Topical Questions

Answer from Priti Patel

Last Friday, we saw the senseless murder of police sergeant Matt Ratana while he was on duty in Croydon. His tragic death is a reminder of the risks that officers face every day to keep us safe. The House joins me in paying tribute to his courage and sending condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. A murder investigation is under way, and I remain in regular contact with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. I will continue to support them, including by doubling sentences for attacks on emergency workers and legislating a police covenant.

Answer from Priti Patel

The hon. Gentleman has heard our commitment to protecting those seeking asylum through proper phased interviews. The Government pursue individuals who facilitate criminality and are looking at new safe legal routes for protection.

Answer from Priti Patel

The hon. Friend is right about the need for safe and legal routes while pursuing those facilitating criminality. The Government work on new routes for protection of those in need.

Answer from Priti Patel

The Government work on legislation for more police powers, collaborating with intelligence agencies to tackle firearms entering the country. This includes intercepting criminals and component parts of weapons.

Answer from Priti Patel

The Government address serious violence through the National Policing Board. Funding is going directly to policing, and the Serious Violence Reduction Taskforce operates actively.

Answer from Priti Patel

The hon. Lady's question is welcomed, and I will commit to a meeting regarding her report on tackling demand from sex buyers driving exploitation.

Answer from Priti Patel

I met Sara Khan last week and had a very constructive discussion with her about ways of working—not just the work of the taskforce but the entire field of counter-extremism, the work that is associated, and the lessons to be learned from the past. Obviously we are using the expertise of the Committee itself to look at learnings and how we can address the threat spectrum across the board. We have many experienced practitioners in this field and I am working with Sara Khan and others to develop learnings and look at the approach that we are going to take.

Answer from Priti Patel

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I pay tribute to Thames Valley police. It is an exceptional and outstanding police force, and I know his community is served well by it. He has heard my remarks on the police covenant, and it is absolutely right that we do much more to protect our frontline officers and their family members and provide the welfare support that they all need as well. I absolutely concur with all Members of the House in recognising that Friday's murder highlights why we need to put that into law.

Answer from Priti Patel

I ask the hon. Member to contact me directly with the background and history of this particular case, and I will look into it.

Answer from Priti Patel

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I pay tribute to his police force in particular and his police chief for the outstanding work they do. I know that rural crime was mentioned earlier, but when it comes to tackling nuisance driving and, frankly, the wrong kind of driving—speeding and all those types of issues, including on mopeds and scooters—we need to ensure that people can go about their daily lives. We are already providing more funding for more police activity through police uplift, and the police have powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Police Reform Act 2002 to seize vehicles that are being driven illegally.

Answer from Priti Patel

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. She has highlighted the gross severity of what is taking place, not just with economic crime, but with how our financial systems are associated with the facilitation of dirty money. Of course, we as a country do not want to be associated with that, and much more needs to happen. The FinCEN example was a very strong indication as to where there have been gaps in the system, and extensive work is taking place right now. I would be more than happy for her to discuss with officials more of the work being undertaken in this area, because there are far too many sources of illegal economic finance and perpetrators of economic crime. There is no doubt that, through our international financial system, we can all do a lot more.

Answer from Priti Patel

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is right to point out a number of key facts. Assaults on police officers are thoroughly unacceptable, and I am afraid that this weekend alone we saw a range of assaults on officers serving in the Metropolitan police when they were policing protests. Those were ugly and unacceptable scenes, and there is simply no excuse for assaults. The other point to make is that we are in a national emergency—we are still in a health pandemic—and the police are working valiantly to attempt to stop the spread of the virus. The public are acting brilliantly by being conscientious, undertaking the measures and safeguarding in the right kind of way. It is right that we all play our own role, but to turn our fire on the police is completely wrong. It is inappropriate at every level, and the public, not just when it comes to protest but in their conduct in respect of coronavirus, must be conscientious and respect the police in every way.