:00:00. > :00:00.children through its life-savers project how to make sure that they
:00:00. > :00:00.don't get into debt, this is evidence that the church will be
:00:00. > :00:15.supportive of what he has suggested. Urgent question. Will the Minister
:00:16. > :00:24.make a statement on events planned by the group return of King 's?
:00:25. > :00:34.There is a self-styled US pick-up artist, reporting had suggested that
:00:35. > :00:39.they were scheduled to hold nine events across the UK on Saturday. An
:00:40. > :00:44.announcement on the group's website has been publicised in the press,
:00:45. > :00:49.which states that no Return of Kings events will be held on Saturday. The
:00:50. > :00:55.government condemns in the strongest terms anyone who condones rape and
:00:56. > :00:59.sexual violence or suggest that responsible teat. In these crimes
:01:00. > :01:04.rests with the victims. Responsibility always unequivocally
:01:05. > :01:10.rests with the perpetrator of these serious crimes. Any form of violence
:01:11. > :01:16.against women or girls is absolutely unacceptable. The impact of domestic
:01:17. > :01:21.and sexual violence on victims, visit click, psychologically and
:01:22. > :01:24.emotionally, cannot be overstated. The government is working closely
:01:25. > :01:30.with victims and survivors, support services, the police and come and
:01:31. > :01:35.justice to end these crimes. If women or offences have been
:01:36. > :01:37.committed, including incitement of violence against women, the
:01:38. > :01:41.Government would expect local police forces to deal with any offenders
:01:42. > :01:46.appropriately. The Government does not routinely comment on individual
:01:47. > :01:51.cases, but the Home Secretary has powers to exclude an individual who
:01:52. > :01:56.is not a British citizen if she considers their presence in the UK
:01:57. > :02:00.is not conducive to the public good. This Home Secretary has excluded
:02:01. > :02:03.more foreign nationals on the grounds of unacceptable behaviour
:02:04. > :02:17.than any before her. This can and has excluded exclusions over
:02:18. > :02:20.violence against women. -- included. We are pleased that the Return of
:02:21. > :02:26.Kings events appear to have been cancelled, and I look forward to a
:02:27. > :02:29.full discussion, which is due to take place this afternoon. I am sure
:02:30. > :02:36.we will discuss these issues at length. I welcome her response,
:02:37. > :02:42.there has been widespread ridicule but also revulsion at the antics of
:02:43. > :02:46.the group Return of Kings from the respected Police and Crime
:02:47. > :02:49.Commissioner for Northumberland, parliamentary colleagues around the
:02:50. > :02:59.house, the member for Rotherham has written to the Minister, widespread
:03:00. > :03:03.coverage in the media, 63,000 signatures are on the online
:03:04. > :03:07.petition calling for the events to be banned, so I am glad they are not
:03:08. > :03:13.going ahead. That is in no measure due to the government, but we need
:03:14. > :03:18.assurances for the future, as we know that the man has said he could
:03:19. > :03:24.not stop men attending private meetings. Can I ask the Minister,
:03:25. > :03:28.she mentions the Home Secretary can exclude individuals from the UK,
:03:29. > :03:33.what information does the Government hold about the man's plans to travel
:03:34. > :03:38.here in the future? Would he attract a band? Have you considered
:03:39. > :03:46.classifying Return of Kings as a prescribed group? Events were
:03:47. > :03:48.advertised to his followers, which led to plans for
:03:49. > :03:53.counterdemonstrations in a number of UK cities, creating a threat to
:03:54. > :03:59.public order and women's safety. The Minister has said the police have
:04:00. > :04:01.powers to act if they believe that crimes have been committed, does she
:04:02. > :04:06.believe the threshold for incitement to rape or hate crimes has been met?
