Scottish Visa Scheme
(Perth and Kinross-shire)
(SNP)
1. What discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on
the potential merits of devolving the power to introduce a
Scottish visa scheme.(900747)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department ()
The hon. Gentleman has raised this issue on a number of
occasions. He will be aware that we are not introducing a
Scottish visa scheme or devolving control of immigration policy,
and this has been made clear to the Scottish Government. Instead,
we must together address the underlying causes of skills
shortages and overseas recruitment in different parts of the UK,
which this Government are doing.
I thank the Minister for her tiresome and repetitive response.
She will know that Scotland has a whole range of demographic and
population difficulties that need to be urgently addressed, with
every sector from social care to hospitality, including business
leaders, calling out for drastic action. Even her Scottish Labour
colleagues are beginning to understand the enormity of this task.
Today we find that Labour's grotesque two-child benefit cap is
now having an impact on Scotland's birth rate. Instead of
slapping down her Scottish colleagues and rejecting this idea out
of hand, why does she not work with us just to see if it might
actually work?
The hon. Gentleman knows that net migration must come down. It
trebled under the last Government, largely driven by overseas
recruitment. Immigration is a reserved matter, working in the
interests of the whole UK. Previous schemes along the lines that
he has suggested have succeeded only in restricting movement and
rights and creating internal UK borders. Adding different rules
for different locations would also increase complexity and create
frictions when workers move locations.
(Edinburgh East and
Musselburgh) (Lab)
Scotland is a diverse place. Some areas are seeing depopulation,
but areas such as East Lothian, which I represent, are seeing
unprecedented population growth. Will the Minister commit to
working constructively with the Scottish Government on their
woeful population strategy, which in 17 years has comprehensively
failed to address Scotland's demographic challenges?
We are committed to working with the Scottish Government on this
and all issues. Indeed, many of the levers to address
depopulation in Scotland are in powers that the Scottish
Government already have at their disposal. The reasons for local
workers leaving particular areas must be addressed through
investment in jobs, in infrastructure and in public services, and
many of these are issues that we must tackle together.
Fraud and Economic Crime
(Bolton West) (Lab)
2. What steps her Department is taking to tackle fraud and
economic crime.(900748)
The Minister for Security ()
Fraud accounts for 39% of all crime, according to the England and
Wales crime survey, and it was the most common type of crime in
the year ending March 2024. It is a crime that destroys lives and
we are committed to working with law enforcement and industry to
better protect the public and businesses from the fraud threats
they face.
We know that 39% of all reported crime is fraud, and many of
those offences are carried out by serious organised crime gangs.
The National Crime Agency is tasked with protecting my
constituents from foreign origin fraud and serious organised
crime, but a recent report from Spotlight on Corruption found
that after 14 years of Conservative government the NCA was “on
its knees”, spending millions of pounds on consultants and
failing to retain investigators. What steps is the Minister
taking to ensure that the NCA is able to protect my constituents
from financial crime?
Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to the NCA for its
operational leadership and its focus on tackling economic crime.
Through collaborating with jurisdictions at risk, we make it
harder for organised crime groups to target UK victims. The
national fraud squad, run by the NCA's national economic crime
centre, and the City of London police, with 400 new officers by
next year, have boosted the ability to tackle the highest-harm
international offenders. We are working to deliver a workforce
strategy to address retention challenges for fraud. This is
important work that impacts on all our constituents and it is a
priority area for this Government.
(The Wrekin) (Con)
The Minister will know that online harm goes beyond fraud. It can
impact people's lives through suicide sites that signpost people
to unregulated sites that lead them to a place none of us want to
see them go to. He will know that the European Commission is
currently investigating Facebook and Instagram. The United States
is introducing the kids online safety Act, which, if it is passed
by Congress, will make a huge impact. Why is it left to parents
in the United Kingdom—in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland, wherever they are—to take their own litigation against
these big tech companies? Is it not time the Government did
more?
We are doing more, and I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that
this is a key priority for the Department, not least because 70%
of fraud has an international element, particularly online.
Approximately one in 18 adults were victims of fraud in the year
ending March 2024. The noble leads on this for the
Department, and he and I are working closely with other
Government Departments, including the Treasury and the Department
for Science, Innovation and Technology. This is a priority and we
need to do more.
Neighbourhood Policing
(Brentford and Isleworth)
(Lab)
3. What steps her Department is taking to improve neighbourhood
policing.(900749)
(Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)
4. What steps her Department is taking to improve neighbourhood
policing.(900750)
(Bracknell) (Lab)
8. What steps her Department is taking to improve neighbourhood
policing.(900754)
(Ealing Southall)
(Lab)
24. What steps her Department is taking to improve neighbourhood
policing.(900771)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
Neighbourhood policing is the bedrock of the British policing
model, yet in many areas of the country it has been decimated in
recent years. This Government are committed to rebuilding
neighbourhood policing by putting officers, police community
support officers and special constables back in our communities
with new powers to tackle antisocial behaviour and local
crime.
My constituents rightly want to see more neighbourhood policing
teams on their streets. I welcome the Government's commitment to
bringing in 10,000 more neighbourhood police officers, but can
the Secretary of State assure me that west London will get the
neighbourhood policing teams we need?
My hon. Friend is right that we now have thousands fewer police
officers and PCSOs on the streets than we had a decade ago. This
includes the previous Government halving the number of PCSOs and
cutting the number of special constables by two thirds. This
newly elected Government are working at pace to introduce a new
neighbourhood policing guarantee, putting police officers and
PCSOs back on the streets. We have also announced funding and
support for the College of Policing to begin the national
roll-out of specialist training for neighbourhood officers in
order to professionalise and strengthen the work they do in every
corner of the country.
I welcome the Home Secretary to her place. My community in Harlow
has been let down by the lack of neighbourhood policing. What
will the Home Secretary do to address this issue, both through
police on the streets and through the resources they have?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. This is a challenge we
are facing across the country. The proportion of people saying
that they barely ever see the police is now nearly half, up from
a quarter when the Conservatives came to power in 2010. This has
been deeply damaging to public confidence, and we need the police
back on the beat, but they also need the powers to act. That is
why we will also bring forward new powers to tackle shoplifting
and antisocial behaviour, especially in our town centres.
