I’m concerned about the impact of the re-writing of the immigration rules by the UK Government and the impact it’s having on the well-being of my constituents. In particular Bashir Naderi, a 19-year-old Afghani who’s lived in this country since he was 10 years old is being threatened with deportation back to Afghanistan, even though he speaks with a Welsh accent and he is, to all intents and purposes, Welsh and is hugely at risk if he is deported. Fortunately, the outpouring of support for him has led to a stay of execution for a further two weeks to review his case, but, just when he was about to be able to make a positive contribution to our society, as he was doing a construction course at Cardiff and Vale College, it seems totally inappropriate that, having received this individual as a refugee, we then send him back to the country from whence he fled, following the murder of his father, some nine years ago.

In addition to that, I’m particularly concerned about the impact of the UK Government’s threatened clamping down on the number of foreign students who are able to come to study here in the UK, because that will have a major impact on the successful businesses of Cardiff University and other universities that find being able to offer excellent education to people from abroad is something that enables us to improve our balance of payments situation. In both cases, although immigration is not devolved, I feel that there needs to be much further discussion on what the UK Government is currently doing and the impact it’s having on people in Wales, and I wondered if we can have a sensible and considered debate on this matter.