheless important. It will shape what happens over the course of the next parliamentary session, and will therefore influence the outcome of the General Election. If CentreForum had the privilege of writing the Speech, we would focus on three headline issues in particular: …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged , , and | 13 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg and Paddy Ashdown say that Afghan interpreters should have the right to live in the UK

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 1st May 2013 - 1:30 pm

Almost exactly four years ago, Nick Clegg, as an opposition party leader, led a debate in Parliament in which the Labour Government was defeated on its plans to restrict the rights of Gurkhas to settle in the UK. David Cameron was keen to get himself into the photos with Joanna Lumley at the time.

Four years on, and Clegg and Cameron have opposing views on whether Afghan interpreters who helped our soldiers in that country should be allowed to settle here. Today’s Times (£) reports that the Prime Minister, along with Theresa May and Philip Hammond are against allowing …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Samuel Fisk

Liberal Youth are making a difference – can you help this weekend?

By Samuel Fisk | Wed 24th April 2013 - 1:58 pm

Liberal Youth are making a difference up and down the country this month to get more Liberal Democrats elected.  Just as in Eastleigh, we’re showing the potential for Liberal Youth to be an election winning organisation as well an internal policy pressure group.

We’ve already had national action weekends in Sheffield and Cambridge, as well as national phone banking events with our shiny new connect account.

But we’re only just getting started.

This weekend we’re urging Liberal Youth members with no elections in their region to head to key target areas.  We’re holding action weekends in Somerset and Northumberland this weekend.  …

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