Residents in Bracknell are concerned about the increasing numbers
of drug users and dealers on our streets. I raised this issue
when I recently met our neighbourhood policing team. What more
support can be given to local police and other local services to
get drug dealers off our streets?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. Drug dealing, drug
misuse and other forms of antisocial behaviour and crime are a
real challenge in many communities. First, we need to get
neighbourhood police back on the beat to address these
challenges. Secondly, neighbourhood police need greater powers,
and we will introduce respect orders that allow the police to
take action against repeat offenders and to make sure that our
streets and communities can be kept safe.
In Ealing Southall, religious organisations are spending their
own money protecting worshippers from antisocial behaviour and
crime in the early morning. Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara, for
example, is spending £3,000 to £4,000 a week on patrols and
security measures. I recently called a crime summit and, although
the police are trying their best, the community needs more police
on the streets and a return to neighbourhood policing. What
progress has been made on recruiting the much-needed 13,000 new
police and community support officers we need to restore trust in
the safety of our communities and town centres?
Mr Speaker
Order. Can Members please speak through the Chair?
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall () for the leadership she
is showing in her community. The point she raises is partly about
increasing neighbourhood police numbers, which is part of this
Labour Government's plan. It is also about ensuring that we have
partnerships between the police and local communities, rather
than communities feeling that they have to do this alone. Such
partnerships between the police and communities are at the heart
of the British model of policing by consent, which is what we
need to restore and rebuild after the damage that has been
done.
(Glastonbury and Somerton)
(LD)
The cost of rural crime shot up by 41% in the south-west between
2022 and 2023, while 86% of respondents to a recent National
Farmers Union survey said that rural crime was negatively
affecting farmers' mental health. How is the Department
supporting neighbourhood officers and rural beats to adequately
deal with the heightened levels of rural crime?
The hon. Member makes a serious point. We need to increase
neighbourhood policing in rural areas and to recognise the
additional different challenges that rural areas can face, both
because of the geography and the particular kinds of crime that
affect farmers and farming equipment. That is why we have set out
our intention to draw up a new rural crime action plan, alongside
our plans for neighbourhood policing.
(Beverley and Holderness)
(Con)
Under the last Conservative Government, excluding fraud and
computer misuse, crime fell by 50%—[Interruption.] I am pleased
to say that in Beverley and Holderness, as across the rest of the
country, it was community groups, local people and the police
working together who helped to do that. Working with the local
community, the Cherry Tree Centre helped to reduce antisocial
behaviour in the St Nicholas area of Beverley by 43%, year on
year, by last summer. What will the Secretary of State do to
ensure that such community co-operation leads to further cuts in
crime, which was so welcome under the Conservatives?
I caution the right hon. Member against excluding one of the most
common crimes in the country from his figures. Some of the crimes
that impact town centres at the heart of local communities most
heavily, such as shoplifting, street crime and street theft, have
soared in recent years, but there was no response at all by the
previous Government. We are making those crimes a priority as
part of our plans to change some of the laws around shoplifting
and assault on shop workers, as well as getting more police back
on the beat.
Mr (Cheadle) (LD)
One of the biggest problems faced by the neighbourhood police
team in Cheadle is antisocial behaviour and the scourge of
off-road bikes. What is the Secretary of State doing to help
Greater Manchester police tackle off-road bikes in our
communities?
The hon. Member is right that off-road bikes are a total
nightmare in some communities. I have talked to residents who
have been driven mad by the scourge of dangerous off-road bikes
that are used to harass and intimidate people. We are looking at
ways to strengthen the law on off-road biking to give the police
the powers they need to tackle that kind of damaging antisocial
behaviour.
(Bognor Regis and
Littlehampton) (Con)
Given the Home Secretary's great concern about shoplifting and
antisocial behaviour, will she make an assessment on the “Putting
it Right” scheme for young offenders that has been successfully
piloted in my constituency?
I welcome the points the hon. Member makes. To tackle
shoplifting, we need to ensure that strong enough laws and
policing partnerships are in place, and that we do prevention and
follow-up work with young people. As she may know, we are setting
up a new Young Futures programme, which is all about the greater
work we need to do to prevent young people being drawn into crime
in the first place. I encourage her to tell us more details about
her local work to tackle this issue.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Stockton West) (Con)
The last Conservative Government stood with our brave police
officers and emergency service workers. We introduced tougher
sentences for those who assaulted them and the Elizabeth medal to
recognise those who lost their lives in the line of duty, and we
were looking to recognise those who were discharged from service
as a result of injuries on the frontline. Will the Secretary of
State continue that work? Will she meet with me and former
policeman Tom Curry, who has been leading an excellent campaign
on this important issue?
I have long been a strong supporter of the Elizabeth medal. I pay
tribute to Bryn Hughes and others for their work campaigning for
recognition for police officers and other emergency workers who
have been lost in the line of duty, and who have given so much to
support other people and keep others safe. I have attended the
police bravery awards every year for the last 14 years, exactly
because it is so important to support brave officers. I am
absolutely determined to ensure that we not only continue with
that work, but go further to support brave officers who put their
lives at risk. I am very happy to continue cross-party working on
this issue.
Mr Speaker
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
(Hazel Grove) (LD)
In Greater Manchester, the “right care, right person” approach
was recently introduced, since a police response to a mental
health-related call is not always the right fit. There are
growing concerns, though, about unclear lines of responsibility
between mental health services and the police, which may cause
cases to be mishandled. What steps are the Government taking to
ensure that co-ordination between the police and mental health
services is as clear and effective as it can be, so that those
who most need support do not fall through the cracks?
The hon. Member raises an important issue. That co-ordination
between police and mental health services can be crucial in some
of the most serious cases, where people are a danger to the
public for reasons perhaps linked to a mental health crisis, but
also in many cases where someone is not a danger to the public
and mental health professionals may be far better able to respond
than police officers. Significant work has been done, but she is
right that we need further close working between police and
mental health services across the country. That has also been
part of the work that my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary
is doing in the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care
on improving mental health services.
