In my last Update from Westminster, I wrote about the Government’s efforts to get the Rwanda Scheme up-and-running. These were my words:
“Our community in Wycombe is a shining example in our country of the benefits that can be gained when people bring their passions and talents to our country from overseas. It is a source of great personal pride to represent a place as strong in its genuine diversity and unity as Wycombe.
“Amongst other things, local people are united by their humanity and respect for the law. Ministers have made clear they will stop the illegal crossings of the English Channel that put so many lives at risk and prosper criminal gangs. For too long, organised human trafficking rings have been tragically imperilling lives at sea, making great profits by sending people across dangerous waters in often terribly unseaworthy vessels. Not only that, illegal crossings on small boats disadvantage those who wish to enter the UK legally, and at great cost to the taxpayer too.”
The full blog post can be read here:
Last week, the Government pressed forward with robust measures to end this inhumane practice. In a significant move on Tuesday, the Government continued to pursue legislation aimed at ensuring that people smugglers can no longer profit from putting lives at risk in the Channel.
This is a necessary step to ensure fairness in the immigration system, break the business models of people smugglers who profit from imperilling life in dangerous waters, and encourage the use of safe and legal routes into the country.
In other news, I know how important animal welfare is to so many in Wycombe. I have had many constituents write to me to express their support for the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill, which I was pleased to vote through Third Reading last week.
This bill delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment by banning the live export of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses for slaughter and fattening. It will prevent unnecessary long export journeys, instead using shorter and less stressful domestic journeys. The Bill will ensure that animals are slaughtered domestically in high welfare UK slaughterhouses, preventing the export to unknown and likely lower welfare slaughterhouse conditions.
