Our media these past few months have not been
full of stories of foreign nationals in the
NHS refusing to work because it is dangerous
and puts their lives at risk. No; quite the
opposite. What we have seen is row after row
of pictures of NHS workers, many of them foreign
nationals, who have lost their lives to this
virus. We have seen their names; we have read
their stories. The 57-year-old healthcare
assistant who died on 14 April, and the 51-year-old
dental nurse who trained in the Philippines
before coming to Swansea and who died on the
same day, were both on visas.
Earlier this summer, through the advocacy
organisation EveryDoctor, I met someone who
had been working on the frontline of this
pandemic. A specialist in emergency medicine,
he has lost colleagues and knows the daily
strain of fighting to keep alive those people
struggling to combat the virus, while never
being completely sure whether he has been
infected himself. He is a migrant. He has
been working on the frontline, paying tax
and national insurance to the Exchequer, working
for us, contributing, but he will in time
have to apply for a fresh visa and pay for
it—£700.
One reason I find that difficult to accept
is that I have been so immensely proud of
the way our communities came out on their
doorsteps every Thursday to applaud those
working in our health and care sectors. I
am sure that most, if not all, of us in this
place took part. It was spontaneous, it was
heartfelt and it was moving—but was it enough?
Will it be enough if we have to suffer this
winter when, as is widely predicted, the virus
returns? I think we all know that the answer
to that question is no, it will not. There
has to be more, and that has to be down to
us in this place.​
Our Government have not yet done enough, either
for those born and brought in this country
or for those who have come here to work. For
all those working in our NHS for the past
year, there must surely be more recognition
and thanks for putting themselves in harm’s
way. The virus has not discriminated in whom
it attacks—we are all vulnerable, our black,
Asian and ethnic minorities more than any
other community—but what we are doing could
be seen as discriminating in how we thank
those who defend us. It is time we recognised
properly the contributions that have been
made.
To be fair, the Government have to some extent
acknowledged that with their one-year visa
extension for about 3,000 health and care
staff with visas that are due to expire before
1 October—but why just 3,000, and why just
for a year? Why not everyone? Why not indefinitely?
Why are those who are doing vital frontline
jobs excluded? What about the porters, cleaners
and social care workers? Tell me where we
would be without them now?
The biggest blow of all, I believe, is that
even those who are included will be forced
to renew their visas next year, and still
have to pay that £700 each, or leave the
country. We could lose them—people who have
lived and trained in this country and contributed
to our wellbeing; people who have helped to
save lives and may one day help to save the
lives of some of us. I believe that the UK
should say loudly and unequivocally that those
who have put their lives at risk for our country
are welcome to live here. There is a precedent;
we have done it before.
That anyone who has worked so hard to save
lives during this emergency and put themselves
at risk might one day be forced to leave should
be unthinkable. Have we asked ourselves what
will happen to the standard of care in this
country if they are forced to leave? Where
​will we find the staff we need—the doctors,
nurses, porters and care home workers—if
another wave hits and thousands of our valuable
workforce have been forced to leave because
we did not have the foresight or the compassion
to help them to stay?
This country, all of us, will be the losers—our
colleagues, our friends, our family. That
is why the Liberal Democrats and other parties
are fighting to give all existing health and
care staff from other countries the right
to stay in the UK with their families. That
is why I am introducing this Bill to grant
them and their families the right to settle
here, without the costs or the bureaucratic
hurdles that that usually involves. I also
believe that this view is widely held in this
House and that it has the support of MPs from
other parties. Indeed, in the steps they have
taken so far, the Government have indicated
that they too recognise the contribution made
by so many migrants, so I appeal to them to
go a step further and support this move.
Let us send out a message that we recognise,
value and appreciate the work that so many
people have done for all of us. This proposal
would be a small way to recognise and celebrate
the enormous contributions that people from
all over the world make to our national health
service and to our society, our economy and
the wellbeing of our communities—and for,
potentially, each and every one of us.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That Christine Jardine, Sir Edward Davey,
Wendy Chamberlain, Sarah Olney, Munira Wilson,
Jamie Stone, Mr Alistair Carmichael, Caroline
Lucas, Mr Virendra Sharma, Jim Shannon, Liz
Saville Roberts and Bell Ribeiro-Addy
present the Bill. Christine Jardine accordingly
presented the Bill.
Second reading Friday 30 October 2020
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