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Order! Order. On the front page of today's order paper, it is noted | :00:08. | :00:25. | |
that on the 4th of September 1916, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Frederick | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
Campbell, Duke of Wellington's raging -- Regiment, West riding, | :00:31. | :00:38. | |
North Ayrshire, wounded at a battle in 1914 and again on the Western | :00:39. | :00:45. | |
front in 1916, died from his wounds in Suffolk. We remember him today. | :00:46. | :00:55. | |
Hear, hear! Questions for the Home Secretary. Amber Rudd. This is a | :00:56. | :01:07. | |
voluntary scheme whereby local authorities sign up to accept | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
refugees on a voluntary basis. Up to 2016, June, 2046 people were | :01:15. | :01:21. | |
resettled across 186 different authorities. There are sufficient | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
pledges of places across the UK to resettle 20,000 vulnerable Syrians | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
and we will continue to work closely with them to turn these pledges into | :01:31. | :01:38. | |
places. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I'm grateful for that answer and I | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
welcome this government's record in supporting the people of Syria. And | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
also many councils who are taking in refugees and encouraging -- I am | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
encouraging my local authorities to do that but they need support. Would | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
the Secretary of State update the House as to what support as well as | :02:01. | :02:03. | |
encouragement she is giving to local authorities. I ask my honourable | :02:04. | :02:10. | |
friend to pass on my congratulations to his local authority for their | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
support. It is essential that this is done on a voluntary basis. We | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
provide support over a five-year period and it is tapered. But we | :02:20. | :02:25. | |
recognise that it is essential to provide central financial support to | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
the local authorities who are supporting these people. Can I | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
welcome the Home Secretary to her first Home Office questions and wish | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
her well in the job and welcome the job that the local authorities are | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
doing. She will know that some of us met a few weeks ago with a Syrian | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
teenager in Calais whose family are here in Britain, who was given a | :02:47. | :02:53. | |
take charge and leave two months ago but is still in Calais, alone, in | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
dangerous conditions. He has now been given a transfer date of later | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
this week but only because three MPs and two national newspapers | :03:06. | :03:09. | |
intervened. There are hundreds more children and teenagers in Calais in | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
awful conditions. Will she intervene urgently and speed up the | :03:16. | :03:18. | |
bureaucracy and a sort these cases out? I recognise the excellent work | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
that the Right honourable lady delves in this area in drawing | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
attention to these people indicate camp. I would point out to her, and | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
to the general public, that this is French territory. It is French law | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
that we have to engage with in order to help these people. We are | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
identifying the children that we can help and we are now able to speed up | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
that process and will continue to watch it carefully. Thank you, Mr | :03:48. | :03:54. | |
Speaker. Would the Secretary of State commend me -- join me in | :03:55. | :04:01. | |
commending local groups who has set up their own initiatives and | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
liaising with local councils to make sure that new people coming over, | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
these are vulnerable Syrian refugees are locally welcomes in our | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
communities? I do join my honourable friend in making that point, how | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
important it is for families to be welcomed by the community. These are | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
not families being foisted on the communities, it is communities | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
saying they want to welcome them. I commend what is being done in | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
Richmond and I know other communities and individuals are | :04:34. | :04:35. | |
volunteering to help and some of them are going on the website, help | :04:36. | :04:42. | |
refugees in the UK, to find out how they can help. Mayor welcome the | :04:43. | :04:50. | |
Home Secretary to her first Home Office questions and I welcome the | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
announcement that there will be enough places for 20,000 Syrians by | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
2020. I am sure she will wish to congratulate Scotland for welcoming | :05:02. | :05:08. | |
1000 of those refugees, more than one third of the total in the UK. | :05:09. | :05:14. | |
But will she now commit to extending the government's resettlement | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
programme past 2020 and opening it up to other refugees? I do join the | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
honourable and learn as Lady in congratulating Scotland for the work | :05:25. | :05:33. | |
they have done and who can forget the early pictures of the refugees | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
arriving on the Isle of Bute. There is still work to do to welcome the | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
20,000. I was pleased to announce over the weekend additional funding | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
for language courses. For now we won't go further but we will keep it | :05:47. | :05:55. | |
under review continually. I welcome my right honourable friend to her | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
moored than deserved place. I'm sure the whole house will welcome the | :06:00. | :06:05. | |
four Syrian families who are housed in my constituency and congratulate | :06:06. | :06:12. | |
my counsel for their hard work. What assurances can be Home Secretary | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