:04:07. > :04:11.What discussions and guidance have been issued to the police on
:04:12. > :04:14.handling these activities? In relation to the online advertising
:04:15. > :04:22.of the events, which required participants to give the postcode
:04:23. > :04:26.pet shop to be admitted, what discussion has the Government had to
:04:27. > :04:33.take down these offensive posts? These events took place against a
:04:34. > :04:39.backdrop of a 41% increase of rape in the past year, and the loss of
:04:40. > :04:42.much specialist revision. 29% of the cuts to local authorities announced
:04:43. > :04:48.in the 2015 Spending Review could fall on services to support those
:04:49. > :04:54.suffering violence against women, according to the women's budget
:04:55. > :04:57.group, 32 refuges have closed between 2010 and 2014, and many rape
:04:58. > :05:02.crisis centres have told me that they have no guarantee about their
:05:03. > :05:07.funding after next month. Would the Minister assure the house that that
:05:08. > :05:10.funding would be continued from April's of the Minister has
:05:11. > :05:15.mentioned, there will be a debate in Westminster Hall on the role of men
:05:16. > :05:20.in tackling violence against women, that is welcome, I expect it will
:05:21. > :05:24.cuddle -- cover perpetrator programmes and compulsory sex and
:05:25. > :05:29.Russian ship programmes, which we have pressed for the many years. Was
:05:30. > :05:32.she commit to introducing compulsory sex and Russian ship education as
:05:33. > :05:39.part of the curriculum in every school? When will the government
:05:40. > :05:49.ratify and implement the Convention signed in 2012? What is the
:05:50. > :05:52.explanation for the delay? Can I start by joining the honourable lady
:05:53. > :05:57.in agreeing that the comments from this individual and the proposals by
:05:58. > :06:02.this group are absolutely propulsive, and everybody in this
:06:03. > :06:09.house would join her and me in condemning what they have said. This
:06:10. > :06:12.has no place in reddish society. The Government is taking all steps we
:06:13. > :06:15.can to deal with these matters, I would be happy to write to her on
:06:16. > :06:21.the specifics of what the government can do, because I cannot comment on
:06:22. > :06:24.individual cases, and much of what she has asked about its operational
:06:25. > :06:30.matters for local police, and I would be happy to write about what
:06:31. > :06:36.local police can do and what they are able to do in terms of stopping
:06:37. > :06:40.these activities. But it would not be appropriate for me to go into
:06:41. > :06:45.detail here. She has talked about ridicule. I share with her a view
:06:46. > :06:53.that we should ridicule, we should show contempt and show that these
:06:54. > :06:56.are the most ridiculous views. She mentioned Vera Baird, I agree, we
:06:57. > :07:01.should make a point of ridiculing and showing that if we can see that
:07:02. > :07:07.these are ludicrous comments, people will see that they do not want to be
:07:08. > :07:13.part of this. She asked about Internet providers. We do talk with
:07:14. > :07:17.Internet providers on the topic of many subjects, indecent images of
:07:18. > :07:21.children, the topics of children having access to pornographic
:07:22. > :07:26.material, and inappropriate material. I would be taking this
:07:27. > :07:35.point up with the Internet providers when I next see them next month. She
:07:36. > :07:41.asked about the Istanbul convention. We have an issue on Article 44, and
:07:42. > :07:45.extraterritoriality matter, we are discussing it with the devolved
:07:46. > :07:49.administrations. I am not going to ratify the treaty -- Convention
:07:50. > :07:56.until I am certain we comply with all measures in the convention. We
:07:57. > :07:59.comply with everything else, but I want to make sure we deal with that
:08:00. > :08:04.point before we do the ratification. She talked about the debate this
:08:05. > :08:10.afternoon, I want to pay tribute to the White ribbon campaign, which has
:08:11. > :08:16.been instrumental in making clear that men do not want to see violence
:08:17. > :08:19.against women and girls. If I could take her up on a point about the 41%
:08:20. > :08:25.increase in rates, that is in reported rape. We welcome that. It
:08:26. > :08:30.shows that victims have the confidence to come forward and our
:08:31. > :08:34.reporting. If they report those crimes, we can then get convictions,
:08:35. > :08:39.which are at the highest level they have ever been. The crime survey
:08:40. > :08:45.shows that the level of this crime is not going up. I welcome that, we
:08:46. > :08:52.want to see more reporting, I hope she would join me in welcoming that
:08:53. > :09:00.increase in reporting. I welcome the government's commitment to raising
:09:01. > :09:04.awareness of sexual and relationship abuse through its campaign. Would
:09:05. > :09:10.she agreed that more emphasis needs to be put on controlling behaviour
:09:11. > :09:19.and emotional abuse, which often goes unreported? I thank her for
:09:20. > :09:22.that question. This campaign has been extremely successful, I am
:09:23. > :09:28.pleased the Government and announced that we are continuing with that. It
:09:29. > :09:35.is so important that young people understand what is appropriate,
:09:36. > :09:40.understand what a normal loving relationship is, as opposed to an
:09:41. > :09:44.abusive one. She will also note that in December a new offence of
:09:45. > :09:51.domestic abuse, coercive control, commenced. This new offence, which
:09:52. > :09:55.has been called for for many years, is difficult, that is why we made
:09:56. > :09:58.sure we got it right, but we now have the ability to prosecute and
:09:59. > :10:04.conflict poser offenders who never commit physical violence against
:10:05. > :10:10.their victims, but do abuse their victims for far too long.
