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UK Borders Bill

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and I pay tribute to all his work on the issue, highlighting the scandal of the level of immigration to this country. New clause 8 would increase the age at which someone could enter the UK through marriage from 18 to 21. The hon. Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer), who is my constituency neighbour, has done much hard work on that issue, especially forced marriage. Although increasing the age from 18 to 21 would not necessarily stop people being brought into the country for forced marriages, it could help to get rid of that scandalous practice, which is used to obtain entry to the UK. The new clause would help to reduce immigration, as well as helping to deal with the horrific practice of forced marriage, about which the Minister, like the hon. Member for Keighley is also concerned. My new clauses are common-sense proposals that would instil an awful lot of the British public’s confidence in our immigration system that has been distinctly lacking over the past 10 years or so. Even if the Minister will not agree to my proposals, I hope that he will at least look carefully at the issues that they raise, understand that they are of great concern to the British people and try to find a way of addressing some, if not all, of them.