Live Urgent Question on violence in Marseille House of Commons

lady raising an issue which is not strictly the case. I know I will be

working with the Home Office to properly address the concerns.

Urgent question, Mr Andy Burnham. To ask the Home Secretary to make a

statement on the incidence of violence in Marseille over the

weekend involving England fans at the Euro 2016 football tournament.

As I told the House yesterday, the trouble that occurred in Marseille

involving England supporters was deeply disturbing. I made it clear

that coordinated groups of Russian supporters were responsible for

instigating a good deal of the worst of islands. You wafer within the

last hour has announced that Russia is subject to a suspended

disqualification from the tournament. This Government's

priority is to work with the French authorities to ensure the events of

the weekend are not repeated. This morning I updated Cabinet colleagues

on the full range of measures that we are taking head of the match

between England and Wales on Thursday. It had already been agreed

with the French that an additional contingent of UK police spotters

would be deployed to help identify troublemakers. The Foreign Office is

advising supporters without tickets that they should avoid travelling.

The FCO has drawn fan's attention to the fact that Russia are playing

Slovakia tomorrow afternoon and said English and Welsh sport should be on

their guard. Stadium security is an area of concern following the

breakdown of segregation in the velodrome stadium. We are conscious

of the dangers when crowd management inside the stadium goes wrong and

discussions are in hand with the French police about reinforcing the

stewarding operation on Thursday night. Else will be aware of a

robust operation in place in this country to prevent troublemakers

subject to football banning orders from travelling to France before the

start of the tournament which has seen 1400 as bulls being

surrendered. Following the violence in Marseille, nine British nationals

were arrested and six have been given custodial sentences. Aaron

expected is that all will be subject to additional court proceedings on

the return to the UK to decide whether banning orders should be

imposed. I am concerned that the serious injuries suffered by some

England supporters in Marseille. The Foreign Office has additional staff

in France and is providing consular assistance to those hurt and their

families. I'm confident all the measures will -- we are taking will

help but I conclude by echoing the England captain and manager who have

urged fans to stay out of trouble as the Uefa decision in relation to the

Russian team shows on the penalty as individuals and for the teams they

support could be severe if there is more violence in the days ahead. As

the dust settles, attention is turning to security around England's

next game. While England fans were not blameless at the weekend, it is

clear they were the subject of extreme violence meted out by

Russian supporters. We cannot afford to see any repeat of that and I am

sure we are all agreed. The office today that there could be. The

chairman of the FA has raised concerns in a letter to Uefa and

identifies a number of major security lapses in the stadium on

Saturday. He says stewarding was poor come segregation insufficient

and fireworks and flares were taken in and let off. This is

extraordinary given me heightened security around this tournament.

Greg Dyke points to a situation where England and Russian fans may

come face-to-face again tomorrow in Lille. For thousands of people out

there, there to enjoy the football, they will be worried about their

safety and that is why we have brought this question today. Home

Secretary didn't provide a full statement yesterday. Can she

confirmed today exactly how many police are being sent to France and

what precisely they will be asked to do? She mentions football banning

orders. In 2010, there were 3174 and now it is 2181. Why has it dropped

so significantly? She says 1400 passports were seized in advance but

there are only 2000 banning orders. What happened to the other 600

passports who have not been taken? On stadium safety, with the

Government contact Uefa to enforce the concerns at a very senior level?

Will she asked them to investigate claims that Russian ultras have

links to the official Russian delegation? On policing it would

appear that some of the tactics were heavy-handed and the indiscriminate

use of tear gas added to the chaos. While we accept the sensitivity of

policing, will there be discussion with the French authorities about

policing going forward and dart their discussions about managing

flash points in Lille tomorrow and giving support to separate? What is

needed is honesty and cool heads on all sides. In the fans were victims

of violent extremism and poor security but nor is it acceptable to

sing provocative songs about the Second World War and launching

bottles at police. All sides now need to take a look at themselves

and resolve to make this the Festival of football we all want it

to be. The right Wimbledon has raised a number of issues. I can

assure him we are in touch with the of people and I have spoken to ACC

Roberts who is the police lead on these matters this morning. He was

in the middle of a meeting with French police and others so I am not

able to give the right honourable gentleman the full results of that

meeting but I can speak on some of the measures. Also the Secretary of

State that, media and sport has spoken to the Russian sports

Minister after the events that took place. I have spoken with my French

opposite number. The police are meeting as we speak to look at the

extra action that would be taken around Lille. My understanding is

there is an expectation that there will be a greater police presence in

relation to the stadium both the security outside the stadium and

also inside the stadium. The right honourable gentleman asks how many

police we have spent France. We don't talk about numbers for

operational reasons but what we are involved in is a number of things.

