Organised Crime
(East Devon) (Con)
1. What steps he is taking to help reduce levels of organised
crime.(900281)
(Buckingham) (Con)
11. What steps he is taking to help reduce levels of organised
crime.(900291)
(Burnley) (Con)
15. What steps he is taking to help reduce levels of organised
crime.(900295)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
We will continue to break the business model of organised crime
gangs to keep the people of this country safe. We are disrupting
their activities both domestically in the UK and internationally,
including disrupting the work of the gangs behind the illegal
small-boat crossings, and it is why the Criminal Justice Bill
creates new powers to target organised criminal gangs. We will
also publish a new serious and organised crime strategy soon.
Criminal gangs do not care about the people they are smuggling
into our country and they must be stopped. We must stop the boats
in ways that are consistent with our international obligations
and end the dangerous journeys that risk human life. Does my
right hon. Friend agree that we must focus on breaking the
business model of these criminal gangs?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The people who are being
smuggled are seen as just products; they are expendable in the
eyes of the people smugglers, and we must and will do everything
we can to break their business model. I commend the work of my
right hon. Friend the Minister for Immigration, who has recently
been to Bulgaria, where in close co-operation with our
international partners there we have seized boats and engines. We
are breaking the business model, and we will continue to drive
down those illegal small-boat crossings until we have stopped the
boats.
Serious organised acquisitive crime is hitting rural communities
hard, with high-value agricultural equipment targeted for theft.
The National Rural crime unit has recently recovered over £5
million of stolen equipment, nearly £1 million of which was
recovered abroad. The Construction Plant-hire Association, NFU
Mutual and the Construction Equipment Association have put
significant funds into the NRCU but what more can my right hon.
Friend do to ensure that it has the resources it needs to tackle
these serious organised criminal gangs?
I thank my hon. Friend for the work he has done in this area,
including with his private Members’ Bill. He is absolutely right
that the rural communities of this country need to be supported,
and they will be. Driving down rural crime is an important area
of work and we have provided £200,000 of funding to help set up
the NRCU. My hon. Friend and I, and others in this House,
understand the terrible impact this has, and we will continue to
work with the rural police forces to drive down rural crime.
In Burnley and right across Lancashire county lines continues to
be a problem, with organised groups peddling drugs and exploiting
young people with no regard for the harm they are doing, not just
to the communities but to the young people they are exploiting.
Lancashire police are making very good inroads with an enhanced
rural policing unit and neighbourhood taskforces, but what more
can Lancashire Constabulary do to tackle the county lines issue
and bring order back to our streets?
I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting this vile type of
criminality, which targets the young and the most vulnerable. As
part of our fight against county lines we are investing up to
£145 million in our county lines programme, and since it was
launched in 2019 police activity has resulted in over 4,700
county lines being closed, over 14,800 arrests and over 7,200
safeguard referrals. We will keep our focus on this evil
criminality.
Dame (Llanelli) (Lab)
Given that, shockingly, the average time it takes for a crime to
be charged has trebled since 2016, will the Secretary of State
embrace the Police Federation’s “Simplify DG6” campaign and scrap
the redaction rules his Government introduced in 2020, in order
to cut bureaucracy, get cases to the Crown Prosecution Service
quicker, and free up officers’ time to be out fighting crime?
We are actively working with the CPS to simplify and speed up
this process. I will of course look at the proposals put forward,
because we want police officers out in their communities on the
beat and tackling crime, rather than doing paperwork—important
though that is.
(Ogmore) (Lab)
The police report a 25% increase in shoplifting in recent months.
There is much evidence, as the Home Secretary will be aware, that
organised criminal gangs go into shops to try to steal as much as
they can and target shop workers. As we approach Christmas, what
assurance can the Home Secretary provide to shop workers—not just
at Christmas, but across the year—that he will start dealing with
these gangs and start realising that all retail crime is a
problem in this country that needs tackling?
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight this issue.
It is one that we take seriously through Operation Pegasus. We
are working through the leadership of the police and crime
commissioner for Sussex on this very issue. No doubt either the
Policing Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Croydon
South () or I will have the opportunity
to update the House on this work as it progresses.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the shadow Minister.
(Nottingham North)
(Lab/Co-op)
This autumn, the Government pledged to treat retail crime as
organised crime, but with their Criminal Justice Bill, they have
fallen at the first hurdle. There is no consolidated offence to
protect retail workers, no strong signal on the £200 limit on
investigations and a denial of reality on their hollowing out of
neighbourhood policing. From the answers we have heard, the Home
Secretary wants us to believe that we have never had it so good,
but the ones who are thriving are organised criminals. Will the
Government accept our amendments to add the protection of shop
workers into the legislation?
The hon. Gentleman will know that attacking shop workers is
already a statutory aggravating factor. We will look at what more
we can do to protect shop workers. The retail action plan is in
place, including the use of CCTV and facial recognition software.
We will continue to explore all avenues to protect shopworkers,
because they, like everyone else, deserve our protection.
