jonesjb

Nationality & Borders Bill Report Stage Day 1

Published on March 1, 2022 by jonesjb

If this Government were brave, they would go out and celebrate the asylum system and create one that was fit for purpose and champion the UK as a place of refuge. But this Government are not brave: they pander to the far right and use national rhetoric to divide and rule. At this point, the Government ought to reflect on the whole Bill and realise it is not appropriate for the circumstances we are in. It is cruel, it is inhumane, and quite honestly, the invasion of Ukraine should be a turning point for us. The Government should abandon the Bill and start thinking about a “refugees are welcome” Bill. Continue reading “Nationality & Borders Bill Report Stage Day 1” →

Judicial Review and Courts Bill Second Reading

Published on February 11, 2022 by jonesjb

A couple of months back, I said that every single Bill the Government brought to this House was worse than the last, but this is an exception. It is not as bad as I expected, so well done to the Government for bringing such a puny Bill that we can probably throw most of it out. The Bill continues the Government’s piecemeal approach to constitutional change: a little bit is tweaked here and a little bit there, but no overview is taken and so nothing coherent comes out.

We need an opportunity to look at how government and power should operate in a modern democratic state. The proper way forward is obvious: we need a constitutional convention made up of experts and members of the public to determine how and why government should work. Instead of that, we have these scrappy little bits of legislative change.

The procedural stuff in the Bill is an attempt by the Government to save money in the justice system and to unclog the backlog in the courts, which have been atrociously underfunded. These measures might help but are no replacement for proper investment in the justice process. Continue reading “Judicial Review and Courts Bill Second Reading” →

Knife Crime

Published on February 11, 2022February 11, 2022 by jonesjb

My colleague at the London Assembly, Caroline Russell, has asked the Mayor of London whether he will encourage the Met to stop sharing images of knives that they have found, because it probably encourages knife crime rather than diminishes it Continue reading “Knife Crime” →

Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Day 5: Refugees

Published on February 11, 2022February 28, 2022 by jonesjb

I return to this “shaming” part of the Bill. Every time I think we have got to the worst part, I turn a page and it is even worse. We are talking about the incredibly distressing circumstances of many of these people. They are victims of slavery. They have possibly been groomed, tricked or kidnapped and brought to the UK. Instead of helping them or demonstrating even an ounce of compassion, this Government are treating them all as if they have done something wrong. Continue reading “Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Day 5: Refugees” →

Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Day 4: Refugees

Published on February 9, 2022February 28, 2022 by jonesjb

There will be many climate—ecological—emergencies over the next decade or so and, given that we have contributed a large part of the world’s accumulated CO₂ emissions, we have to understand that we have a moral duty to take our share of climate refugees. It is already happening. There are parts of Africa that are now almost uninhabitable because of climate change, and other places will shortly follow. We have to understand that refugees are not a temporary problem but a permanent problem, and there will be a lot more. This Bill should be setting out safe routes and establishing ways to get people to the UK safely and legally. At the moment, we do not have that because the Government are pulling up the drawbridge. Continue reading “Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Day 4: Refugees” →

Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Day 3: Refugees

Published on February 4, 2022February 28, 2022 by jonesjb

Asylum seekers should be allowed to work, banning people from working is just one of the many ways that the Government dehumanise and punish asylum seekers. Why would we not want them to work? Why would we not want them to play a role in society? Why would we not want to engage them and get them out of the probably dreadful accommodation that they are living in? Where is the logic in not letting them work? It will leave them destitute, which is not healthy for them or for us. Continue reading “Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Day 3: Refugees” →

Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Days 1&2: Refugees

Published on February 2, 2022February 28, 2022 by jonesjb

We have a moral duty to take refugees. A lot of these refugees are coming from countries we have invaded, or where we have interfered or done all sorts of things, whether it is burning too much fossil fuel, causing climate change, or destabilising their Governments. It is all very well referring to population density and so on, but we owe these people and we should never forget that. We should also be making it as easy as possible for children to obtain a nationality if they are already stateless. Continue reading “Nationality and Borders Bill Committee Stage Days 1&2: Refugees” →

The Subsidy Control Bill Committee Stage Day One: Net Zero

Published on February 1, 2022 by jonesjb

The Government keep bringing us these thin Bills that ought to include things such as the ecological crisis and climate change, but do not. The subsidy principle should ensure that all our environmental and climate targets are met. Ecologically damaging, polluting industries should be weaned off public money completely and, ultimately, binned. My Amendment 8 would ensure that subsidies contribute towards limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees centigrade of warming. My Amendment 33 would prohibit subsidies for fossil fuels and extend the definition of fossil fuel subsidies to include any government policy that makes fossil fuels cheaper than their true cost. Continue reading “The Subsidy Control Bill Committee Stage Day One: Net Zero” →

The Subsidy Control Bill Committee Stage Day One: Scottish devolution amendments

Published on February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 by jonesjb

In the Scottish independence referendum, the people of Scotland were promised devo-max. They received no such thing and then Brexit came along and gave this Government an excuse to steadily unpick devolution and centralise power in the UK Government. These amendments allow the Senedd Cymru and the Scottish Parliament actually to decide issues for themselves. The legislation itself is deeply annoying because this should be standard in every Bill. Continue reading “The Subsidy Control Bill Committee Stage Day One: Scottish devolution amendments” →

Highway code changes

Published on January 28, 2022 by jonesjb

In 2018, a staggering 540 people were injured or killed every week in Britain. That is the most phenomenal cost in all sorts of ways. It costs the NHS; it costs the emergency services; it costs social services to mop up after these collisions and injuries, some of which of course are life-changing. We have lawless roads, and the reason for that is that road crime is not treated in the same way as regular crime. The problem is that many drivers will pay as much attention to these changes in the Highway Code and the guidelines as Boris Johnson did to the Covid rules. Continue reading “Highway code changes” →