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Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill

The noble Baroness did not say that the Government had set their face against the United Nations convention on the rights of migrant workers, so we may still hope that, in response to the many representations that have been made, not least by the noble Baroness—as well as by the Select Committee and many others—the UK will take the lead. I wish that the UK had done so during its presidency of the EU, because, as we heard, no other EU member state has yet signed up to the convention. If the UK had done so during its presidency, it would surely have given a tremendous impetus to the process. The Select Committee heard that many of the conditions under the convention are already satisfied by the Government’s existing obligations, including ILO convention No. 97, as the noble Baroness, Lady Turner, mentioned. If we are simply talking about small financial penalties that the Government might incur by signing up, I would hope that that obstacle can readily be overcome. It surely cannot be more important for the Treasury to save a little money than for us to enter into a most essential obligation to protect the rights of the most vulnerable section of our community. I sincerely hope that the Minister will give us some encouragement this afternoon, even if she is not yet in a position to say what the Government will do in response to the Select Committee’s report.