:10:11. > :10:16.I'd like to thank the Minister for her comments and to share her
:10:17. > :10:22.condemnation of rape and violence in any form and particularly any
:10:23. > :10:25.attempt to blame the victims. I wholeheartedly agree that the
:10:26. > :10:28.responsibility must always remain with the perpetrator. We in the
:10:29. > :10:33.Scottish National party are also pleased that these events have been
:10:34. > :10:39.cancelled. The anti-women agenda behind them is reported. In
:10:40. > :10:43.Scotland, our petition against these events have attracted around 40,000
:10:44. > :10:49.signatures and members may also be aware that members of the SNP
:10:50. > :10:51.sponsored an early day motion condemning these sexist and
:10:52. > :10:57.hate-mongering meetings and the misogyny behind them. In Scotland,
:10:58. > :11:01.Police Scotland have been working closely with anti-violence against
:11:02. > :11:06.women organisations and put out a strongly worded statement about the
:11:07. > :11:12.policing of these events were they to take place. It is obviously
:11:13. > :11:15.absolutely paramount, I'm sure the Minister agrees, that women are able
:11:16. > :11:20.to go about their daily life without being subjected to this kind of
:11:21. > :11:23.intimidation. The Scottish Government and Police Scotland have
:11:24. > :11:29.worked hard on the investigation of sex crimes in Scotland. The Minister
:11:30. > :11:33.will be aware that in 2008, the Scottish Crown Office setup a
:11:34. > :11:38.special crime unit, of which I was proud to be one of the founding
:11:39. > :11:43.prosecutors, and our conviction rates for rape and violence have
:11:44. > :11:48.increased but we are still working very hard because these are
:11:49. > :11:52.difficult crimes to persecute. I would like to associate myself with
:11:53. > :11:55.the questions raised by the honourable member. That and thank
:11:56. > :12:01.her for raising these important questions. We do in the SNP would
:12:02. > :12:06.like to see the Istanbul convention ratified as soon as possible and I'm
:12:07. > :12:17.sure the Minister can reassure me that she continues to look at that.
:12:18. > :12:22.She also reassure me, if the Home Secretary becomes aware of plans for
:12:23. > :12:29.this gentleman, and I use the word loosely, to enter this country, will
:12:30. > :12:40.she make us aware of that and liaise with other parties on this? I thank
:12:41. > :12:48.the honourable lady that -- for her comments and assure her that we will
:12:49. > :12:54.take all steps that we possibly can and what we will do. I will copy you
:12:55. > :13:08.into my letter for the number. Fit. We will try to ratify this as soon
:13:09. > :13:12.as possible. I want to pay tribute to all resources across the United
:13:13. > :13:17.Kingdom these kind of criminals to wreck -- do not recognise borders
:13:18. > :13:23.and police forces need to work together to make sure that we tackle
:13:24. > :13:26.these crimes. These crimes are not acceptable in the United Kingdom and
:13:27. > :13:31.I mean the whole of the United Kingdom. Mr Speaker, I support
:13:32. > :13:37.strongly what the opposition spokesman had to say from the front
:13:38. > :13:44.bench. Our cherished liberty of free speech is something which we defend
:13:45. > :13:49.to our -- to its utmost, but with this freedom must come
:13:50. > :13:52.responsibility. Can I say to the Minister, I am pretty certain that
:13:53. > :13:56.on this side of the House, everybody would welcome a proactive engagement
:13:57. > :14:01.from the Home Secretary and head apartment to not only exclude this
:14:02. > :14:11.man, who is frankly an embarrassment to all men, but also to prescribe
:14:12. > :14:16.his organisation as well. I want to reassure my honourable friend that
:14:17. > :14:18.he will struggle to find a more proactive Home Secretary. This Home
:14:19. > :14:25.Secretary has excluded more people and has done more to stand up
:14:26. > :14:28.against violence towards women and girls than any Home Secretary in
:14:29. > :14:35.history and I am proud to serve in her department. This planned meeting
:14:36. > :14:45.may well just have been a public that is done by an attention seeker
:14:46. > :14:52.so insecure in himself that he goes to this length to increase the size
:14:53. > :15:06.of his following. I am among the many outraged and afraid at the idea
:15:07. > :15:11.of these meetings, so can she tell everyone that anyone who is planning
:15:12. > :15:20.on meeting to condone rape will be treated in the same way as anyone
:15:21. > :15:24.who was meeting to plan murder. I can absolutely sure how that would
:15:25. > :15:29.be the case because this is a criminal offence and I will also
:15:30. > :15:38.agree with her statements that perhaps he needs boosting in certain
