Response to the New Plan for Immigration
On 24th March 2021, the government published a "New Plan for Immigration", setting out its proposals for changes to nationality, immigration and asylum law.
Our response to this consultation focuses on the proposals most pertinent to our work (in chapter 2, 4, 5 and 6) but even in those areas we have not answered any of the closed questions which we believe are phrased in a misleading way.
However, we would like to make clear that our silence on the other proposals does not mean we support them. We are extremely concerned about the whole of the New Plan for Immigration, the approach it takes and the harmful rhetoric used throughout. We would also like to make clear our concerns about the flawed nature of this consultation, due to its short timeframe, leading questions, lack of accessibility and lack of engagement with the views of those with experience of seeking protection.
Normally consultations of this nature last at least 12 weeks. The NPI consultation has lasted just six weeks and covered a period that included the Easter holidays, a May bank holiday, Ramadan and an election period during which those involved in local, mayoral and devolved nation elections are restricted in what they can say publicly.