Nationality and Borders Bill — Clause 39 — Illegal Entry and Similar Offences — Exemptions — 7 Dec 2021 at 19:00
The majority of MPs voted not to exempt those facing persecution in their own countries, and others in need of international protection, from a new offence of arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance.
MPs were considering the Nationality and Borders Bill.[1][2][3]
The amendment rejected by the majority of MPs in this vote was:
- Amendment 116, page 39, line 9, at end insert—
- “(F2) No criminal offence is committed under subsections (B1) to (D1) where a person enters or arrives in the United Kingdom for the purposes of making a claim for asylum or humanitarian protection, if the person is one of the following—
- (a) an Afghan national who is a refugee because they face a risk of persecution in Afghanistan;
- (b) a Syrian national who is a refugee because they face a risk of persecution in Syria;
- (c) a Uighur who is a refugee because they face a risk of persecution in China;
- (d) a Christian convert who is a refugee because they face a risk of persecution in their country of nationality; or
- (e) other persons who are in need of international protection; or who are refugees because they are outside of their country of nationality for fear of persecution for a Convention reason as set out in article 1 of the Refugee Convention.”
The rejected amendment was accompanied by the following explanatory statement from its proposer:
- Clause 39 as drafted would involve the criminalisation of the arrival and entry of asylum seekers and refugees with an offence subject to up to four years imprisonment. This amendment would prevent this from happening.
Clause 39 of the Bill[2][3] introduced a new offence of arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance (there was already an offence of knowingly entering the UK without leave).
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- [1] Parliament's webpage on the Nationality and Borders Bill, Parliament.uk
- [2] Nationality and Borders Bill, as amended in Public Bill Committee, 4 November 2021, Parliament.uk
- [3] Explanatory notes to the Nationality and Borders Bill, as introduced 6 July 2021, Parliament.uk
Party Summary
Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.
What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.
What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.
What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.
| Party | Majority (No) | Minority (Aye) | Both | Turnout |
| Alba | 0 | 2 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Alliance | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Con | 315 (+2 tell) | 0 | 0 | 87.6% |
| DUP | 0 | 6 | 0 | 75.0% |
| Green | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Independent | 1 | 4 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Lab | 0 | 168 | 0 | 84.4% |
| LDem | 0 | 7 | 0 | 58.3% |
| PC | 0 | 3 | 0 | 100.0% |
| SDLP | 0 | 2 | 0 | 100.0% |
| SNP | 0 | 38 (+2 tell) | 0 | 88.9% |
| Total: | 316 | 232 | 0 | 86.3% |
Rebel Voters - sorted by vote
MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division
Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote
| Name | Constituency | Party | Vote | |
| no rebellions | ||||