2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:30 pm on 14 March 2023.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 2:30, 14 March 2023

Thank you. Well, we're very proud to be a nation of sanctuary, and, as you're aware, the Minister for Social Justice has written to the Minister for immigration to state unequivocally that we oppose the legal migration Bill, and that, of course, a legislative consent memorandum is likely to be required. And the Minister also noted the UN Refugees Agency's assessment that the Bill would breach the refugee convention, and, of course, the Home Secretary herself could not assure anyone that it was compliant with the human rights convention.

So, the Minister for Social Justice is working very closely on this issue. I think we all have to be very careful, don't we, about the language that we use, and, again, you will have heard UK Ministers claim that they've tried everything else, so this Bill is now necessary. We believe that simply to be untrue.