UK ‘has much to learn about welcoming immigrants’ – Labour peer Margaret Hodge

In her maiden speech in the House of Lords, Baroness Hodge of Barking also opened up about her experience as a stateless immigrant.

Baroness Hodge of Barking (Yui Mok / PA credit) (PA Wire)

Labour veteran Margaret Hodge has opened up about her experience coming to the UK as a stateless refugee and told Parliament “we still have much to learn about welcoming immigrants”.

Ms Hodge, now known as Baroness Hodge of Barking, described how her Austrian Jewish grandfather came to the UK in 1939 and was imprisoned as an “enemy alien” in an internment camp near Liverpool.

Then, when she was four years old, her family came to Britain, stateless, for fear of persecution and later had to pass “the cricket test” to get citizenship.

Both then and today, we still have much to learn about welcoming immigrants and celebrating their contribution

Baroness Hodge of Barking

The former Labour minister said in her maiden speech in the House of Lords: “As an immigrant who came to Britain aged four, escaping from the fear of persecution, and whose parents were forced to flee two countries, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I might become a member of the House of Lords.

“When my elderly and sick Jewish grandfather arrived from Vienna in 1939, he was classified an ‘enemy alien’ and imprisoned in an internment camp outside Liverpool with no mattress and a straw-filled pillow.

“Worst of all, he was imprisoned alongside German Nazis.

“My family arrived in 1949, stateless. Five years later we applied for citizenship.

“My older brother and sister were away, my mother had died and my father was at work.

“An immigration inspector came to tea with me, aged 10, and my sister, aged seven.

“My father insisted on cucumber sandwiches and dried fruit cake, though I hated both.

“We were questioned about the books we read, the games we played, the friends we had.

“We passed the cricket test, but both then and today, we still have much to learn about welcoming immigrants and celebrating their contribution.”

Lady Hodge, who was introduced to the upper chamber last month, had been the MP for Barking from 1994 until this year’s election.

She held a series of ministerial roles under the previous Labour government and, in opposition, served as chair of the influential Public Accounts Committee.

Fellow Labour peer Lord Liddle praised Lady Hodge for her “most noble and ferocious fight against the British National Party” and her “courage and defiance that won back the white working class vote in Barking”.

He added that Lady Hodge, having “seen off the right”, then “saw off the far left” in standing up to antisemitism in the Labour Party.

He said: “We’d never be in a position on this side of the House in Government if it wasn’t for brave people like you.”

The new Labour peer, 80, gave her maiden speech during a debate on the relationship between the UK and Europe, emphasising the need to make tackling dirty money a priority.

She noted the £350 billion lost each year due to economic crime, twice the nation’s health budget, and the £68 billion that flowed from Russia to the UK’s Overseas Territories between 2008 and 2018.

Lady Hodge said: “Britain has become a jurisdiction of choice for every kleptocrat and every criminal.

“Our secretive Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies play a central role in facilitating tax avoidance, tax evasion, money laundering and sanctions evasion.

“Secrecy enables kleptocracy to flourish and kleptocracy breeds conflict.

“Allowing bad actors to use Britain to launder and hide their stolen wealth is a major security threat.

“In 2018, Parliament legislated for public registers of beneficial ownership in our Overseas Territories, but tragically the previous government didn’t enforce the legislation.

“The tax havens pray in aid the European Court of Justice’s judgment that public registers are unlawful because the undermine fundamental privacy rights…

“Russian kleptocrats including Usmanov and Abramovich used secrecy and tax havens to evade sanctions.

“The UK and its network of Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are responsible for 35% of tax losses suffered across the world.”

She urged the Government to raise the issue of economic crime and the importance of transparency with European partners.

In particular, she called for new regulations around public registers so that they can operate while still safeguarding privacy rights.