Extract from Home
Department topical questions
(Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con):
My constituents are rightly appalled by the organised nature of
so much immigration crime. Can my right hon. and learned Friend
set out what work is being done to tackle those organised groups’
operations at source, and what impact that is having in reducing
the numbers of arrivals of illegal immigrants?
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (): Part of our plan to
stop the boats focuses on causal factors such as serious
organised immigration crime gangs, which are networked and highly
resourced. We have had some success in arresting hundreds of
people involved in those gangs and disabling several such gangs,
but we are employing more resource in our National Crime
Agency and increasing the numbers of officers
working with the French so that we can clamp down on the problem
at cause.
Extract from Commons
statement on Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse:
Report
(Bromsgrove) (Con): I welcome
the Home Secretary’s statement. IICSA’s final report rightly said
that the pace of technological change is of significant concern.
Indeed, since the report was published, some seven months ago, we
have seen a seismic shift in artificial intelligence. AI is
already bringing fantastic benefits for society, but it also
brings threats; I know that the Home Secretary is fully aware of
that. Those threats are especially acute for children. For
instance, huge amounts of AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery
are already being created and shared by paedophiles. As we have
heard, the report was commissioned by my right hon. Friend the
Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) some eight years ago. It has
taken us that long to reach the point of action. In the AI age,
we can no longer take so long to act. What processes has the Home
Secretary put in place to ensure that her Department and laws
keep up with the pace of change of technology?
: My right hon. Friend is
absolutely right to say that the rapid pace of development in
technology is a challenge to grapple with when it comes to
protecting children online. I pay tribute to him for standing up
for child victims when he was Home Secretary, and taking a stance
against this heinous crime. Our Online Safety Bill is making its
way through Parliament. It is future-proofed to allow the
regulator to keep pace with technological developments. From the
Home Office point of view, I am working with the National Crime
Agency and GCHQ to identify the new challenges
posed by AI. In this field, there are opportunities but also real
risks posed by the proliferation of AI, and we need to ensure
that our law enforcement agencies are equipped to deal with them