:15:39. > :15:46.ways. I will say no more. Can we be robust on who is allowed into the
:15:47. > :15:51.country and he isn't. Rather than relying on individual police forces,
:15:52. > :15:56.if Her Majesty's Government is aware that an individual is looking to
:15:57. > :16:00.incite violence in this country, shouldn't the Government make sure
:16:01. > :16:03.these people are excluded from our country so that we don't have to put
:16:04. > :16:09.extra peak -- extra pressure on our police force who have too much to do
:16:10. > :16:14.already? My honourable friend well understand I cannot comment on
:16:15. > :16:19.individual cases but I agree with him that it is better to exclude
:16:20. > :16:22.them to deal with when they are here and this Home Secretary has excluded
:16:23. > :16:31.more foreign national offenders and foreign nationals than any other. I
:16:32. > :16:36.can see no possible benefit to this individual being allowed into the UK
:16:37. > :16:40.now all in the future, so can I add my voice to those members who say
:16:41. > :16:44.that there is an understanding -- that whilst understanding that
:16:45. > :16:50.individual cases cannot be discussed, that hopefully she will
:16:51. > :17:01.be able to discover that theme by saying this person is excluded for
:17:02. > :17:04.life from the UK. I am sure the honourable gentleman's comments well
:17:05. > :17:08.have been heard and can I also point out that the police minister has
:17:09. > :17:15.heard the comments as he is sitting next to me. Whilst sharing the
:17:16. > :17:21.revulsion of this group's views and the need to exclude them from the
:17:22. > :17:29.UK, there is a substantial amount of evidence that indicates that they
:17:30. > :17:35.have no intention to meet up, and instead are doing this only to seek
:17:36. > :17:42.free publicity. Has the Minister seen any evidence to indicate that
:17:43. > :17:49.there was a plan to hold any of these events in the UK? I have as
:17:50. > :17:59.much information as the gentleman -- the honourable gentleman with
:18:00. > :18:01.regards to whether or not they were actually to be held and I repeat
:18:02. > :18:10.again that we should treat this group with ridicule. IT welcome the
:18:11. > :18:16.public revulsion which has -- eyed to welcome the public revulsion
:18:17. > :18:28.which has led to the cancellation of these events. What will be Minister
:18:29. > :18:34.do about the buyer lengths and criminality online? I can assure the
:18:35. > :18:38.honourable member that it does not matter where it happens if something
:18:39. > :18:45.is a criminal offence. It is a criminal offence online as well. Can
:18:46. > :18:51.I ask the minister if she would have a view of the weighting of the
:18:52. > :18:58.community impact of when the police decide to intervene. It can be quite
:18:59. > :19:01.a black and white decision that the police take, rather than looking at
:19:02. > :19:10.the wider impact on the community involved. My honourable friend makes
:19:11. > :19:22.a very good point and I can assure him we will look at those points.
:19:23. > :19:27.This isn't the first time and it won't be the last that a campaign of
:19:28. > :19:30.violence and aggression has been orchestrated by the Internet.
:19:31. > :19:33.Although we hear words by the Government every time there is an
:19:34. > :19:37.incident, nothing ever seems to happen. Can I press the Minister,
:19:38. > :19:42.what action will be Government take over the use with which these vile
:19:43. > :19:48.messages can be distributed over the Internet? I can assure the
:19:49. > :19:52.honourable lady that this is a criminal offence, to make these
:19:53. > :19:56.comments, and we do not take it lightly. We work hard and that
:19:57. > :20:00.length with the Internet service providers, who have a responsibility
:20:01. > :20:10.to make sure that these messages are not distributed. It has to be said
:20:11. > :20:23.that this particular individual and his arrogance is only met by his
:20:24. > :20:26.ignorance, so it must be key that we ensure there are positive role
:20:27. > :20:34.models out there for young men. The key mistake this man made was to
:20:35. > :20:43.think any man would want to attend a meeting that was so vile. I agree
:20:44. > :20:52.with my friend. On the very day that we are talking about the positive
:20:53. > :20:59.role men can play in preventing violence, does the Minister agree
:21:00. > :21:04.with me that this is just distracting from the positive role
:21:05. > :21:09.men can play in ending misogyny. The honourable gentleman makes a very
:21:10. > :21:13.good point. I am looking forward to debating that this afternoon. Men
:21:14. > :21:20.have a very important role to play and the vast, vast majority do so.