Illegal Migration: Small Boats
(Hartlepool) (Con)
2. What progress he has made on stopping small boats transporting
migrants across the English channel.(900282)
(Halesowen and Rowley Regis)
(Con)
10. What progress he has made on stopping small boats
transporting migrants across the English channel.(900290)
The Minister for Immigration ()
So far this year, we have reduced the number of these dangerous,
illegal and completely unnecessary crossings by more than a third
compared with last year, despite increases of nearly a third in
Europe. Nevertheless, the number of illegal arrivals remains
unacceptably high. We remain focused on delivering our
comprehensive plan to stop the boats by breaking the business
model of the people smugglers, and we will shortly be piloting
emergency legislation through this House to ensure that flights
to Rwanda take off as a matter of urgency.
Figures on Thursday revealed that immigration to the UK is
skyrocketing. Is it not time to realise that those
well-intentioned international treaties and conventions agreed 70
years ago are no longer fit for purpose? We simply cannot
accommodate all those who would qualify for asylum under existing
rules. The world is facing troubled times and more mass
migration. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that he will do
all he can to raise the bar for those migrating or seeking asylum
here and look at other solutions to stop people leaving their
homelands, so that those countries can make better futures for
themselves without the loss of so many of their young? Much of
Europe is in a dire state because of mass immigration. We cannot
let the United Kingdom go the same way.
My hon. Friend makes a strong point. While some of those coming
here to claim asylum have genuine grounds for asylum, many are
economic migrants making spurious claims to game the system. For
some nationalities, our grant rates are out of sync with European
countries, and that is why we have undertaken extensive work to
lower them. For example, the grant rate for Albanians reduced
from 53% in June last year to 19% in June this year, and it has
fallen further since, as that remains unacceptably high. Last
month, we added India and Georgia to the list of safe states to
speed up the process of returning people who have travelled from
those countries to the United Kingdom illegally. Clearly there is
more work to be done, and we do not want to create any additional
pull factor to the United Kingdom.
In relation to the Rwanda policy, the Home Secretary was quoted
as saying:
“My frustration is that we have allowed the narrative to be
created that this was the be-all and end-all”
of Government policy. Does the Minister agree with the Home
Secretary? If he does, what is the Government’s policy on
combating the boats and resisting illegal migration, and what is
our policy?
When my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I set out our
comprehensive plan this time last year, it had many facets, one
of which—an extremely important component of which—was our Rwanda
plan, but that was not its only element, and we have worked
intensively over the last 12 months on each and every other facet
of that plan. Opposition Members jeer, but is that plan working?
Yes, it is. We can see that from the fact that we are almost the
only country in Europe where the number of illegal entrants is
falling. It has fallen by more than a third, compared to a 30%
increase in the rest of Europe and almost a 100% increase in
Italy.
None of that negates the importance of interjecting a further
critical deterrent. That is the crucial element of the Rwanda
scheme. The difference between those of us on the Government
Benches and the Opposition is that, frankly, they do not want to
stop the boats, and they do not have the stomach to do a policy
like Rwanda.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the shadow Minister.
(Aberavon) (Lab)
Since the previous Home Secretary was removed from her post, I
think it is fair to say that the Immigration Minister has become
a law unto himself. First, he briefed the media that he has been
instructing the Prime Minister to tear up all our legal
obligations to fix the unfixable Rwanda policy. Then he set
himself on a collision course with his new Home Secretary by
appearing to bet the house on the Rwanda flights taking off. To
add insult to injury, he went behind his new boss’s back to
present his laundry list to the Prime Minister, including a cap
on social care visas and abolishing the shortage occupation list.
Does the Immigration Minister have any respect whatsoever for the
authority of the new Home Secretary? Given that he is said to be
on resignation watch, will he confirm that he will resign if his
proposals are rejected?
Once again, we heard absolutely nothing from the Opposition about
what they would actually do. The sad truth is that they have
complete disdain for the British public. They do not appreciate
that the public that we are sent here to represent demand that we
reduce the levels of both legal and illegal migration. The Home
Secretary and I will do absolutely everything in our power to
achieve that. We are working closely with the Prime Minister, and
we will set out further plans in due course. But the public
watching the debate should be very clear: if they share our
determination to tackle small boats or to reduce the numbers
arriving in this country legally, they have only the Conservative
Party to support.
Madam Deputy Speaker
I call the SNP spokesman.
(Glasgow Central)
(SNP)
Last week, a woman and a man died while attempting to cross the
channel in a small boat; others in their group were hospitalised
for hypothermia. Despite the clear risks, over 400 people in nine
boats were detected crossing the channel in the past seven days.
They clearly felt there was no other choice. The lack of safe and
legal routes is putting people at risk. Will the Immigration
Minister consider a humanitarian visa, as the Red Cross has
recommended?
All of us across the House abhor the deaths of individuals in the
channel, and we are working closely with the French authorities
to investigate the circumstances of those individuals’ deaths.
But those individuals, like anyone seeking to cross the channel,
are coming from a place of evident safety. They are departing
from France. They are in absolutely no danger. They are in a
country with a fully functioning asylum system of its own. There
is no excuse for those people breaking into our country, putting
themselves in the hands of people smugglers. We should be united
in trying to deter that.
On the hon. Lady’s second question about safe and legal routes to
the UK, she knows that we have issued more than half a million
humanitarian visas since 2015—more than at any time in the
history of this country. If she wants to do more, after the
debate she should go straight back to the SNP Government and ask
them to pull their weight and provide more safe spaces for asylum
seekers and refugees back in Scotland.
The Minister is deflecting quite a lot. [Interruption.]