Small Boat Crossings
(Portsmouth North) (Lab)
5. What steps her Department is taking to tackle criminal gangs
facilitating small boat crossings.(900751)
(Bristol North East) (Lab)
16. What steps her Department is taking to tackle criminal gangs
facilitating small boat crossings.(900762)
Mr Speaker
Can I ask the Home Secretary please to look at me occasionally?
It would help.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
Apologies, Mr Speaker; I always like the chance to be able to
look towards you.
The criminal smuggling and trafficking gangs that organise small
boat crossings are undermining our border security and putting
lives at risk. It is truly tragic that a little baby died in the
channel this weekend. Those gangs have been getting away with
this for far too long. That is why the Government have set up a
new border security command, led by former police chief Martin
Hewitt, to work with other countries to go after the gangs.
Small boat crossings is an issue raised by residents, but we know
that organised crime stretches beyond people smuggling. In my
Portsmouth North constituency we recently saw the sentencing of a
criminal gang that attempted to smuggle 2.3 tonnes of cocaine
into the city from Colombia. Can the Secretary of State expand on
how we are tackling organised crime relating to smuggling drugs
and dangerous weapons into our ports, to ensure that those things
do not hit our streets?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. There are many different
threats to our border security, which is why we have set up the
border security command to draw together the work of different
agencies, including on dangerous drug smuggling and organised
crime, bringing together Border Force, the National Crime Agency,
the intelligence and security agencies and local police forces.
The border security command's first priority will be to deal with
the dangerous boat crossings that are undermining security and
putting lives at risk, but as part of its work it will be dealing
with the wider threats to our borders as well.
I thank the Home Secretary for her answer about the criminal
gangs. People in Bristol North East also ask me about deterrence.
What reassurance can I give them that this action is being backed
up with measures to stop illegal working by people who do not
have a right to work here?
My hon. Friend makes an important point about how employers have
exploited illegal migration. As a result, we set up a major
programme through the summer, including raids, pursuing illegal
working in different places across the country. We have also
substantially increased our work on returns, including
redeploying 1,000 additional staff to work on returns and
enforcement, to make sure the rules are being properly respected
and enforced. That has led to an increase of more than 20% in
enforced returns this summer.
(Great Yarmouth) (Reform)
Given that dangerous foreign criminals have been using the
European convention on human rights as a loophole to remain in
the UK, does the Home Secretary agree that it is time to leave
the ECHR and restore the sovereignty of our own borders?
The purpose of setting up a border security command is to
strengthen the security of our borders. We will do that by
working with other countries. It is crucial that we do so to
tackle the gangs and the boats before they reach the French coast
in the first place. We have increased our co-operation, with new
agreements in place with the G7, Europol and Italy, and we are
working on new agreements with France, Germany and Belgium. Those
agreements would not be possible if we were somehow abandoning
international law.
Mr Gagan (South West Hertfordshire)
(Con)
As the House will be aware, there have been recent crossings. Is
the Home Secretary considering reopening hotels to house asylum
seekers, and if so will she commit to keeping the House informed
about the methodology for choosing those hotels and ensuring that
constituency Members are informed at the appropriate time?
Ensuring that constituency Members are informed is something that
I take seriously. It often did not happen in the past, but it is
important and it needs to happen. The overall situation that we
inherited included an asylum backlog that was increasing because
asylum decision making had totally collapsed. We have now
increased that decision making so that we can clear the backlog
and end hotel use. Sadly, that will take time—because of the
soaring backlog we inherited as a result of the collapse in
decision making—but we are determined to ensure that we can clear
the backlog and save the taxpayer hundreds of millions, if not
billions, of pounds.
(Hamble Valley) (Con)
Given the Home Secretary's claim that she would smash the gangs,
with £540 million to upgrade the Manston centre, asylum hotels
reopening rapidly and 14,000 small boat crossings since she took
office, is that the plan that she had for her new border
commander? Might it be fair to say that it is not going very
well?
I gently point out to the hon. Gentleman what we inherited from
the previous Government. In the first six months of the year,
there were the highest number of boat crossings on record because
of the total failure of their programme, including spending £700
million on a scheme to send four people—four volunteers—to
Rwanda. As for the contract, he may be interested to learn that
the first Manston contract notice was issued on 4 December 2023
under the previous Home Secretary for £700 million for six years
with no suggested break clauses. The new contract is not only
substantially cheaper because we have made savings, but also
includes break clauses so that we can close, change or reduce the
contract to save the taxpayer money, which the previous
Government failed to do.
Policing
(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab)
6. What steps her Department is taking to increase public trust
and confidence in policing.(900752)
(Truro and Falmouth)
(Lab/Co-op)
11. What steps her Department is taking to increase public trust
and confidence in policing.(900757)
(Brighton Pavilion) (Green)
14. What steps she is taking to monitor and maintain standards of
police conduct.(900760)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department ()
Restoring confidence in policing is one of the core aims of the
Government's safer streets mission. That means ensuring robust
responses to the crimes that devastate lives and corrode our
communities. We are also committed to improving police standards,
and will announce steps to strengthen the police misconduct and
vetting system shortly.
It is almost two years since Warwickshire police issued a
community protection notice against Warwickshire hunt. Eight
months later, it was mysteriously replaced by a secret protocol.
The police and crime commissioner, who receives financial support
from the Countryside Alliance, claims that he knew nothing of the
protocol. The chief constable refused to give me a copy and now
she has resigned, claiming retirement. Trust in the PCC and the
leadership of Warwickshire police has been seriously damaged.
Will the Minister meet me to discuss the need for a truly
independent inquiry, as opposed to the sham one being undertaken
by the PCC?
I thank my hon. Friend and as a local to Warwickshire I take a
keen interest in those matters myself. Of course, I will meet
him, along with the Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime
Prevention, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon
Hull North and Cottingham (Dame ). It is vital that the public
can trust that those who police us, and who are in charge of our
police, are held to account as everybody else should be.