We have police spotters who are the police will -- people trained to

spot troublemakers. We have some posting and giving post-incident

analysis with regards to the CCT footage and providing some

investigative support to the French. Whatever the French have asked for,

we are willing to provide to them. That goes both for police and

British Transport Police. In relation to the changing in numbers

between the number of people subject to a football banning order here

around the 2000 and the number who have had passports taken away,

nearly 1400, the ads is that the ones we have taken passports away

from the ones who are passport holders. The others do not hold

passports. Clearly the disgraceful scenes in France we have seen from

Russian folks condemned -- to be condemned all round. What has the

party done for hosting the next Russian World Cup? There was concern

for the safety of the people around the world and we want to see the

beautiful game played properly on the field rather than folks on the

terraces as -- ruining it. Our focus currently must be on the immediacy

of Euro 2016 but he is right that following this, we will need to look

carefully at the next event which is due to be held in Russia. There will

be those with concerns seeing what has happened in relation to the

Russian supporters. As my honourable friend has said, any fans, whoever

they support, who get involved in violence around these games are not

only letting themselves down, they are letting all those law-abiding

fans down who want to go and enjoy a good football tournament.

We must take steps to protect fans from home nations while they are

abroad. Does she agree that we must address the appalling behaviour of

some of the English fans? In the 1970s, we had a serious problem with

football hooliganism in Scotland. We addressed it, and now the Tartan

Army Winter was for the good behaviour. -- wins awards for good

behaviour. Scotland might not have a world-class global team yet but we

do have world-class fans who know how to behave themselves, as to the

Welsh and the Northern Irish. My point is that the problem is that

the problem is not insoluble. If it is allowed to continue unchecked,

English fans will not be welcome abroad. What is being done to

address this undertone of racism? Finally, a senior politician in

Marseille has demanded that the United Kingdom pay towards the cost

of the clean-up operation after the trouble on the city streets. What

steps will she take to ensure that these costs fall on the fans

responsible, and not on the British taxpayer?

I have to say to the honourable and loaded lady that I think the tone of

the remarks that she has made was somewhat unfortunate. Yes, there

were England supporters, as I indicated yesterday, in the

statement I made in Home Office questions, and she was in for that,

that there were England supporters who were involved in this violence.

As I indicated in my response to the urgent question just now, nine

England supporters have been arrested and action is being taken

by the French criminal justice system. Those people will be

considered for banning orders when they return to the UK. Football

hooliganism can erupt anywhere, with any group of fans. We have

experience here in the UK of dealing with the football hooliganism in the

past. We have banning orders, which do work well, but we're ever

vigilant in this matter and we will take the steps necessary to make

sure that we can protect the law-abiding fans who wish to enjoy

football. English football hooligans who take

part in such violence bring shame on our country. It would appear in this

case that the bulk of the responsibility lies with some really

nasty Russian football hooligans. Anyone who takes part in violence

needs to take their own responsibility for that. The French

have got enough to worry about with the terrorist threat to this

football Turner Road. This is the worst time to start to get involved

in other issues. Can my right honourable friend redouble her

efforts to make sure that the French have all of the intelligence they

need to weed out the few troublemakers who are catching the

headlines? My honourable friend makes an

important point. We are working with the French authorities to ensure

that they have as much information as possible about those individuals

who might be potential troublemakers. It is why the

expertise we have with police spotters has been increased, they

will be in France for the match on Thursday. They can provide that

support to the French authorities. The record-setting long serving

chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Mr Keith Vaz. It is

ridiculous to suppose that ministers can control what people do at double

matches. It is a worry that there are more matches to be played, and

the fact that flares and other weapons were being taken into

stadiums at a time when France is on such a very high state of alert.

