The Minister did not provide specific details on how the power will be applied in scenarios involving legitimate safety concerns.

The Minister did not provide details on specific guidance for enforcement but acknowledged the challenge posed by enforcing the ban at large protests.

The Minister did not specify when the Government will bring forward an updated counter-extremism strategy or provide a clear timeframe for defining hateful extremism.

Responds by explaining that guidelines will cover legitimate reasons for face coverings; clarifies ban on pyrotechnics applies only to those participating in protests; emphasises importance of protecting war memorials; states work is ongoing to define extremism with cross-Government involvement.

Thanks Peter Bottomley for support; reiterates importance of co-operation between protesters and police for public protection.

Responds by criticising SNP's stance as divisive; emphasises the need for safeguarding public order against extremist actions.

My hon. Friend is correct; police chiefs have requested these powers, and we are in discussions with them about their implementation. We condemn the level of antisemitism seen recently as vile and unacceptable.

We recognise the significant pressure on policing from these protests and have been supporting police forces as necessary, especially where there has been an uplift in numbers. However, resources will be managed carefully not to detract from neighbourhood policing.

I agree that antisemitic incidents are unacceptable, causing fear among Jewish communities. Since October protests began, over 600 arrests have been made, including 30 related to terrorism laws.

While recognising the need for such measures, the context in Strangford may differ from protests elsewhere.

My hon. Friend raises an interesting point; however, these punishments are proportionate to the offences and other charges may also apply.

There will be limited, minor amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill for scrutiny on Report.

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point and if I may, I will build on it in combination with an earlier point. There are many people who served our country in various different ways over two world wars and in conflicts since then, whose memorials are either lost and known only unto God or are many thousands of miles away from their families. Families who have come to share our lives in the United Kingdom may have left behind them the graves of family members who served in those conflicts. I am thinking in particular of the 140,000 or so Muslim servicemen who served and lost their lives in the last two wars, of the many Jewish ex-servicemen who march as well, and of many others from around the world—from Africa, South America and Asia—who served in the pursuit of liberty and the defence of freedom in our country. This is their home now; those memorials remember their relatives and loved ones, and it is absolutely right that, for all communities in this country, we defend those moments of national memorial and the altars to liberty that they represent.

These are police powers, so the enforcement or application of them is operationally independent and down to the discretion of officers and chief constables as appropriate. That is how policing traditionally works. We do not have a national police force through which we can order police officers to arrest or not arrest individuals. We allow individual police officers to apply the law according to the guidelines that chief constables set out, and that is exactly what will happen in this circumstance.