Despite town and city councils in Cornwall employing street
rangers and antisocial behaviour officers and having ShopWatch
radios funded from their precept or business improvement
districts, shop managers still struggle with shoplifting and ASB.
The record under our Conservative PCC on answering and responding
to 101 calls is poor, and those crimes are chronically
under-reported. Shop workers feel powerless and there is a
desperate need for more neighbourhood police. Can the Minister
explain how trust in police and the rule of law will be restored
to retail staff and shop managers?
As the Home Secretary laid out, extra neighbourhood policing is
important not just because we need more police on our streets,
but because when our constituents—shop workers and those who own
businesses—call the police, if they get no response confidence
drops. The neighbourhood police that there will be across the
country, including in Cornwall, will help with confidence, not
just with crime.
I thank the Minister for her answers. We have seen a toxic
culture in some police services, including WhatsApp messages that
are racist, homophobic and sexist, displaying deep prejudice.
Will she clarify when the multiple recommendations from the Home
Office review into the process of police officer dismissals will
be actioned, including changing the law so that those who fail
re-vetting can be more simply dismissed?
I could not agree more that we need to strengthen this area, with
women especially feeling less confidence over the last few years.
We will announce in due course—I promise the hon. Lady that we
are working on this at pace—how we are going to ensure that
police conduct and vetting systems are fit for purpose, to bring
back some of the trust that has been lost.
Mr (Blackburn) (Ind)
Although I welcome the Home Secretary's response on antisocial
behaviour involving e-scooters and bikes, I wish to reiterate the
concerns of my residents in Blackburn. Will she consider not only
additional powers for the police but civil powers for local
authorities to combat hotspot areas before somebody is seriously
hurt?
As the Home Secretary outlined on neighbourhood policing, we will
bring in respect orders to ensure that antisocial behaviour in
particular areas is targeted in a way that it simply has not been
in recent years.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
Mr (Braintree) (Con)
The operational independence of the police goes to the heart of
public confidence in policing. As Foreign Secretary, I saw where
political interference in policing is rife, and that is not a
direction that the UK should travel in, so does the Home
Secretary believe that it is right for Ministers to overrule the
threat assessment of the police and security services, does she
believe that some free concert tickets are the appropriate price
for scrapping police independence, and after the appalling
results of recent negotiations with the British Medical
Association, the RMT and Mauritius, has she considered recruiting
Taylor Swift's mum as a Government negotiator?
As it falls to me to answer this, let me say that the right hon.
Gentleman knows fine well that operational decisions for policing
fall to the police, in this situation and in every other. I would
certainly welcome it if Taylor Swift's mother stood for the
leadership of the Conservative party; she would really offer
something that is not currently available. The substantive
question was about confidence. The confidence of women in
policing, and its ability to keep women in our country secure,
dived under the previous Government, so confidence definitely
needs to be restored.
Mr Cleverly
That does not answer the question at all.
Mr Speaker
Order. We do not want squabbles afterwards. I call to ask his second
question.
Mr Cleverly
When I was Home Secretary, on numerous occasions I had to deal
with foreign VIPs demanding, or requesting, a level of protection
that we did not feel was appropriate. Does the Home Secretary
recognise the difficult position that she has put her own Foreign
Secretary in when such future requests come in and they have to
be denied, as those individuals will pray in aid the protection
package put in place for a rockstar?
I remind the right hon. Gentleman and the House that concerts
were cancelled in Vienna because of a terror threat that the CIA
identified could harm tens of thousands of people. I sat in this
very Chamber last week in front of Figen Murray—the mother of
Martyn, who was killed at an event in Manchester. The idea that
we should not take that security seriously is, I am afraid,
something that I simply do not agree with.
Violent Crime: Young People
(Vauxhall and Camberwell
Green) (Lab/Co-op)
7. What steps her Department is taking to help prevent young
people from becoming involved in violent crime.(900753)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
Knife crime takes far too many young lives in this country, so
the Government have set a mission—not just for the Government but
for policing and local communities right across the country—to
halve knife crime over the next decade. As part of that, we have
already implemented the ban on zombie knives and zombie-style
machetes, and we will now act quickly to ban ninja swords
following the campaigning by Pooja Kanda after the death of her
son.
I thank the Home Secretary for that reply on knife crime. I
welcome the Government's commitment in the Young Futures
programme to preventing young people from being drawn into crime.
A number of gang-associated girls are drawn into crime, and
although rape and sexual exploitation is such a traumatising
experience, many of those young girls do not see themselves as
victims. Fantastic organisations such as Abianda and Milk Honey
Bees work to support women. Will the Department consider
providing tailored support for young women through the Young
Futures programme?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. I know that she has
championed that issue over many years. The Young Futures
programme will include youth hubs to draw together services
around young people—I used the concept of a teenage Sure Start to
bring young people's services together. We also need youth
prevention programmes across all areas. She is right to highlight
that this must be about young girls as well as young boys to
ensure that we tackle the threats to young people's safety from
violent crime.
(East Grinstead and Uckfield)
(Con)
Helping young people to stay safe, and to have somewhere to go
and, crucially, someone to talk to, is key to their transition in
life, particularly to prevent them from being drawn into
antisocial behaviour, retail crime and knife or gang-related
crime. Could the Home Secretary confirm that, through devolution,
there will be continued support for police and crime
commissioners, such as Katie Bourne in Sussex, who can provide a
direct link between residents' concerns about their young people
and work with local police to take preventive measures?
Police and crime commissioners have a crucial role to play as
part of the mission to reduce serious violence, as do local
authorities. The hon. Lady is right that local partnerships will
best be able to target young people who are at greatest risk, and
ensure that proper prevention programmes are in place. As we
know, many of those services have been hollowed out over a long
period, and it is important that we have partnership working to
rebuild them. I hope that we can work cross-party on that—not
just with police and crime commissioners but with MPs across the
country.