Interpol is 200 miles away from Marseille. What action is being

taken to flag up the names and photographs of those involved with

Interpol so we ensure they cannot travel across borders in future? The

right honourable gentleman raises the point about the issue of the

stadium security and flares being taken in. This is why one of the

issues that is being discussed with the French police is further steps

from them with regard to security at the stadium on Thursday, and indeed

inside the stadium. As I indicated earlier, the UK police are working

with the French and with Russian and Slovakian police, particularly

because the match on Wednesday is Russia versus Slovakia, to ensure

that every action is being taken to identify those who are

troublemakers, and action is taken against those. I have indicate that

action has been taken about English fans. There are some reports about

French authorities taking action against Russian people as well.

With the French authorities, police and armed forces, having to face the

horrors of the Paris attacks in recent months, does the Home

Secretary agree that it is beholden, no matter what the provocation from

English thugs, for English fans to show restraint and respect to French

authorities question this is the message we should be giving to the

England fans. The England captain and manager have both said and urged

and encouraged fans to go and enjoy the football, show respect for the

authorities, and not get involved in violence or hooliganism.

I was at the match on Saturday in Marseille, and the scenes that we

saw in the stadium we thought we had left behind 30 years ago. They were

appalling and coordinated, and the violent assault on England fans by

the Russian fans who were there. It was very worrying indeed. It is

clear that the French police were entirely focused on preventing

terrorism, and had no real strategy in terms of inventing hooliganism.

By taking them responsible at the four running that tournament, the do

have a responsible and see. Can she say what she will do to ensure that

the policing all aspects over there. Both hooliganism and violence and

terrorism, not just the latter? It is worth remembering that the rules

that Uefa has about a presence in the stadium are different from the

roles we operate in the United Kingdom. We do have police residence

inside the stadium, but it is these discussions that are taking place at

an operational level at the moment, that is why have spoken to the

leader of the UK policing involvement in this issue. They are

sitting down at the moment and having these discussions with the

various authorities, in terms of how much can be put into the stadium,

what action can be taken in relation to both the security outside the

stadium and also inside. I'm sure that my right honourable

friend will want to join me in commending the Wales fans, whose

conduct at Bordeaux on Saturday has been widely praised in the French

press. She has mentioned the measures he is putting in place,

together with her French colleagues, in anticipation of the next match.

Given that this will be the first encounter tween two British teams,

the she share my concern that this could be an Arsenal target for an

external terrorist threat, and can she say with the security services

are bearing this matter very much in mind?

I'm sure my right for friend will be the issue to note that my right on

warfarin, the Secretary of State for Wales, spoke to the Football

Association of Wales yesterday on these matters. It is in relation to

all of the home nations in this tournament. My right honourable

friend talks about the security threat. The threat level for France

remained at critical, the threat level has been at critical for some

time now. I can assure my right honourable friend and the House that

the law enforcement and security services in the UK are working

closely with their French counterparts immolation to the

terrorist threat that we all face. Will the Home Secretary... Does she

share with me the conviction that football, the beautiful game, can so

often be a force for good and most football fans, both here and abroad,

are there to enjoy the game. What will she be doing in the coming days

and wants to spread that message, and what conversations will she have

with the FA and others to make sure that those who come in peace are

outnumbering and out voicing those who come to do violence? I share the

Commons that the honourable lady has made about football, as the

president of the War grave girls the boat club, I can see the action it

has, the interested can give, and the benefits it can get for younger

people. On a serious note, my rate on all friend, -- my right

honourable friend, has been in touch with the football authorities here

in the UK, and we need to make that message clear, that it is a sport

that people should be enjoying, it is not a sport that people should

feel fear when I go to a game, they should be able to go, knowing they

should enjoy it and feel better for it.

Banning orders have been very effective in the past. My

understanding is that they have tended to be imposed for domestic

incidents rather than incidents that had taken place abroad. Can the Home

Secretary ensure the House that every effort will be made to

identify troublemakers abroad so whether they had been arrested or

not, it having orders can be placed on them so we do not see these

bronze in future? -- do not see these problems in

future. Consideration will be given to the king that action on them when

they are identified, in relation to Banning orders, so that they can

have those orders based upon them for violence elsewhere as well as at

home. I'm sure the Home Secretary will

agree with me that the fans from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and

the Irish Republic, who have behaved in an exemplary way, ... My thoughts

are with the family of a man who died. Will the Home Secretary press

on the authorities and Uefa are lessons that they need to learn? Can

I echo the comments that the right honourable gentleman has made, and

the condolences that we send to the family of Darren Raj is, for

somebody who was going there to watch the football, it is a huge

tragedy for his family. -- Darren Rogers. We are talking to the French

authorities about how these matches can be policed. He is right, the

vast majority of fans are law-abiding, they go there to enjoy

the game, they go there to have a good time. We should praise them

when they do that. I would encourage all England fans, Wales fans and

Northern Ireland fans to carry on doing that and need shoring that we

have a tournament that we can be proud of.