Government Members would do well to listen because their systems
are not working; they are failing people every single day. In the
first nine months of 2023, a mere 279 Afghans arrived in the UK
by safe and legal routes. For each one, 17 Afghans came across on
small boats. Today, The Independent has laid out the story of a
mother of four—an Afghan special forces soldier who served in a
unit set up by Britain, trained and paid for by the British armed
services—whose application under the Afghan relocations and
assistance policy was denied, along with many others from
commando force 333 and Afghan territorial force 444. Why is the
Minister failing so many Afghans?
We do not encourage anyone, whatever their circumstances, to come
across illegally in a small boat. That is a criminal offence and
it should not be encouraged. We have supported nearly 25,000
people to come from Afghanistan since the end of the war, which
compares extremely favourably to other European countries. We
have issued more than half a million humanitarian visas, which is
a record we should all be proud of. The Scottish National party
always wants to make the UK out to be a small country, but that
is not correct. The United Kingdom is a big-hearted country, and
one of the world leading countries for resettlement—
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
Order. We have been here 20 minutes and have covered only two
questions. We have a huge amount of business to get through, so
can we please go faster? I would like brief questions and brief
answers.
Defending Democracy Taskforce
(Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
3. What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness
of the Defending Democracy Taskforce in preventing foreign
interference in the UK’s democratic integrity.(900283)
The Minister for Security ()
It is a great pleasure to tell the hon. Lady that the Defending
Democracy Taskforce, which was set up under the National Security
Council, has been operating for about a year and is working
closely with parliamentary authorities, devolved Administrations
and local authorities around the country, alongside intelligence
agencies, the police and opposite numbers from various parties.
It has already updated many individuals across the House on
different ways in which we can improve our own security and make
sure that this country’s democracy is safer. The fundamental way
to protect our democracy is to get involved, so I urge anyone
watching to join a party—any party, but particularly the
Conservative party—and get involved in politics, to keep the
United Kingdom Government working for the people of the United
Kingdom.
Given the huge importance of preventing foreign interference in
our democracy, does the Minister agree that, for the purposes of
transparency, should declare all previous
contacts with, and moneys earned from, foreign Governments after
he left the office of Prime Minister and before he was appointed
Foreign Secretary?
The hon. Lady raises an interesting point on how we keep our
politics accountable. Rules are set out by this House, the other
place, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and
various other people on how we account for expenses, money raised
and various forms of connection. She is right that those records
must be kept up to date. The Prime Minister expects every
Minister to do that, and I am very confident that the new Foreign
Secretary—whom I congratulate—has done so.
Madam Deputy Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Barnsley Central) (Lab)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce has an important remit to
defend our country and protect our sovereignty. Given the threats
we face, it is vital that rapid progress is made. However, some
matters require immediate attention. Can the Minister give an
assurance that both the Three-Vodafone merger and the future
ownership of The Daily Telegraph will be looked at, not just
through the economic prism of competition but in accordance with
the National Security and Investment Act 2021?
This is the first time that I have faced the hon. Gentleman
across the Dispatch Box—last time we were side by side, so this
is a bit of change. He raises some interesting and important
points. The National Security and Investment Act was passed a
little over a year ago, and the Deputy Prime Minister himself
chairs the body that advises on it. That is incredibly important
because, as we know, foreign ownership and control is a vital
area of foreign influence in our Government and society. That is
why we are looking not just at that, but at how the foreign media
today are not just traditional media—some of whom we see
represented up in the Press Gallery; some of them are even
waving. Social media is now so important too. It is worth noting
the recent Ofcom report that about a third of under-25s get their
news from TikTok, which as we know has its algorithm written by
individuals under the control of a foreign state—one that is not
always friendly.
Students: Temporary Visas for Dependants
(North East Fife)
(LD)
4. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of
providing temporary visas to the dependants of visiting students
and academics when the dependants are living in conflict
zones.(900284)
The Minister for Immigration ()
There are a number of routes in the immigration rules allowing
dependants to join family members in the United Kingdom. Where
possible, people seeking to flee conflict zones should use those
existing routes. In the past 12 months, we have allowed over
112,000 people to arrive under safe and legal routes, including
over 6,000 family reunion cases.
My constituent is on a student visa at St Andrews University. On
7 October, her five-year-old daughter was in northern Gaza
staying with her grandmother. They have since had to flee south.
We have had good engagement from the student policy team, but
will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can reunify the
family?
I am very happy to look into the case with the hon. Lady. As a
general rule, we believe migration should not be the first lever
we pull in the event of humanitarian crises. We should be using
the UK’s diplomatic muscle, our overseas development aid, as the
primary way in which the UK can have the greatest impact in the
world, but there are always cases where we make exceptions.
(Stoke-on-Trent North)
(Con)
Last week’s net migration figures were completely unacceptable to
the people of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, which is
why the New Conservatives, helpfully, have a 12-point plan that
the Minister for Immigration could copy and paste to ensure we
get those figures down. Will he extend the closure of the student
dependant route to students enrolled on a one-year research
master’s degree?
First, we believe that the level of legal migration into this
country is far too high. That has very profound impacts on access
to public services, the productivity of our economy, and the
ability of the UK to be a socially cohesive and united country.
That is why we need to take action. We have already announced a
specific policy with respect to dependants, which comes into
force at the beginning of next year. We think it will have a
substantive impact on the levels of net migration, but, as the
Prime Minister said, we are keeping all options under review and
will take further action as required.