Policing of Protests
(Clapham and Brixton
Hill) (Lab)
9. If she will commission an independent review into the adequacy
of legislation on the policing of protests.(900755)
The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame )
Like my hon. Friend, the Government value the role of peaceful
protest as part of our proud democratic tradition. The Government
regularly review the adequacy of existing legislation.
The right to protest, and the courage of people taking to the
streets to demand change, have given us many of our cherished
social advancements—from the suffragettes demanding votes for
women to the Race Relations Act 1965—but the sheer number of
powers to restrict protest is resulting in peaceful protesters
being arrested and sentenced to lengthy periods in prison. The
previous Government pushed through a range of such laws despite
opposition from senior policing figures and from Members across
all parties. When will a comprehensive review of the state of
protest take place, with a view to repealing powers that
unnecessarily restrict the right to peaceful protest?
Dame
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important issue.
As she knows, there will be post-legislative scrutiny of the
legislation passed by the previous Government. As the previous
Government agreed, it will be considered in due course.
Mr (Basildon and Billericay)
(Con)
Recent footage of Metropolitan police officers saying that the
description of Hezbollah as a terror group was a matter of
“opinion” is alarming. The officers in question were deployed to
a march in central London where support for Hezbollah was openly
displayed, yet many offenders were only identified by photos on
social media after the event. Will the Minister ensure that all
officers are fully briefed on the proscribed status of Hezbollah,
Hamas and other terrorist organisations, so that offenders are
arrested on the spot, and not allowed to spew antisemitic hate on
our streets?
Dame
We are all clear that Hezbollah are a proscribed organisation.
The police take great care when they police protests; there is a
great deal of briefing for officers beforehand. However, the way
that those protests are policed is operationally independent. I
have been to see and talk to officers who are on the frontline at
those protests, and I know that it is a difficult job. We should
all say a big “thank you” for the work that they do. There have
been many protests over the last 12 months that the police have
dealt with, and many officers have had rest days cancelled to
ensure adequate policing on our streets.
(Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
(Lab)
Southwark police officers recently told Bermondsey safety action
group that they struggled to prevent or solve crime due to
extraction duties, when they have to police repeat protests
elsewhere in London. Does the Minister believe that the Met needs
new powers to refuse permission for some repetitive protests in
the capital, or should it use existing powers better to resolve
and reduce extraction duties and increase safety in my
community?
Dame
Police numbers are an issue, which is why this Government are
clear about recruiting more neighbourhood police officers to
increase that presence on our streets. I recognise that what my
hon. Friend has said about extraction is an issue for the
Metropolitan police in particular when dealing with protests.
Clearly, we want all criminals to be dealt with by the police,
and we need sufficient numbers of police officers to do that.
(Edinburgh West) (LD)
Although we respect and would protect the right to peaceful
protest, antisemitic and Islamophobic offences have been reported
at many recent protests. Those have contributed to an astonishing
and shocking 25% increase in religiously aggravated hate crimes
in this country, as was revealed last week. The Community
Security Trust reports an almost 500% rise in antisemitic
incidents, and Tell MAMA has recorded the highest ever number of
anti-Muslim incidents. Can the Minister reassure us on what the
Government will do to help the police continue to keep
communities safe, and police protests in a way that does
that?
Dame
The figures that the hon. Lady sets out are shocking. This
Government are clear that there is no place in our society for
antisemitism or Islamophobia. There are already meetings about
how we can tackle that rise. It is shocking and it will not be
tolerated. In some recent protests, the police have clearly had a
difficult job to do, but I commend their work to tackle
antisemitism and Islamophobia. We know that the police take their
responsibilities seriously and that they do so without fear or
favour.
Police Funding: Havering
(Romford) (Con)
10. If she will increase funding for policing in the London
borough of Havering.(900756)
The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame )
The Government are of course committed to ensuring that the
police have the resources that they need to tackle crime
effectively. As I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows, funding
beyond this year, including for the Metropolitan Police Service,
will be confirmed following the upcoming multi-year spending
review.
Given the increasing pressures on the police service, does the
Minister accept that officer morale, retention, recruitment and
ability to solve crimes are severely compromised, with police
officers overworked, underpaid and subjected to unprecedented
rises in bureaucratic processes—often dealing with things that
police do not traditionally deal with, such as mental health care
and social work? [ Interruption. ] Will the Minister explain how
the Government plan to address those critical issues, especially
in terms of improving officer retention, recruitment,
crime-solving capacity and the overwhelming levels of
bureaucracy, so that constituents in Romford can feel safe in
their own town again? [ Interruption. ]
Mr Speaker
Order. Mr Rosindell, you should know better. I did not cough
twice for my own benefit—it was meant to be for yours.
Dame
The hon. Gentleman is a very experienced Member of this House. He
has supported 14 years of Conservative government that have left
us coming into government with a criminal justice system,
including policing, that is in grave difficulty. I take the point
that he raises, but he needs to recognise the role that he and
his party have played in getting us to this point. Our aim now is
to recruit more police officers, as the Home Secretary has said,
and to increase neighbourhood policing as the bedrock of policing
in this country.
Dame (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
We all want to see more funding for our police in Havering and
Hackney and across London, but a reduction in crime would also
help them. What conversations are Ministers having with mobile
phone manufacturers to try to drive down phone snatches by people
on bikes and reduce such street crime, which is really growing in
London?
Dame
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point.
Those conversations are ongoing; later this month, conversations
will take place on what more can be done to ensure that the
manufacturers take their responsibility seriously and do
everything they can to stop the trade in parts, which is a
particular issue with mobile phones.
Safe Countries for Removal: LGBT Rights
(Nottingham East) (Lab)
12. If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of
removing Georgia from her Department's list of safe countries for
removals, in the context of the recent passage of legislation on
LGBT rights in that country.(900758)
The Minister for Border Security and Asylum (Dame )
Mr Speaker, I suspect I might be coughing almost as much as you,
but for a completely different reason.
We constantly update our assessment of LGBT rights and other
factors affecting the safety of different countries, working
closely with the Foreign Office and informed by regular
independent reports from the chief inspector of borders and
immigration. The latest update for Georgia was published last
month and is available on the gov.uk website.
