Who really decides Immigration Rules: Parliament or the Home Secretary?

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood MP, is planning sweeping changes to the immigration system. So, this week we put immigration law under the microscope. Jonathan Featonby of the Refugee Council joins us to explain how major shifts to refugees’ rights, settlement routes and visa rules can be pushed through using Immigration Rules, with Parliament left largely powerless to influence or block them.

Meanwhile, in the House of Lords, Peers are wrestling with the ever-growing Crime and Policing Bill - a legislative “Christmas tree” laden with policy baubles covering everything from abortion to terrorism proscription to artificial intelligence. We explore why Ministers want broad new powers to rewrite the Online Safety Act by regulation to tackle AI harms, and why efforts to overturn a Commons amendment to decriminalise women who have a late-term abortion failed despite concerns about a lack of scrutiny.

And with the assisted dying bill set to run out of time in the Lords, Labour MP Peter Prinsley discusses his initiative to persuade the Prime Minister to back efforts to secure time for a renewed attempt to bring back the bill in the next Session and the possibility of using the Parliament Act to force it through if necessary.

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Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox

Producer: Richard Townsend

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