Asylum Seeker Accommodation
(South Derbyshire)
(Con)
5. What progress his Department has made on moving asylum seekers
from hotels into less costly accommodation.(900285)
The Minister for Immigration ()
For the first time since the small boats crisis began, we are now
closing asylum hotels, thanks to the good work done to reduce
arrivals by more than a third; to the delivery of more
appropriate forms of accommodation, such as on large disused
military sites; and to better management of the existing
permanent estate. I am pleased to report that the Home Office is
making good progress on the first 50 hotels, which will exit by
the end of January. We will be bringing forward a further tranche
shortly.
Mrs Wheeler
I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. On behalf of
constituents who have asked me, can he please go further and give
a more definite date for the start and completion of the decant
of asylum seekers at the Newton Park Hotel in South
Derbyshire?
When I first took this job, I was clear that the use of asylum
hotels was completely unacceptable and that I would work with all
in Government to ensure that we closed each and every one of them
as quickly as possible. We are now in the process of closing
those hotels. As I said in my opening remarks, the first 50 are
closing seamlessly, so I expect to be in a position to announce
the next set of hotel closures very soon.
(Glasgow North) (SNP)
Surely if asylum seekers had the right to work they would be able
to pay for their own accommodation at little or no cost to the
taxpayer.
No, I completely disagree with the hon. Gentleman. It is
extremely important that we reduce the pull factors to the United
Kingdom. There are already plenty of reasons why economic
migrants would want to make a life in the UK. Enabling them to
work as soon as they arrive here would only exacerbate those
problems.
(Chelmsford) (Con)
I am really pleased that the Government have been able to reduce
the number of asylum seekers in hotels. The use of the Atlantic
Hotel in Chelmsford for families is putting considerable pressure
on our school places, especially as Chelmsford is already very
short of school places due to the large numbers of people who
have arrived from Ukraine and elsewhere. Will the Minister look
again at the policy and ensure that when people with children of
school age are placed in hotels, they are put in places where
there are schools that have places?
My right hon. Friend and I have discussed this many times, and I
want to ensure that that particular hotel is closed as quickly as
possible, because it is having such an impact on her local
community. The Home Office is working with her local authority,
and we have made a commitment that we will not place further
young people, or families with young people, in that hotel if
school places are not readily available. However, I hope that the
hotel itself will close very soon.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
When asylum seekers requiring medical care are moved to a new
location out of area, they go to the bottom of the waiting list,
and as a result their health requirements are not met in a timely
way. How will the Minister ensure that they do not slip back from
receiving medical care that they urgently require?
When moving asylum seekers from one form of accommodation to
another, we make provision to ensure that there is support for
those with the most serious medical conditions, but it is
important that we are able to move individuals around the estate,
and we are currently in the process of closing hotels. That is
our No. 1 priority, because the public want us to close them as
quickly as possible.
Illegal Migration
(Penistone and Stocksbridge)
(Con)
6. What steps he is taking to tackle illegal
migration.(900286)
(Stoke-on-Trent South)
(Con)
9. What steps he is taking to tackle illegal
migration.(900289)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
The Government have a plan to tackle illegal migration by means
of a number of methods, and that plan is working. Small-boat
crossings are down compared with those in other countries across
Europe, where they are up. We are working closely with our
international partners, including our nearest geographical
neighbour France, we are dismantling the organised criminal gangs
who are smuggling people, and we are taking action to reform the
asylum system.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Government announced
emergency legislation to address the issues mentioned in the
judgment. I welcome the proposed new treaty with Rwanda, but does
my right hon. Friend agree that the new legislation promised by
the Prime Minister must be clear and unambiguous in establishing
that the sovereign will of this Parliament, as expressed in
primary legislation, takes legal precedence over the
interpretation of international treaties and principles?
I can assure my hon. Friend that the excellent working
relationship we have with Rwanda—on which I worked in my former
role—will give us the opportunity to have a treaty that addresses
the issues in the Supreme Court judgment. However, she is right
to say that the legislation that will accompany that treaty must
make it absolutely clear that the will of the British people, as
exemplified by the actions of this Government, means we will work
to get flights to Rwanda to make it plain that if people come
here illegally they will not stay here. I can give her my
commitment that we will do everything we can to make that
happen.
Further to those points, will my right hon. Friend give me a
categorical assurance that he will do everything he can to enable
us to deliver the Rwanda policy, and will introduce all the
necessary legal exemptions so that we can get on with those
flights as soon as possible and provide the necessary deterrence
to illegal migration?
The Rwanda scheme is an extremely important part of our basket of
responses. I will do everything to ensure that we drive down
small-boat arrivals: that is the promise we have made to the
British people, and that is the commitment I will deliver.
(Walsall South) (Lab)
One of the ways of dealing with illegal migration is to look at
the number of cases. Can the Home Secretary say how many legacy
backlog cases there are—if they have yet been triaged—and how
many of those result from illegal migration?
The historic backlog has been reduced by 65%. It has fallen by
more than 59,000 cases since the end of November 2022. We have
recruited 2,500 asylum decision makers, and we have increased
tenfold the pace at which these decisions are made.
(Glenrothes) (SNP)
The Secretary of State is well aware that under international law
an asylum seeker cannot be described as an illegal immigrant.