The safe state designation that the previous Government
introduced was intended to allow Georgian and Indian nationals to
be returned without any individualised assessment of the safety
of the country for each person. In both countries, persecution of
certain minorities is on the rise; that makes their inclusion on
the list particularly wrong, but also highlights the wider
dangers of blanket inadmissibility of asylum claims based on
nationality. What steps will the Government take to ensure that
individuals' asylum claims are always properly assessed?
Dame
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important issue and
bringing her concerns—concerns that I share—to the attention of
the House. We regularly monitor and review the situation in
countries of origin, working closely with the Foreign Office, and
our resulting country policy and information notes are published
on the gov.uk website. Should we assess that the troubling new
law to which my hon. Friend refers, or any other changes,
fundamentally affect the justification for Georgia's designation,
we will seek to remove it from the list, using the correct
parliamentary process.
(Strangford) (DUP)
In Georgia in particular, but also in other countries, there is
an evidential base to prove that the persecution of Christians
and ethnic minorities and other human rights abuses are taking
place. It is also important that LGBT rights issues are engaged
with. Has the Minister had the opportunity to address those
issues directly with Georgia's Government?
Dame
Addressing such issues is more of a Foreign Office
responsibility, which is why we liaise closely with the Foreign
Office when considering the production of information notes. If
laws that are passed and put into effect in other countries lead
to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution for
individuals, that is one of the contexts we use to make a
decision. That includes LGBT rights, but also other rights.
Topical Questions
Katrina Murray (Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch) (Lab)
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental
responsibilities.(900772)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
Organised immigration crime puts lives at risk and threatens our
border security. We have agreed a new anti-smuggling action plan
with our G7 partners to strengthen collaboration in areas such as
intelligence, information exchange and the pursuit of criminal
finances. The UK work will be led by the new border security
command. As evidence of our closer collaboration with other
countries, this weekend, at the request of the French
authorities, a Border Force vessel rescued 46 people and returned
them to France.
According to research by UK Feminista, over a third of female
school pupils have been sexually harassed while at school. Much
of this can be traced back to misogynistic online influencers and
the harmful impacts of pornography. Will the Home Secretary tell
the House what she is doing to prioritise women's online safety
and how she is engaging with counterparts in the devolved
Administrations to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind
when it comes to ending sexual harassment and the exploitation of
women?
My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. The mission
for safer streets that the Government have set includes a really
ambitious mission to halve violence against women and girls in a
decade. We know that that is immensely difficult, and I hope that
all the devolved Administrations, as well as local communities
and organisations, will want to be part of it. My hon. Friend is
right to prioritise women's online safety, and that is why my
right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation
and Technology is prioritising action on online deepfake
abuse.
Mr Speaker
We now come to the shadow Home Secretary.
Mr (Braintree) (Con)
In her statement to the House on 29 July, the Chancellor said
that asylum accommodation costs being drawn down from Treasury
reserves were “unfunded and undisclosed”—a description that I
reject. Can the Home Secretary now confirm to the House that
asylum accommodation costs will be disclosed and, more
importantly, funded from her departmental budget, and that she
will not be drawing down from Treasury reserves to pay for asylum
accommodation costs? Will she reject the Chancellor's description
and say that she will fund those costs in the same way that I
did?
The former Home Secretary—the current shadow Home Secretary—now
seems to be admitting to the totally chaotic state of asylum
accommodation finances. He had to continually seek last-minute
reserve claims, because his Government had underfunded the asylum
accommodation problems that they had caused by letting the asylum
backlog soar. As a result, the taxpayer ended up footing the
bill. This Government will be making savings from asylum
accommodation by getting the system back in order. I know that
the right hon. Member has been kicked out of the Tory party
leadership contest because he cannot count.
Mr Speaker
Order. I say to the Home Secretary that I expect short answers.
These are topicals. If there are questions where she wants to go
long, she should do so early. Otherwise, it is not fair to the
Back Benchers I represent on both sides of the House. We will now
be staying here longer than she probably expected. , let us have a good example
of a short topical.
Mr Cleverly
Will she be drawing down from Treasury reserves—yes or no?
This Government have already been putting in place the funding to
try to make good the total chaos that the right hon. Member's
Government left us with. They spent £700 million to send four
volunteers to Rwanda—and how much did he spend on a flight?
(Exeter) (Lab)
T2. Refugee women and girls, who are often already survivors of
gender-based violence, are at significant risk of abuse, coercion
and worse when housed in hotels pending the processing of their
applications, as I know the Home Secretary is aware from her
substantial work on the issue. Will she please update the House
on what steps the Department is taking to end the use of hotel
accommodation for women and girls?(900773)
My hon. Friend is right that we have an extensive challenge with
the backlog, which means that very expensive hotels are too often
used as asylum accommodation. We need to clear the backlog and
ensure that we end hotel use, but that also means addressing the
serious challenges around violence against women and girls.
Mr Speaker
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
(Hazel Grove) (LD)
This is Black History Month, and we honour the Windrush
generation, who were let down shamefully by the previous
Conservative Government—first by the appalling Windrush scandal
itself, but then by their failure to fully implement the review and the compensation
scheme. The parliamentary ombudsman has now found that the Home
Office is wrongly denying compensation payments, so will the Home
Secretary commit to urgently appointing a Windrush commissioner,
as she promised back in June, to lead on righting these
wrongs?
We will be appointing a Windrush commissioner. This is something
I feel strongly about. The hon. Member will know that as the
Select Committee Chair, I asked many questions about the Windrush
scandal. It is a stain not just on the Home Office, but on the
British state, and it is important we right those wrongs.
Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)
T3. In 14 years of Tory government, police numbers were
decimated across our country, including in my constituency.
Durham constabulary lost 408 officers, a third of its strength.
What steps will the Government take to put police officers back
on our streets?(900774)
The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame )
As has been said a number of times this afternoon, the
neighbourhood policing guarantee means 13,000 police officers,
PCSOs and specials back on our streets to keep us all safe, after
the reduction in police officer numbers of, I think, over 20,000
by the Conservative party.
