Home secretary to hear voters' immigration views

A group of Tyneside voters have been promised their views on immigration will be put to the home secretary after they took part in a panel advising MPs.

About 25 people from the area were asked by the Home Affairs Committee to look at the number of migrant workers the UK needed.

And one panel member from North Shields got a chance to challenge political leaders as the findings were revealed at Westminster.

Retired customs and excise auditor Ray Bainbridge, 75, travelled to London to address committee members and other guests, and urged politicians to follow through on their recommendations, which included better training for UK workers.

The panel he was part of, and two others from Leicester and Paisley, near Glasgow, said they believed migrant workers should be treated with respect and offered help to integrate but the government should also focus on equipping British workers to fill vacancies.

Migrants who have come to work in the UK took part in the panels, including some who had settled in North Tyneside.

The Home Affairs Committee, which includes Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs, will now use the panel's conclusions to begin an inquiry and summon ministers and officials to answer questions.

Chairwoman Conservative Dame Karen Bradley, also promised the findings would be put to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood when she appears in front of the committee.

The North Tyneside panel met in Seaton Delaval in March. They were selected to represent a range of ages, experiences and views. They were given raw facts and figures and guided by facilitators.

The report was published at an event in Parliament and Bainbridge and a panel member from Leicester who had migrated from Bermuda to the UK told the audience about their experiences.

Bainbridge told the audience he had stopped voting for several years.

"I stopped trusting Parliament because I thought it did not respect my views and opinions.

"But this has turned me round. I felt what we were doing and what we were saying mattered, and that people were prepared to listen.

"We had three different areas of the country and we found a consensus based on fact. I would call on Parliament to start giving us the facts. Stop with the media spin and engage with people," he said.

The panels also called for politicians to prioritise migrants who make a positive contribution to the economy and said skilled workers here for longer periods should be able to bring immediate family members.

But Ray Bainbridge said MPs now needed to prove they will act on the recommendations.

"If Parliament reject this, they are rejecting the people.

"We may not always be right but listen to us."

Dame Bradley said: "Ray gives me faith that we can get this right, that politicians can connect and make the public believe us.

"We will make sure we get the right witnesses, and we will have ministers in front of us, but we will keep listening to the public.

"Ray has asked me whether the panel members will be able to take part in it, and we will find a way. I said to him if you don't like where we are going with this, you better shout up because we want to hear from you."

Another North Tyneside panel member Charlotte Earl, 31, a healthcare worker from North Shields, who travelled to Westminster for the report launch added: "I feel like I'm leaving the process with more faith in the political system than when I started. Everyone has been very interested and engaged in hearing from Joe Public.

"Hopefully that means there's going to be some action or change in policy that comes out of this process."

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram and listen to Radio Newcastle on BBC Sounds.