Will my right honourable friend commissioned a study into what is

causing the distinction in behaviour between those who support

Association will and those who support Rugby football?

I have to say to my right on for friend, there has been a lot of work

done on the issue of football hooliganism over the years was up in

the UK, how police are good at managing football matches so that

people are called to go, of all ages, and enjoy those matches.

On Thursday, we will see the historic fixture between England and

Wales at Euro 2016, featuring the best player in the tournament,

Gareth Bale, will the Home Secretary agree that the best antidote to what

happened last weekend will be a brilliant game on Thursday and a

peaceful crowd throughout the game? I entirely echo the comments. I

won't comment on individual players! I echo the comments that the

honourable lady made about the best antidote to what happened last

Saturday, being a good, peaceful, excellent game that everyone can

enjoy. My understanding is that the

sanctions that we're levelling against the Russians, they spend it

discoloured occasion and the fine, or any apply to incidents within the

is the extent of their jurisdiction. Which she agree with me that there

needs to be an examination of these roles so that nations are

responsible for the fans, regardless of where they are, and that this is

not just limited to the actions within the stadiums? The honourable

lady's understanding of the situation is correct, but it is a

matter for Uefa. We have heard her intervention.

Could I follow one from the question about the next World Cup in Russia?

Would the Home Secretary asked for an investigation into these alleged

links between the Russian football authorities and extreme groups? An

investigation by Fifa about them investigating a safe

environment? He has raised concerns in relation to the situation for the

tournament in Russia. As he will appreciate, I have said that the

Secretary of State for culture media and has been in touch with the

minister in Russia. Our focus must be on the tournament in France but

after the tournament in France has finished, I am sure there will be

many issues people wish to raise looking ahead to the tournament in

Russia and some of those would be for governments and the football

authorities. Can I remind the French and Scotland that there was a riot

at the end of the football final on the 21st of May. There is the issue

about how we prevent racism and do the work on the ground. They have

played a good part in encouraging young people to get involved. Sadly,

the funding for groups like this has been stopped. Can I encourage the

Minister to look at that and look at putting the support back to these

people because it is about getting to our children first witch. This

curse? He makes an important point about the significant work that has

been done to stop racism in football. Sadly, there -- this is

not a job that is complete and it is necessary to carry on with this work

and I am sure that is something the Government takes seriously and it is

something football takes seriously but it is an issue that goes wider

than racism. Prior to the Olympics, I had talks about the issues of

homophobia in sporting events and these are issues we should all take

seriously and work at every label to ensure we cut all of this out. Any

football fan who goes to commit violence or starts violence is

purely criminal and should be dealt with. We witnessed in the stadium

innocent people suffering assault, unprovoked assault and having to

flee for their lives and risking serious injures street -- Indo --

injury. Just because those fans were wearing football shirts, they should

be given support to seek justice against their perpetrators in a way

that they would in any other walk of life. Any issue of investigating is

done by the French authorities. The support available from the Foreign

and Commonwealth Office office is available to all of those. I was

lucky enough to be one of the 25,000 sea of red in Bordeaux for Wales'

victory over Salah -- over Slovakia which leaves us top of the group

ahead of England. There is genuine concern and the Home Secretary is

the Home Secretary for England and Wales and what Wales face in the

next two games. What assurances can she give in conjunction with the

authorities to make sure those Welsh fans who are impeccably behaved are

protected in those next two games? You will have noticed I am trying to

avoid commenting on any results of matches taken place. What I can say

it is that in looking at these issues, we are looking across the

policing of these matches and are looking at the matches that involve

home nations. There are police from Wales, England and Northern Ireland

over in France and ACC Roberts is working with all of the police and

with the French authorities on behalf of the home nations in

looking at these issues. Came my Aske the Home Secretary, has she

seen the remarks of a member of the Russian parliament also on the

executive of football union of Russia who has said, well done lads,

keep it up, to those folks and hear Liggins -- hooligans. The Liberal

Democratic party is a fascist party and there is a wider political

problem that calls into question whether Russia should be the hosts

of the next World Cup? I have seen a newspaper report of those remarks

and now utterly irresponsible and not the remarks we would expect to

hear from anybody and I wouldn't expect anybody to support the

violence that was taking place from Russian fans against England fans

autoshow any believe that that was in anyway the right way behave. It

was an utterly appalling statement to have been made and I have

indicated there are issues to be addressed in the future in relation

to football in Russia had given everything that has been seen.