They are here legally unless and until they are found to have no
valid claim to asylum after due process. Is it the policy of the
Home Office and this Government to act within international law
or to act outwith it?
The hon. Gentleman makes reference to the refugee convention, but
his definition is only accurate if they come directly from a
place of danger. I have visited France and it is a wonderful
country. I can assure the House that it is not a dangerous
country.
Violence against Women and Girls
(Hertford and Stortford)
(Con)
7. What steps he is taking to tackle violence against women and
girls.(900287)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department ()
In the last three years we have passed comprehensive new laws
covering everything from domestic abuse and street harassment to
online safety. Last year the Government added violence against
women to the strategic policing requirement, placing it on
equivalent footing to terrorism, and the Home Office’s
award-winning Enough campaign is now entering its final phase
with a firm focus on tackling perpetrator behaviour being rolled
out across colleges and universities.
I welcome my hon. Friend to her place. I pay tribute to Sandra
Conte and her team at Future Living in Hertford for everything
they do to support victims of domestic abuse. As a magistrate, I
specialised in domestic abuse courts and I am utterly convinced
of their value, both for justice and for victims. Will my hon.
Friend share her assessment of the initiatives to increase
specialisation in court processes for sexual offending and sexual
violence?
The specialist sexual violence support project is now under way
in Crown courts in Leeds, Newcastle and Snaresbrook. It is at an
early stage but is due to report in early 2025. However, my hon.
Friend should be aware that any victim of rape or sexual assault
may now take advantage of section 28 procedures, which have been
rolled out nationwide to allow people to give their evidence
privately and ahead of trial. We are also engaging close to 1,000
independent sexual violence advisers in the system to accompany
victims every step of the way through the criminal justice
system. As a result, rape prosecutions are higher today than they
were in 2010 and sentences are approximately 50% longer.
(Gower) (Lab)
Can the Minister tell me how many forces are still not providing
domestic abuse training to their officers?
I do not have that answer. I will have to go back to the Home
Office and write to the hon. Member.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the shadow Minister.
(Pontypridd) (Lab)
It is a privilege to take on this important role. I pass on my
thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Yardley
() for her dedication and
commitment. I am looking forward to getting to work.
A shocking new study has found that domestic abusers are
controlling the finances of more than 5 million women in the UK.
This cannot be allowed to continue. The Government have turned a
blind eye to this issue for more than a decade, so what steps is
the Minister taking today to tackle economic abuse?
The hon. Lady and I have worked together a lot on domestic abuse
since we were elected. She will know that economic abuse is
basically a derivative of coercive control, which Clare Wade KC,
in her review of domestic homicide, says underpins almost all
domestic abuse. Tomorrow the Criminal Justice Bill has its Second
Reading in the House. The Bill will see serious coercive control
offences placed under the multi-agency public protection
arrangements and offenders placed on the violent sexual and
terrorist offender register.
Rwanda Relocation Scheme: Supreme Court Judgment
(Coatbridge, Chryston and
Bellshill) (SNP)
8. What recent assessment he has made of the implications for his
policies of the Supreme Court judgment of 15 November 2023 on the
Rwanda relocation scheme.(900288)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
The Rwanda scheme remains an important part of our response to
illegal migration and people smuggling. We will continue to
negotiate with the Government of Rwanda on a treaty that will be
underpinned by domestic law so that the Rwanda scheme will join
the other effective parts of our response in stopping the
boats.
The Prime Minister has indicated his intention to override the
Supreme Court by introducing emergency laws and a new treaty with
Rwanda to save his unlawful deportation plans. So far, the UK has
paid the Rwanda Government £140 million and the Home Office has
spent £1.4 million on failed legal challenges, with no asylum
seekers being sent there as of yet. How much has the Home Office
spent in total on the Rwanda scheme? Can the Secretary of State
give us a figure, please?
The funding from the Home Office will be reported in the usual,
appropriate way. I do not have the figures to hand, but I will
make sure the House is updated on the costs.
The hon. Gentleman seems to misunderstand how one responds to a
legal judgment. He describes it as “overriding,” but I suggest
that when the Government address the issues set down by the
Supreme Court, they will not be overriding but respecting the
voice of the Supreme Court.
I would make the point that we are committed to dealing with
illegal migrants. I hear no such commitment from the Opposition.
Until they come up with clear plans for how they will deal with
this issue, they should support the actions the Government are
actually taking.
Sir (New Forest East) (Con)
Has the Home Secretary been struck, as I have, by the very small
number of Opposition Members standing to contribute to questions
on migration? Does he agree that, if democracies both within the
EU and, like ourselves, outside the EU cannot find a solution to
this problem, we will see the increasing emergence of far-right
politicians in positions of power? That ought to frighten us
all.
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. This Government were
criticised by the Opposition and by voices across the continent
when we started to take action to address the significant
increase in the volumes of illegal migration. Countries across
the continent are now looking at us in order to emulate the
actions we are taking. Illegal migration has gone from something
that the Labour party believed was a non-issue to being a core
issue for Governments across Europe and North America. If the
good people do not grip this issue, the bad people will attempt
to do so, and I will never let that happen.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab)
The Home Affairs Committee has taken a particular interest in
small-boat crossings. We produced a report last year that I
suggest the new Home Secretary might want to look at. We have
also visited France and Belgium this year. Owing to our interest
and expertise in this area, will the Home Secretary consider
giving the Home Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on
Human Rights the opportunity to carry out pre-legislative
scrutiny of any emergency legislation that he plans to bring
forward?