(Sutton and Cheam) (LD)
T5. The recent London stalking review published by the London
victims' commissioner reveals some pretty alarming statistics: in
our capital, 45% of stalking victims felt compelled to withdraw
from the justice system and 41% said that no action was taken on
their complaint by police. What specific measures are being taken
to better support victims of stalking? Are there plans to offer
specific training to officers to deal with these
cases?(900776)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department ()
We are absolutely looking at how we can strengthen stalking
protection orders. We will look at our stalking laws in the
round, but also at how policing handles all cases of violence
against women and girls and at the training that will be
needed.
(Burton and Uttoxeter)
(Lab)
T4. After 14 years of Conservative government, we hardly see
police officers on the beat across my constituency. Night
policing cover in Uttoxeter and rural areas is virtually
non-existent. What steps will the Minister take to put more
officers on the beat, and what is the timeline for
that?(900775)
Dame
Again, there is the neighbourhood policing guarantee and,
importantly for my hon. Friend, there will be a named police
officer in the community so people know who to go to when they
need assistance. That work is happening now and we are keen to
see the first officers in place in the next few months.
(Mid Bedfordshire)
(Con)
T6. In Rural Crime Action Week, does the Secretary of State agree
that in Bedfordshire, where we have major urban areas such as
Bedford and Luton bordered by rural communities, it is important
that the funding formula be reviewed so that equal attention can
be paid to tackling crime in our rural villages and
towns?(900777)
I gently remind the hon. Member that his party's Government
failed to review the funding formula for very many years.
However, he is right that the issues of rural and urban areas are
immensely important, which is why we have committed to a rural
crime action plan.
(Ipswich) (Lab/Co-op)
T8. I agree with the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (). Despite the previous
Government's promises to reform funding settlements, as usual
they failed to deliver. Does the Secretary of State agree that we
must review the current situation, reform the police funding
formula and finally deliver fairer funding for local
people?(900779)
Dame
As part of the spending review, we want to consider police
funding in the round, including how police funding is allocated
to forces. The sector, including the Association of Police and
Crime Commissioners and the National Police Chiefs' Council, is
engaged in the process.
Mr (Basildon and Billericay)
(Con)
T7. The Home Secretary is benefiting from some of the measures on
legal routes for migration brought in by my right hon. Friend the
Member for Braintree (Mr Cleverly) when he was in government,
which have caused the number of people able to come to the UK to
halve. What further measures has she taken to ensure that legal
migration is cut further?(900778)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department ()
The Government are committed to bringing down legal migration. We
will do so by making sure that British workers are upskilled in
key sectors, with new requirements for employers to address
skills shortages, and by introducing new training and workforce
plans so that overseas recruitment does not remain the default
for filling skills shortages in the UK.
Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)
T9. I have listened in absolute amazement to the outrage from
Opposition Members about the careful consideration of security
for Taylor Swift's concerts in London, a week after her Vienna
tour was cancelled due to a terror plot. Does the Home Secretary
think that is cynical opportunism from Conservative Members, or
have they lost all sense of reason?(900780)
I think it is a matter for us all to take the security of people
immensely seriously, and to ensure that terrorist, extremist and
criminal threats do not win in their attempt to pose threats not
just to life, but to our way of life.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.
Dame (Staffordshire Moorlands)
(Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the House for putting its
confidence in me to chair the Home Affairs Committee. I look
forward to working constructively with the Department on home
affairs matters. In that vein, may I welcome the news that the
Government will recruit 200 new personnel to process modern
slavery claims? Can the Secretary of State confirm whether those
personnel are new head count, how long the training will take,
and whether she is confident that the head count will survive the
forthcoming Budget and spending review?
I congratulate the right hon. Lady on her new position. It is a
great job, and I look forward to giving evidence to her as she
did to me—we will see what price I have to pay as the roles are
reversed. She asks an important point about modern slavery
numbers. We are recruiting additional members of staff, and I
will happily provide her with more information about that crucial
policy area.
Mr (South Ribble) (Lab)
T10. Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 imposes unnecessary
obligations on the police, and requires them to redact personal
data for information transferred to the Crown Prosecution
Service. Those obligations delay and obstruct the swift progress
of the criminal justice system. The Police Federation of England
and Wales has proposed a new clause that, if introduced, would
facilitate the free flow of personal data between the police and
the CPS. Will Ministers urgently look at reforming that
unnecessary red tape to allow more police time on the streets in
my constituency of South Ribble?(900781)
Dame
That is an important point, and we are actively exploring all
ways that we can improve guidance around redaction, streamline
current processes, make better use of technology, and ultimately
reduce unnecessary burdens on the police and prosecutors, so that
they can get on with their primary task of keeping the public
safe and putting away criminals.
(West Suffolk) (Con)
The Home Secretary told the House that by ending the
retrospective element of the duty to remove she was saving £7
billion in 10 years. The impact assessment assumes that all those
subject to the duty would have remained in Britain at a cost to
the Home Office, but in his letter to me her permanent secretary
said that the sum included the cost of sending the same migrants
to Rwanda. I wrote to the Home Secretary about that on 1
September and I have raised it with the Minister for Immigration
in Westminster Hall, but I have not had an answer. Can she
explain that double counting, and if she cannot, will she
apologise for using that statistic in the House of Commons?
As the hon. Gentleman will know, the impact assessment is
provided by the Home Office, and what we inherited from the
previous Government was not simply the incredibly costly Rwanda
programme, but also the retrospective element of the Illegal
Migration Act 2023, which was so damaging that the shadow Home
Secretary, when he was in the job, did not implement many of the
measures. That retrospective element has cost the Home Office
hundreds of millions of pounds, and those costs would go forward
into the future.
(Macclesfield) (Lab)
We want to support genuine refugees, but will the Home Secretary
provide an update on the progress on returns and deportations of
illegal migrants, and say how the new command arrangements
improve on the arrangements of the previous Government?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. To tackle the chaos in
the asylum system the rules need to be properly respected and
enforced. That is why we have increased by more than 20% the
enforced returns over the summer of those who have no right to be
here. We have also increased the number of charter flights,
including the biggest ever charter flight return.
