§ 5. Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)If she will make a statement on recent discussions with the Scottish Parliament on Government policy on asylum seekers. [101099]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mrs. Anne McGuire)I have regular discussions with both Scottish Executive Ministers and Home Office Ministers on asylum and refugee policy.
§ Mr. DalyellWhat thought is being given to the possible influx of asylum seekers from Iraq?
§ Mrs. McGuireI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I advise the House that last year, out of 85,865 applications for asylum in the UK. 14,940 were from Iraqis—more than double the number that applied in the previous year. The plans for dealing with the full range of potential consequences of armed conflict overseas are kept constantly under review. I have already indicated the number of Iraqi citizens currently seeking asylum, and Home Office officials routinely revise contingency plans to deal with increases in the number of asylum seekers. At present, there are no specific plans to take refugees from Iraq.
§ Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan)Does not the Minister see a contradiction between the declared policy of the First Minister in his speech in Edinburgh last month about attracting skilled workers and the practices of the Home Office in Scotland? Let us take, for example, the Chernov family, my constituents. Mr. Chernov is a skilled and highly qualified engineer, Mrs. Chernov is working and their son is at Fraserburgh college. They are a conscientious, hardworking, extremely popular and skilled family who have won a judicial review against deportation, but the Home Office wants to go back through the process to get them out of the country. Why is the Home Office spending vast amounts of public money trying to expel from Scotland exactly the sort of people whom the First Minister says that he wants to attract into the country?
§ Mrs. McGuireI am not aware of the specifics of the case to which the hon. Gentleman referred, although I would be willing to discuss it with him later. May I advise the House, however, that the Home Office has increased the number of work permits for immigrants coming into Scotland and the United Kingdom to attract those very people about whom, in general terms, he spoke? If he wants me to discuss with him the specific issue that he raised, I shall be delighted to do so.
§ Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire)Reverting to the question asked by the Father of the House, is it not likely that, if the Prime Minister's admirable policy towards Iraq succeeds, which I am sure it will, there will not be much need for Iraqis to seek asylum anywhere?
§ Mrs. McGuireI would hope that many Iraqis would feel safe about going home to their own country.