There is an urgency to the legislation that we seek to put
forward and, although pre-legislative scrutiny has a part to
play, I will not do anything that delays the implementation of
this incredibly important legislation.
Sir (Middlesbrough South and East
Cleveland) (Con)
It is imperative if we are to crack the business model of the
evil people smugglers that we operationalise the Rwanda scheme.
May I register my profound conviction that the disapplication of
elements of the European convention on human rights and the
refugee convention will be necessary? The Court of Appeal cited
human rights and the Supreme Court cited refoulement. What will
it be next time, in the absence of Parliament expressly asserting
the will of this House?
My right hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point,
although I do not want to prejudge the content of the Bill. I
listened carefully to his points, and he and the rest of the
House should understand that we will do everything we can to
ensure that we break the business model of the evil people
smugglers he highlights and drive down the small-boat arrivals.
He is absolutely right that the deterrent effect of the Rwanda
scheme is a key element of that multi-strand approach.
Police Funding Formula
(Waveney) (Con)
12. What progress his Department has made on reviewing the police
funding formula.(900292)
The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire ()
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is a tireless
campaigner on this issue. I completely accept the need for a new
police funding formula. We have been working on it extremely
hard, with colleagues across government. I hope to have something
further to say on the topic shortly, but in the meantime we are
getting as much money as we can to frontline policing. This year,
we have an extra £550 million going to frontline policing and
£330 million going to support the police pay rise, which makes
£880 million extra for policing this year.
I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer.
Nevertheless, it is concerning that Suffolk police were promised
draft proposals for the review back in January. I urge him to get
those to our local force as quickly as possible and, in the
meantime, to work with it to improve the number of out-of-court
disposals, where better delivery will relieve pressure on those
in the force, who are working incredibly hard.
They are indeed working incredibly hard. I am delighted to tell
the House that Suffolk police currently have 1,425 officers,
which is more than at any time in their history, and they have
that in common with England and Wales as a whole. I support what
my hon. Friend said about out-of-court disposals, which have an
important role to play, particularly in treating drug and alcohol
addiction, and mental health issues. I will work with Suffolk and
other forces to make sure that those are widely used.
(Bradford East) (Lab)
Since 2010, neighbourhood policing, where officers are embedded
in local communities, has been decimated, despite its huge
advantages. We therefore desperately need the repeatedly promised
reform of the police funding formula. However, one of the
quickest ways in which the Government can get cash to police
forces for neighbourhood policing is by reforming the Proceeds of
Crime Act 2002 rules so that more of the money is handed to the
police forces that confiscated it. Will the Minister meet me to
discuss the matter further?
I would be happy to discuss POCA with the hon. Gentleman and
other colleagues. However, there is something of a definitional
confusion on this question about neighbourhood policing, because
there are local police officers who work on response teams and
should be counted as well. In 2015, the year the Opposition keep
referring to, there were 61,083 officers in local policing roles,
whereas there are now 67,785. That is a much higher number, and
overall we have a record number of officers across England and
Wales—149,566. That is more than there ever were under the last
Labour Government.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
We must move now to topical questions.
Topical Questions
(Bradford South) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.(900306)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
My mission and that of this Government, on behalf of all people
in this country, is to secure our borders and keep people safe
from crime and terrorism. Good progress has been made in driving
down crime and stopping illegal small-boat arrivals, but there
is, of course, more to do. The Home Office has been considering
further measures to mitigate migration, including by preventing
the exploitation and manipulation of our visa system and clamping
down on those who take unwarranted advantage of the flexibilities
we provide. We will announce further details on these measures in
due course. Tomorrow, we have Second Reading of the Criminal
Justice Bill, which will give police the powers they need for
longer sentences for those who would harm others and will
increase the trust in policing.
In my constituency, the antisocial and illegal use of fireworks
continues to affect law-abiding citizens and our pets. Will the
Secretary of State commit to reducing the legal limit for
commercial fireworks from 120 dB to 90 dB or less?
I have not yet had the opportunity to read into that issue—it was
not the angle I was expecting in this question—but the proposal
seems a thoughtful one. I will give it due consideration, but I
cannot make a commitment at this point.
(Hartlepool) (Con)
T3. Off-road bikes are a growing plague across Hartlepool, and my
constituents face the danger of young men in balaclavas driving
recklessly along our streets. Will my right hon. Friend commit to
increasing the support for Cleveland police to tackle this
nuisance, beyond the anonymous tip-off system? Will he also
perhaps come to visit some of the excellent Conservative MPs in
our region?(900308)
The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire ()
I would be delighted to do that, and I support her call. To
achieve precisely the objectives my hon. Friend describes, from
April next year—in just a few months—every police force in the
country will receive substantial funding commitments to conduct
antisocial behaviour hotspot patrols, including against the
scourge of off-road biking that she mentions. In forces where
pilot schemes have been tried, including those in Essex,
Lancashire and Staffordshire, we have seen reductions in
antisocial behaviour of up to 30%.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
(Normanton, Pontefract and
Castleford) (Lab)
The Home Secretary has been in post for two weeks, during which
time he has used the same language to pick a fight with Stockton
and show what he thinks of his own Rwanda policy, he has been
attacked by his Back Benchers, and Downing Street has already
been forced to confirm it still has full confidence in him.