:21:21. > :21:24.Do you agree that this is symptomatic of a much bigger trend
:21:25. > :21:30.towards misogyny that we are seeing in all sorts of media, including
:21:31. > :21:37.twitter, that we are seeing internationally, and I wonder what
:21:38. > :21:47.is being done to approach this with a zero tolerance approach? The
:21:48. > :21:49.honourable gentleman leads me into the possibility of an answer that
:21:50. > :21:53.could last for many days as we look into what can be done
:21:54. > :21:58.internationally to promote women and women's rights, for example the
:21:59. > :22:06.action being taken to tackle the now genital mutilation, the action on
:22:07. > :22:12.forced marriage, but all people have the right to live equally and these
:22:13. > :22:19.views are not acceptable. It seems there is some ridiculous irony that
:22:20. > :22:25.these events have been cancelled for the safety of his supporters given
:22:26. > :22:28.the nature of the events. I join everybody in condemnation of this
:22:29. > :22:32.sick individual. I would like to pay tribute to the group 's across the
:22:33. > :22:38.country, particularly in Glasgow, who have helped to force the
:22:39. > :22:45.cancellation of these events, and also pay to beat to the police who
:22:46. > :22:53.have been working with these campaigners to ensure their safety
:22:54. > :22:56.at the event. I support the unequivocal statement that went out
:22:57. > :23:03.that said sex without consent is rape. I agree with the lady and pay
:23:04. > :23:07.tribute to Police Scotland and police forces across the country who
:23:08. > :23:12.work to deal with these crimes and ensure that method is heard. I agree
:23:13. > :23:23.with the Minister that most men will not support these file, anti-women,
:23:24. > :23:27.misogynistic, pro-rape views and I am sure that members on both sides
:23:28. > :23:33.of the House will unequivocally support the Home Secretary to make
:23:34. > :23:38.sure that Roosh V never makes -- that's that British soil. What more
:23:39. > :23:42.is the British Government doing to make sure that the small number of
:23:43. > :23:48.individuals who support these are borrowed views learned the error of
:23:49. > :23:52.their ways and that these are borrowed views are not acceptable in
:23:53. > :24:00.decent society? -- these dreadful views. Education and making sure
:24:01. > :24:07.that men who have these views understand that they are wrong is
:24:08. > :24:12.very important. This is the police campaign and it is part of the work
:24:13. > :24:16.we are doing on ending gang and youth violence and exploitation,
:24:17. > :24:20.because young men who are in a circle where it is seen as being
:24:21. > :24:25.acceptable to exploit young women and to treat them as no more than
:24:26. > :24:34.sex objects have to be educated that this is simply not right. At this
:24:35. > :24:38.event in Glasgow has been cancelled shows that people do make Glasgow.
:24:39. > :24:43.Will the Minister agree with me that any event planned to coach men how
:24:44. > :24:49.to coerce women into having sex is not a free-speech issue, but the
:24:50. > :24:54.event issue of public safety and order. Will she also condemn me in
:24:55. > :25:01.condemning the sick minded halfwits who were intending to attend these
:25:02. > :25:03.events and welcome that they will now be sitting in their underpants
:25:04. > :25:17.eating cold ravioli this weekend. He conjures quite an image! Such
:25:18. > :25:20.grotesque misogynist and homophobic views are not masculine, they are a
:25:21. > :25:25.perversion of masculinity and cowardly. We'll be Minister welcomed
:25:26. > :25:31.the initiative is by the National Union of Students and student unions
:25:32. > :25:37.to train bar staff to spot signs of sexual harassment? We need to stamp
:25:38. > :25:42.that out in all society. I am interested in what he says, I would
:25:43. > :25:47.be interested in learning more, this is the kind of initiative we need to
:25:48. > :25:53.see to make sure it is clear that nobleman can ever be guilty of
:25:54. > :25:56.inciting her own rape -- no woman. It is committed by the perpetrators,
:25:57. > :26:04.they are the only people responsible. The Minister will be
:26:05. > :26:10.aware that I wrote to the Home Secretary in response to the outrage
:26:11. > :26:12.of my constituents who contacted me. The Minister may be aware the
:26:13. > :26:16.Government of Australia have publicly stated that they will
:26:17. > :26:22.continue to monitor any application from Roosh V or anybody associated
:26:23. > :26:26.with the Return of Kings group. Can I get an assurance that the UK
:26:27. > :26:30.Government will do likewise for any individual associated with this
:26:31. > :26:37.group who are promoting a diet of hate? I can assure him that the Home
:26:38. > :26:43.Secretary takes a very close eye on all matters like this and that the
:26:44. > :26:56.Government takes every step it can. Business questions. Will be leader
:26:57. > :26:58.give us the forthcoming business and all that jazz? Not much