Sounds a very bigoted fellow indeed. Some Russian fans high on

body-building medication covered in tattoos, spoiling for a fight and

encouraged by some Russian MPs. What will be done to protect all funds

from these Russian folks? Every effort is being made to work with

the French authorities to ensure that, if any extraction is needed to

protect fans against these folks who have been perpetrating this

violence, that that action is taken. Our Assembly was in Bordeaux at the

weekend. Will she congratulate the Wales fans because she did not do so

in the previous debate. I am worried about what will happen the next 48

when Welsh fans find themselves in it toxic cocktail of Russian and

English hooligans. The Welsh governorate has advised people not

to stay in Lille. Will she, the English FA to make a similar

statement and to start taking responsibility for the actions of

some of small minority of supporters? And happy to appraise

those Welsh fans who behaved perfectly properly at the opening

match in which Wales was involved. I am also happy to praise the English

and Northern Irish Lish -- Northern Irish fans that behave properly at

their matches. Sadly, what we have seen is a number of Russian

supporters instigating and involved in violence and a small number of

vintage supporters as well. The message that should go clearly from

us as has gone from the England captain and England manager is we

want fans, all fans to behave properly and not to get involved in

any violence whatsoever. Nike -- like and as a thousands of others,

we have renewed our season ticket for our hometown clubs and none of

us will fans at the prospect makes is not sitting next to anybody who

is tried and convicted of violence in France. Clubs themselves should

revoke those season to get is without recompense to any fans tried

and convicted. He is tempting me to go down a route for which I not any

other minister has responsibility. It is up to football clubs. What is

important is where we can take action, that it is taken and it will

continue to be taken. It should not be lost on us that as the police

dealed with a man of task of dealing with the football fans, there was an

ISO attack in Paris. We have to keep our fans safe. Have Russian

authorities been as proactive keeping their fans and a cheque in

the same way we do ours? -- under a cheque -- under check. There has

been the Interior Minister who has described it as such. The full

details are yet to emerge in relation to that attack. It is

important that we allow the French authorities to undertake the work

that they need to do to keep the fans safe and I can assure the

honourable gentleman that from the conversation I have had, it is clear

that the Russian police are working with the French authorities and with

the UK police on this matter. It is not just Russian members of

Parliament that are acting irresponsibly. It is also sections

of the Russian media. If the Home Secretary aware of the remarks in

one tabloid which says Russia is the clear favourite to win the

alternative year rose and they have published a glossary of hooligan

terms for the uninitiated. Isn't that reprehensible? What discussions

is he having with Russian authorities to condemn those actions

and what conversations are Government having with Fifa in

respect of Russia hosting the next World Cup? I made it a rule never to

read that tabloid. I would like to add my condolences to the family of

Darren Rogers who died tragically in France. I would like to pay tribute

to those fans who went from the UK and have behaved well. Has the Home

Secretary or the forces in the authority got manages to put in

place to reduce the violence that will take place in France? Work has

been done to look at the policing of the future matches that have taken

place to do with a focus on the matches in Lille from our point of

view and the England, Wales match on Thursday. The authorities here come

the police will be taking every action necessary. If there are fans

that returned the UK who have been involved in violence and could be

subjected to banning orders, the police will take action against

them. Order, the clerk will proceed to read the orders of the day. Wales

Bill second reading. To move the second reading of the bill. I called

the Secretary of State for Wales, secretary Alun Cairns. I beg to move

that the bilby read a second time. We are here to debate the Wales

Bill. Fundamental importance to the future governance of Wales and its

role within the United Kingdom. It will empower the National Assembly

for Wales and the Welsh Government to deliver on the things that really

matter. The economy the environment and essential public services. I

want to thank stakeholders including the Welsh affairs select committee

and the member for Monmouth and the