Topical Questions

Question

As the Secretary of State knows, our independent rape gang inquiry hearings are ongoing just a short walk from this Chamber. Last week I sat opposite one woman who was raped by between 600 and 700 men. She estimated that 98% were Pakistani Muslims. The evidence we are collecting is brutal. We have been told again and again of attempts to traffic raped and abused women overseas to Pakistan and elsewhere; thankfully, those attempts failed, but how many did not? Will the Secretary of State agree to urgently review cases of missing girls in target areas and launch a full state investigation into reports of such trafficking?

Question

I respect everyone's democratic right to protest within the law. In Bournemouth, Dorset police is being forced to spend around £100,000 policing protests at the three asylum hotels, which were opened by the Conservatives at eye-watering expense. Often protests have to be managed by neighbourhood policing teams that we, as a Labour Government, are rebuilding. That means that police are spending their time policing protests rather than out on the beat in their neighbourhoods. When will Bournemouth's asylum hotels begin to close, not just because they are bad for the people living in and around them, but because of the huge cost to our local police force and the abstractions to our neighbourhood policing teams?

Question

Deng Majek from Sudan is an illegal small boat migrant who was sentenced last week to 29 years in prison for the brutal murder of Rhiannon Whyte. He stabbed Rhiannon 23 times as she desperately tried to defend herself. Given timing of Majek's arrival, in the summer of 2024, he would have been eligible for deportation to Rwanda, but Labour cancelled the Rwanda plan and instead accommodated this illegal immigrant in a hotel at taxpayers' expense. Does the Home Secretary now accept that it was a huge mistake to cancel, just before it started, the Rwanda plan, which would have seen Majek deported, thereby preventing Rhiannon's murder?

Question

The Rwanda scheme never started because this Government cancelled it. The Home Secretary talks about gimmicks. Her Government's gimmicks have failed, and that is why cross-channel migration is up 42% since the general election.<br/>I am afraid that this is not an isolated case. Hundreds of crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants, including a 30-year-old woman raped on a Brighton beach, a 15-year-old girl raped in Leamington Spa by two Afghan small boat migrants, and a girl aged just 12 strangled and raped by two illegal immigrants in Nuneaton. Does the Home Secretary agree that this cannot go on, that only radical action will fix it and that, just as the Father of the House said earlier, we need to leave the European convention on human rights and deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival, because then the crossings will stop?

Question

City centre safety is a top concern of residents in Newport East, so I was pleased to hear from Gwent police last Friday that crime is coming down thanks to extra measures and resources. I also draw the Minister's attention to Gwent police's new Project Vigilant scheme, which uses undercover officers to protect women and girls in the night-time economy. Alongside that, what more are the Government doing to make our city centres safer?

Question

In recent weeks, those warning that a rapid dip in net migration could harm public services and the economy span left and right, including commentators such as Fraser Nelson. It is no secret that the Government are struggling to deliver growth after their two damaging Budgets and stubborn refusal to join a customs union with the EU. Is the Home Secretary totally certain that her plans on immigration will not further harm the economy and public services like our precious NHS?

Question

In Aldershot and Farnborough, we have a brilliant police team, but recruitment of officers is difficult because of the pay difference along the Hampshire-Surrey border. Officers can earn more by working just a few miles away, leaving our local police team understaffed and overstretched. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to address those recruitment challenges, to ensure that we have bobbies on the beat in every community?

Question

Girls were raped and abused by grooming gangs in Scotland just as they were in England and Wales, yet girls in Scotland are excluded from the grooming gangs inquiry. Girls, no matter where they are in the UK, must get justice, and rapists, no matter where they are in the UK, must face the consequences. In response to an earlier question, the Minister said of perpetrators of violence against women and girls that she does not care who they are or where they come from. Will she please now do the right thing and also include Scottish victims in her inquiry?

Question

Will the Security Minister give us an update on the work of the defending democracy taskforce to tackle the level of disinformation on social media and in our democracy?

Question

Over the last two and a half years, our Jewish population have had to put up with hate marches starting outside synagogues. Jewish businesses have suffered hate demonstrations outside. Now shops that store kosher goods have been targeted by demonstrators. What action can the Home Secretary take to make sure that our Jewish population are protected and these evil perpetrators are brought to justice?

Question

What action is my right hon. Friend taking to disrupt the finances of the organised crime groups facilitating illegal migration to the United Kingdom, and what steps is her Department taking with international partners to prosecute those who are funding those operations, both domestically and internationally?

Question

I was at the Westminster Hall petition debate on indefinite leave to remain where some 60 Labour MPs turned up and unanimously rubbished and disparaged the Home Secretary's proposals, leading me to believe they are highly unlikely to support them. Can she guarantee that any changes to ILR will be brought to this House for debate and a vote?

Question

My constituents deserve to feel safe in their town centre. With crime falling by 15% due to our police force's efforts under Helen Wilson's leadership, what more can we do to ensure that our town centres remain safe?

Question

The volunteers at the front desk and I have had no response from the Mayor of London regarding the closure. Will the Minister intervene to ensure that we get a proper response and that my constituents' concerns are heard?

Question

The year 6 children at St James primary school are campaigning for bleed control kits. Can you assure me and all my constituents that this Government are doing everything possible to tackle knife crime?

Question

How will the new licence to practice differ from existing regulations, ethics codes, and training programmes?

Question

Can the Home Secretary disclose how many ISIS-linked individuals have been repatriated to the UK and if they were held in custody?

Question

Can the Minister support my call for appointing a dedicated Minister for tackling knife crime?

Question

How will we ensure better and more visible community policing in North Shropshire despite budget cuts?