Twelve days ago he said the number of asylum hotel bed spaces are
down, but four days ago Home Office figures showed they are up to
a record 56,000—10,000 more than at the beginning of the year.
Does he even know what is going on?
Yes, I do. Let me expand—that answer was a by-product of the
right hon. Lady asking a closed question at the Dispatch Box. I
have been in this job for 14 days, and I am conscious that my
counterparts around Europe and the world are grappling with many
of the same issues. I would love nothing more than to be able to
resolve them all in 14 days—I am good, but I am not a
magician.
Perhaps that mean an end to the magical thinking that the right
hon. Gentleman’s predecessor called for. We still have 10,000
more bed spaces than when the Prime Minister promised to end
hotel use. The Home Secretary owes the House the facts. There is
still no sign of anything on the failed Rwanda plan, because he
knows it will not work, and nothing on the trebling of net
migration to tackle the skills gaps that are driving work visas.
The Government have been in power for 13 years and all we have is
chaos and briefing wars. His Back Benchers are already calling
him “Colonel Calamity”, and he has Corporal Chaos next to him on
the Front Bench. Given the mess he has inherited and his penchant
for profanity, does he accept that he is now up a certain kind of
creek without a paddle?
The right hon. Lady is someone I admire hugely, and one of the
things I admire most is how she has managed to be at the Dispatch
Box twice but has failed to ask anything resembling a sensible
question about the issues we are discussing. When her party was
in government, it addressed the volumes of migration by simply
redefining people, wiping the slate clean and pretending there
was never a problem.
I have said this about the right hon. Lady’s party in broadcasts,
and I say it from the Dispatch Box: there is a gaping vacuum
where the Labour party’s policy on migration, whether it be legal
or illegal, should be. Unless and until Labour Members come up
with something approaching a policy, I will continue to do what
we know to be right: driving down small-boat arrivals and
reducing the number of hotel rooms needed. We have closed 50
hotels and we will do more.
(New Forest West) (Con)
T5. Is the Home Secretary doing enough to reassure Jews that
the United Kingdom is safe?(900310)
My right hon. Friend asks an incredibly important question. I
have made it very clear to the police forces of the UK that when
members of a minority group in this country tell us that they are
living in fear, we must take action. I am pleased that the
policing response this weekend was more robust than on previous
weekends—the police are clearly listening to the conversations we
are having with them and I commend them for doing so. I have
spoken with representatives of the Community Security Trust and
the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and I will be having a
meeting with the Chief Rabbi to make it absolutely clear that the
Jewish community in the UK has the right to feel safe and this
Government will take action to ensure it is safe.
(Lewisham, Deptford)
(Lab)
T2. Many of my constituents have faced significant delays when
applying for biometric residence permit cards because of
technical errors. One constituent, whose application was approved
in July 2020, did not receive their BRP until January 2023
because of printing issues. What actions are being taken to
address the technical problems contributing to delays in
processing BRP applications? I hope the Home Secretary can answer
that question.(900307)
The Minister for Immigration ()
I am pleased to report to the hon. Lady that that part of our
Visas and Immigration service is now operating within its service
standard, so there is a good service being offered to members of
the public, but if she has any specific cases, she can bring them
to my attention.
(Uxbridge and South
Ruislip) (Con)
T7. As a local authority closely tied to Heathrow airport, the
London Borough of Hillingdon has been doing great work to manage
the impact of those currently in the asylum process. That is
despite a funding imbalance in national rates, given the local
population and the numbers of asylum seekers. Will my right hon.
Friend commit to work with me to look at how we can ensure that
those authorities, such as Hillingdon Council, linked with major
ports of entry are given the resources to cope with such
demands?(900312)
My hon. Friend raises an important matter for his constituents.
As they live in the local authority beside Heathrow airport, it
is true that his constituents bear a particular burden with
respect to asylum seekers. We do provide £3,500 per asylum seeker
to a local authority to help meet those costs, but a local
authority such as Hillingdon does need our support, and I would
be delighted to work with him in that regard.
Mick Whitley (Birkenhead) (Lab)
T4. The Home Secretary will be familiar with the invasive
surveillance systems that authoritarian states such as Russia and
China impose on their citizens. Is he comfortable with the
Policing Minister’s push for similar live facial recognition
systems to be used on innocent Brits, at a time when our
colleagues in the European Parliament are legislating to abandon
this technology?(900309)
We should be clear that retrospective facial recognition puts
hundreds, if not thousands, of criminals in prison. For example,
it was used to catch a murderer who had killed somebody in a
Coventry nightclub who was then identified using an image taken
on a mobile phone. That is a murderer who would not be in prison
but for the use of retrospective facial recognition.
Live facial recognition has been used extensively by two police
forces and experimentally by two others, including by South
Wales, which has an excellent Labour police and crime
commissioner, , who has led the way in this
area in a way that is safe and that respects privacy. Critically,
if someone’s face is scanned and they are not on the wanted list,
their details are deleted immediately, which I hope provides
reassurance on the questions of privacy. Where it has been used,
wanted people, including a wanted rapist and a wanted sex
offender, have been apprehended who otherwise would have gone
free. I would hope that the entire House can agree that catching
wanted rapists is something that we can all get behind.
