Sarah Hall

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. In recent years, many Hong Kong families have made the brave decision to uproot their lives and move halfway around the world to Britain. They came here on the strength of our word—a clear promise that if they held BNO status, they would have a route to settle here and be able to build a future. More than 2,400 residents in Warrington South have signed this petition. That is the highest number anywhere in the country, which tells me just how deeply this issue matters to the people I represent. It matters because those arriving from Hong Kong are no longer just headlines or statistics; they are our neighbours. They are parents at the school gate, new business owners on our high streets, and young people starting out in education and work. I think of Rose and Wilson, who moved to Great Sankey to give their children a simpler and less pressured life; Renata, who set up a play café near Bridge Foot; Cheryl, who started a bakery on Buttermarket Street; Taki and the wonderful team at Warrington Hongkongers, who have created a supportive resource for Hongkongers arriving locally; and, finally, Oscar, a young man who spent time in my office on work experience, showing that this new generation are already part of the fabric of Warrington. They are here because Britain offered sanctuary when freedoms in Hong Kong were stripped away. We responded with the BNO visa route, because that was the right thing to do. To row back now, or to create uncertainty about people’s status, would not only harm families who have already sold their homes, invested their savings and enrolled their children in British schools; it would also damage Britain’s credibility. Our word must mean something. Trust, once broken, is hard to rebuild.