(North Cornwall) (LD)
Given that the turnout for the Devon and Cornwall police and
crime commissioner election in May was just 18%, will the
Minister look to scrap that role and instead invest that money in
proper community policing in rural constituencies such as mine of
North Cornwall?
Dame
The Government have no plans to scrap the role of police and
crime commissioner. We think it is a valuable role that can
enable the missions that this Government have set out to be
enacted locally, including the safer streets mission. We need to
work with the PCCs to make sure that mission happens in the
different force areas around the country. PCCs also have a role
to play with their other partners, local authorities and the
voluntary sector.
Dr (Penistone and Stocksbridge)
(Lab)
Noisy off-road bikes speed around neighbourhoods such as
Chapeltown in my constituency, deliberately disturbing and
intimidating residents. Will the Home Secretary commit to
properly tackling off-road bikes by giving the police the right
powers to crack down on this issue?
My hon. Friend makes an important point, and I thank her for
standing up for her community. We want to strengthen the law to
give the police more powers to tackle the nightmare of dangerous
off-road bikes.
Sir (Goole and Pocklington)
(Con)
When last year the now Home Secretary called on the then
Conservative Government to use counter-terror legislation to
proscribe organisations such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps, she will remember that I supported her publicly. Since
then, Iran and the IRGC have got even more dangerous. Has she
changed her mind, and if so, why?
The Minister for Security ()
I have huge respect for the right hon. Gentleman, but I gently
point out that he is asking the Government to do something that
the previous Government did not do in 14 years. I can say to him
that we are leading work on countering Iranian state threats,
making use of the full breadth and expertise of our intelligence
services and law enforcement agencies. We keep the list of
proscribed organisations under very close review. I can assure
him that work continues apace to identify further ways to tackle
the threat.
(High Peak) (Lab)
UK universities have experienced a fivefold increase in
antisemitic incidents since the 7 October terrorist attacks. At a
recent meeting of the Union of Jewish Students, I heard
distressing examples of the Iranian regime organising on our
campuses and stirring up hatred against Jewish students. Can the
Minister tell the House what steps the Department is taking to
deal with the threat posed by Tehran here on British soil?
We have been clear that the behaviour of the Iranian regime,
including the actions of the IRGC, poses a threat to the safety
and security of the UK and our allies. The Government continually
assess threats to the UK and take the protection of individuals'
rights, freedoms and safety incredibly seriously, wherever those
threats may originate.
(Tunbridge Wells) (LD)
In 2023, the Home Office commissioned the Fairfield review into
the Independent Office for Police Conduct. It deemed the delays
in the IOPC as “unacceptable”. Indeed, one of my constituents has
been waiting a year after the death of her daughter to have a
case officer assigned. Does the Home Secretary agree with the
review, and will she comment on when she will implement its 93
recommendations?
I have met the IOPC chair to talk through the issues facing that
body. The hon. Gentleman is right that we need to speed up the
decision-making process. He will also recognise that there are
considerable challenges in the system that we have inherited.
(Chipping Barnet) (Lab)
I thank you, Mr Speaker, for making time for Back Benchers in the
questions today. I rise to raise the issue of car theft in my
constituency. Many hundreds of residents have had their cars
stolen, and the police do not have the capacity to follow up.
Next year, I am hosting a car theft summit in Chipping Barnet,
and I invite the Minister to attend with me.
Dame
I would be delighted to.
(Angus and Perthshire Glens)
(SNP)
After a bungled fraud investigation by Renault Crédit
International, it, together with Renault-Nissan UK Ltd moved to
seize the assets of a business in my constituency, Mackie Motors
Brechin Ltd. This cost my constituent half a million pounds and
25% of his order book value. Will the Secretary of State meet me
to discuss the finer points of this clearly very dubious act by a
UK bank?
I am concerned to hear about the case that the hon. Gentleman
raises, and I would be happy to meet him to discuss it
further.
(Norwich South) (Lab)
I put on record my gratitude to the Home Secretary and her team
for releasing the Home Office commissioned report, “The
Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal”, which concluded that
30 years of racist immigration legislation caused the Windrush
scandal. Those now on the Opposition Benches spent three years
trying to suppress that report. Will the Home Secretary meet me,
other MPs and civil society representatives to discuss its
recommendations?
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue. It was a shocking
report, and one that the previous Government refused to publish.
I would be very happy to meet him and other hon. Members to
discuss it.
(Boston and Skegness)
(Reform)
Does the Home Secretary share my deep concerns about two-tier
justice, given that some people who say some bad, stupid things
on social media can be arrested, charged and jailed within a
matter of weeks, but some people who brutally and violently
assault police officers have not even been charged many months
later?
The hon. Member will know that in this country we have
operational independence for the police, and independence for the
Crown Prosecution Service and the courts. I strongly support
police officers, who have faced cases of the most disgraceful
violence and attacks. It is important that we support our police
in the face of those attacks and ensure that they have the whole
community behind them.
(Livingston) (Lab)
The Home Secretary may be aware of the data that the Internet
Watch Foundation released last week on the increasing amount of
AI-generated child sexual abuse content available to everyone on
the internet, finding that it has increased in the last six
months alone. That is clearly illegal, so what are the UK
Government doing to stamp down on that horrific crime?
Let me make it clear that the new Government intend very swiftly
to set up new taskforces to ensure that across Departments—in
this case, with our counterparts in the Department for Science,
Innovation and Technology—we do everything we can to end the
scourge of online child abuse, and child abuse not online.
Mr Speaker
I call Jim Shannon—or are you not standing?
(Strangford) (DUP)
I am always standing, Mr Speaker. What efforts have been taken in
schools to show the opportunities available in the police force,
to enhance career opportunities for young people?
Mr Speaker
I'll be watching you!
Dr Johnson
It is always a pleasure to answer the hon. Gentleman. That work
will be ongoing. We want to recruit from the widest possible
groups in our communities, and to encourage young people to think
about a career in policing.