(South East Cornwall)
(Con)
T8. During the recent protests, we have seen politicians hounded
out of their offices and even needing a police escort at a train
station. What more can we do to ensure that people who make
decisions are doing it fairly and not from
intimidation?(900313)
The Minister for Security ()
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. That is exactly why we
are having an emergency meeting of the Defending Democracy
Taskforce tomorrow to assess these issues. The incidents that we
have seen in this country since 7 October—absolutely hateful
incidents—have left some people feeling unable to make the
arguments that their constituents would expect them to make
because they feel vulnerable or they feel threatened. That is why
I have been engaging on a protective security review not just for
the Government, but for all Members of this House, and for other
elected officials around our country. It is completely wrong for
our democracy to be silenced by anyone, and it certainly should
not be silenced by cowards.
Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)
T6. My constituent, Dr Lubna Hadoura, has given almost 30 years
of service in a specialised role to our NHS. Today, all she can
think about is her 84-year-old mum and other members of her
family who are stuck in Gaza with no hope of escape. Will the
Secretary of State agree to meet urgently with me and Dr Hadoura
so that she can set out to him more powerfully than I ever could
the urgent humanitarian and moral imperative to get the families
of UK citizens out of Gaza before it is too late?(900311)
The Government have a duty to British nationals, which we take
very seriously. I recognise the plight of many non-British
nationals in Gaza, which is why, in my previous role and now
supporting the current Foreign Secretary, we have long pushed for
a humanitarian pause. I am pleased that that is in place. We will
continue to work with the international community and the
countries in the region to ensure that support is given to the
people in Gaza who need it and that action is taken to end this
conflict, so that Israelis as well as the Palestinian people can
live in peace and security.
(Harrow East) (Con)
As we seek to reduce the backlog of asylum claims, there is a
temptation to grant more economic migrants the right to remain
here. Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that there will
be no slackening of the rules to root out economic migrants so
that they can be returned to where they came from?
The whole point of having border control is that we can ensure
that our migration system supports our economy and our social
cohesion. Both those things are important. We want to ensure that
we are choosing the right people, in the right numbers, at the
right pace. I give the House a categoric assurance that that will
always underpin our thinking with regard to what future changes
we might make to the legal migration processes.
(East Lothian) (Alba)
T9. It is not simply the decibel level of fireworks that is
causing an issue; police officers in Scotland have been coming
under attack, with fireworks used as weapons. The Scottish
Parliament has control over the sale of fireworks but not their
manufacture, as they are classified as explosives. Will the
Minister guarantee that steps will be taken to tighten things up
in order to reduce the use of these weapons? Failing that, will
he simply devolve the powers so that the Scottish Parliament can
act, as it has done on air weapons and drink-driving?(900314)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that important point. The control
of products is often a matter for the Department for Business and
Trade, but since he has raised it at Home Office questions, I
will happily take his point away and look into it carefully.
(Cleethorpes) (Con)
As was referenced earlier, there is growing concern in the retail
trade about increases in shoplifting and, in particular, violence
against shop workers. Does the Minister agree that we need
custodial sentences for persistent offenders?
Persistent offenders should certainly get sent to prison. There
is no question about that. Of course, it is now a statutory
aggravating factor if the victim of an assault is a retail
worker. We are concerned, though, about retail crime. We do not
want to end up in the same place as some American cities, such as
San Francisco, with out-of-control looting. We want a
zero-tolerance approach. That is why just a few weeks ago we
launched with police a retail crime action plan, which will see
police always follow up evidence, including CCTV evidence and the
use of facial recognition technology; always attend where
necessary to investigate, or where someone has been assaulted;
and particularly target prolific offenders and criminal
gangs.
(Tiverton and Honiton)
(LD)
T10. Given the revelation in recent weeks that the Home
Secretary’s predecessor struck a deal with the Prime Minister
before she took up the post, and given that it is well known that
the Home Secretary was very much enjoying his role as Foreign
Secretary, will he tell the House what deal he might have struck
with the Prime Minister before taking on this role?(900315)
A fantastic question, well worth asking. The contract that all
Ministers have is with the British people, to work hard on their
behalf and to focus relentlessly on their priorities. That is
something that every Government Minister takes seriously, and
something totally lacking in the narrative coming from the
Opposition Benches, including the Liberal Democrat Benches.
(Stroud) (Con)
The award-winning Cotswold Canals Trust volunteers have had
enough of antisocial behaviour such as graffiti, dog mess and
worrying drug paraphernalia everywhere. It is ruining their hard
work on the canal network and is putting them at risk. Part of
our successful approach to trying to tackle it is getting CCTV
down the canals. Will my right hon. Friend let us know what is
happening with the safer streets funding? Police and crime
commissioner and I have made an
application, and we are waiting to hear about it.
A round of safer streets funding was distributed for the current
financial year, and we will make an announcement shortly about
the following financial year. More money will be available, and
it will be up to police and crime commissioners to decide how
they spend that money. We will also confirm shortly the roll-out
of antisocial behaviour hotspot patrols across the entire
country—across all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Where
those have been trialled so far—in Essex, Staffordshire,
Lancashire and elsewhere—we have seen 30% decreases in ASB.
Pretty soon, that will be available in Gloucestershire as
well.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
That concludes proceedings on questions.
