Nationality and Borders Bill — Clause 62 — Identified Potential Victims etc: Disqualification from Protection — 22 Mar 2022 at 19:18

The majority of MPs voted not to raise the threshold for denying an individual the 30-day recovery period for victims, or potential victims of slavery or trafficking, during which they cannot be removed from the United Kingdom, and to allow those under 18 years to be denied the recovery period.

MPs were considering the Nationality and Borders Bill.[1][2][3]

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote was:

That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 25.

Lords amendment 25 began[4]:

  • Leave out Clause 62 and insert the following new Clause—
  • Identified potential victims etc: disqualification from protection
  • (1) This section applies to the construction and application of Article 13 of the Trafficking Convention.
  • (2) A competent authority may determine that it is not bound to observe the minimum recovery period under section 60 of this Act in respect of a person in relation to whom a positive reasonable grounds decision has been made if the authority is satisfied that it is prevented from doing so— (a) as a result of an immediate, genuine, present and serious threat to public order, or
  • (b) because the person is claiming to be a victim of modern slavery improperly
  • (3) Any determination made under subsection (2) must only be made—
  • (a) in exceptional circumstances,
  • (b) where necessary and proportionate to the threat posed, and
  • (c) following an assessment of all the circumstances of the case.
  • (4) A determination made under subsection (2) must not be made where it would breach—
  • (a) a person’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights,
  • (b) the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Trafficking Convention, or
  • (c) the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Refugee Convention.
  • (5) For the purposes of a determination under subsection (2)(b) victim status is being claimed improperly if the person knowingly and dishonestly makes a false statement without good reason, and intends by making the false statement to make a gain for themselves.
  • (6) A good reason for making a false statement includes, but is not limited to, circumstance where—
  • (a) the false statement is attributable to the person being or having been a victim of modern slavery, or
  • (b) any means of trafficking were used to compel the person into making a false statement.
  • (7) This section does not apply where the person is under 18 years at the time of the referral.
  • (8) Nothing in this section affects the application of section 60(2).”

Clause 60 of the Bill[2][3] (which would be expected to become Section 60 of the act if the Bill was enacted) provided for a thirty day "recovery period" during which victims, or potential victims, of slavery or human trafficking would not be required to leave the United Kingdom. Clause 60(2) was the operative subsection.

Clause 62 of the Bill[2][3] provided for an exception to the recovery period where an individual is deemed to be:

  • (a) a threat to public order, or
  • (b) has claimed to be a victim of slavery or human trafficking in bad faith.

Explanatory notes to the Lords Amendment rejected in this vote state[5]:

  • Amendment 24 replaces the previous Clause 62 and introduces certain conditions, including the determination must only be made in ‘exceptional circumstances’ and the threat to public order is ‘immediate, genuine, present and serious’. This amendment also limits the application of Clause 62 to those age 18 or over at the time of referral, and removes the disqualification on the basis of ‘bad faith’ and instead introduces one on the basis that the person is claiming to be a victim of modern slavery improperly.

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Debate in Parliament |

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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.

PartyMajority (Aye)Minority (No)BothTurnout
Alba0 1050.0%
Alliance0 10100.0%
Con292 (+2 tell) 0081.2%
DUP0 4050.0%
Green0 10100.0%
Independent0 3060.0%
Lab0 158 (+2 tell)080.0%
LDem0 12092.3%
PC0 2066.7%
SDLP0 20100.0%
SNP0 36080.0%
Total:292 220080.4%

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

NameConstituencyPartyVote
no rebellions

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