Topical Questions

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)

I have one job, and it is to secure our borders. I will do whatever it takes, but what I will never do is take the approach of the previous Government, who were led by gimmicks and false promises that were never met.

Answer from The Minister for Policing and Crime (Sarah Jones)

This year, £200 million has been made available to forces to kick-start the delivery of 13,000 more neighbourhood officers across England and Wales. I would be very happy to talk to my hon. Friend about the issues that he is facing. We must tackle antisocial behaviour.

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)

I will take no lessons from anyone sitting on the Conservative Benches. Their Government utterly failed on both legal and illegal migration. This Government, and this Home Secretary, will clean up their mess.

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)

On the subject of brass neck, I will have to buy the shadow Home Secretary a mirror, so that he can stare at one. This Government have got removals up to 35,000, got asylum decisions moving again, and struck an historic agreement with France.

Answer from The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the question, because the targeted intimidation and harassment of elected representatives is completely unacceptable. The defending democracy taskforce works to ensure the safety and security of all electoral processes and democratic institutions, and to strengthen democratic society.

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)

There is both a legal question here and a political question. On the legal question, in all cases, including the one that the hon. Lady raises, it is for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to decide independently whether the law has been broken and charges should be brought.

Answer from The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and the APPG for their work. The Government are absolutely committed to tackling high street money laundering... We have strengthened the powers under the Economic, Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, and have funded 475 new roles under the anti-money laundering and asset recovery programme.

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)

This weekend, well over 100,000 protesters marched in London. Many were exercising the ancient right to peaceful protest, but not everyone did... Those violent thugs will face the full force of the law.

Answer from The Minister for Border Security and Asylum (Alex Norris)

The hon. Gentleman heard the Home Secretary’s point on the convention, but it is clear that gimmicks such as Rwanda do not work—£700 million for merely four volunteers to go. What works is effective processing, quick decisions and quick removals. That is what we will get under this Government, and it is what we do not get from those who carp from the Opposition Benches.

Answer from Sarah Jones

We offer our sympathy to the family of Harvey, whose death is a heartbreaking tragedy that has devastated the entire community. Our thoughts remain with his family and friends. Of course we recognise that pattern—I have seen it, too, in my constituency. That is why we are creating a child protection authority, as was recommended in a previous inquiry, to provide effective national oversight to ensure that lessons are learned.

Answer from Sarah Jones

That is a concern that many Members in the House share. The Crime and Policing Bill will give the police powers to seize vehicles being used antisocially. I am happy to have a conversation with the hon. Lady about what more we need to do.

Answer from Shabana Mahmood

That definition sought to give context to patterns of behaviour. Let me be clear for the hon. Gentleman and the whole House: there is absolutely no excuse for, or hiding of, the criminality of those who engage in heinous crimes such as those involving rape or grooming gangs. That is why the Government will take forward the Casey recommendations and have that national inquiry. He knows that the Government are working with a working group on a definition of Islamophobia. We have been absolutely clear that we will not pursue any measures that would impinge on our ancient right of freedom of speech.

Answer from Sarah Jones

So far, we have had really good feedback from over 500 town centres that have taken part in the safer streets summer initiative. That initiative finishes at the end of September, so we will have proper analysis then, but it is our priority to ensure that our police have the resources they need all year round.

Answer from Sarah Jones

As we were discussing earlier, targeting shoplifting is an absolute priority for this Government. We have a raft of interventions and we are taking legislative action to protect our retail workers, who have been particularly affected by a massive increase in abuse as well as a rise in crime.

Answer from Alex Norris (The Minister for Border Security and Asylum)

I look forward to working with the right hon. Lady and her Committee in its important work. We have made a significant commitment to the closure of asylum hotels, which is crucial for public confidence. It is a matter of record that we are looking at big sites, including Ministry of Defence sites, but we will of course look very closely at the history in this space to ensure that anything that we do is effective and sustained.

Answer from Shabana Mahmood (The Home Secretary)

The horror of a sexual assault motivated by race or ethnicity is absolutely appalling. I am sure that the whole House will join me in condemning such crimes in the strongest possible terms. On the specifics of the case, it is an ongoing criminal investigation and it is imperative that we allow the justice system to do its work. I urge anyone with any further information about the case to get in touch with West Midlands police as soon as possible. I hope that my hon. Friend and Members across the House will have heard my comments earlier, when I said that this Government will not stand for any incitement to racial hatred or violence. It is imperative and incumbent on all Members of the House to ensure that we all jointly and collectively hold that line.

Answer from Sarah Jones (The Minister for Policing)

Facial recognition is being used in a controlled way for high harm individuals. There is guidance about how it should be used, but I am happy to have a further conversation with the right hon. Gentleman about that, as I am aware that Members from across the House have raised the issue of the framework within which it operates.

Answer from Sarah Jones (The Minister for Policing)

We need to ensure that our police officers are given the best support that they can be given through the Police Federation, which is the vehicle by which they are supported through any incidents they have. I will be working very closely with it to ensure that it is doing the right thing on behalf of its members.

Answer from Sarah Jones (The Minister for Policing)

I am very sorry to hear about the hon. Gentleman’s incident; that must have been absolutely terrifying. We need to ensure that our neighbourhood police are responsive and are there when we need them most, which is why we are targeting the resources we have to ensure that we have neighbourhood policing. The response teams must be there when we need them through any means of getting in touch with them, whether it is on the phone, online or in person, and we need to ensure that they are there.