gave local councils that financial support will extend for as long as | :06:19. | :06:22. | |
it takes to keep people safe in our country? I congratulate Broxtowe | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
Council in the work they have done to welcome those families. I can | :06:29. | :06:34. | |
reassure her and those councils that the funds are in place for the five | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
years, that are tapered. And I note the request -- the increase funding | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
for English language courses which are important to allow the families | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
to form part of the community. I commend the Home Secretary for the | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
early initiative she has taken. But she will be aware that there are | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
many local authorities which have not been required to take refugees | :06:59. | :07:02. | |
and others who are taking in the would take more. Does that | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
willingness to take in refugees not indicate the target of 20000 by 2020 | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
was an unnecessarily modest ones and could now be revisited? I am not | :07:13. | :07:19. | |
ready yet to say that the 20,000 is not enough. We have worked | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
incredibly hard to make sure that that 20,000 is welcomed, will be | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
properly looked after. The modern thing is to concentrate on making | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
sure that everyone of those 20,000 to get the proper support from the | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
communities in which they are housed and get the language lessons. So I | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
would ask for his patients, making sure that we support those 20,000. | :07:42. | :07:50. | |
It is not just a matter of numbers. I'm glad that we're bringing them in | :07:51. | :07:53. | |
for the Middle East rather than from Calais. I congratulate my local | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
councils who had taken on refugees. But it is not just a question of the | :07:59. | :08:04. | |
people, it is a question of finding health care, social care, education | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
and other infrastructure in the area and jobs for them as well. Not just | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
bringing them in and leaving them to it. My honourable friend is | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
absolutely right which is why we are taking these families through these | :08:18. | :08:25. | |
UNHCR who set them carefully so we get the people who are most in need. | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
It is the local authorities who can decide whether they have the | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
capacity, in terms of health places, school places, and I think we are | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
very fortunate in this country that we do have sufficient authorities | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
who have come through to volunteer to help. It is testament to the | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
strength and generosity of the British people. Mrs Baker, with | :08:47. | :08:57. | |
permission I will answer questions two and six together. | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
-- Mr Speaker. We continue to work with the French and Italian | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
authorities to improve processes for unaccompanied children. We have | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
facilities in Greece and we are working in Italy and we are sending | :09:11. | :09:13. | |
officials to the French interior ministry. Request under the Dublin | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
regulation are processed within ten days in general and children | :09:19. | :09:24. | |
transferred within weeks. 120 children have been accepted for | :09:25. | :09:29. | |
transfer within Europe this year. There are literally hundreds of | :09:30. | :09:32. | |
children in Calais as we speak who have a legal right to be reunited | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
with their families in this country. Literally, those children are trying | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
to put their lives at risk by jumping on trains and lorries. I | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
want to know specifically what the government is doing to help those | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
children in Calais? The honourable gentleman will be aware that we have | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
an obligation which we are acting on to work with the authorities in | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
France to remove the children who have a family representatives in the | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
UK under the Dublin obligation. We have since May, since the | :10:08. | :10:14. | |
immigration Acts, taken 30... We have agreed to take 30 of which we | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
have taken approximately half. We have taken under and 20 this year. I | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
don't think he should underestimate the difficulty in making sure we do | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
what is lawful under French law and EU law at the same time. The Home | :10:28. | :10:33. | |
Secretary will be aware of significant concern on this issue | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
from humanitarian organisations. With the onset of winter just a | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
couple of months away, and the time it is taking, will she commit | :10:43. | :10:45. | |
additional resources and to come back in the next couple of months | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
and tell us how many children she will be taking? | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
We are aware of the humanitarian need and that is why the Government | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
is so committed to making sure that we do work in the best interests of | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
the children. I would say to the honourable gentleman we are always | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
going to work in the best interests of the children who are there and | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
always make sure that it is within French and EU law. I welcome any | :11:13. | :11:17. | |
sense of urgency that comes from the Home Secretary, the members for | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
Southgate and Castleford and myself visited Calais just two weeks ago | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
and were disappointed yet again to find those young vulnerable children | :11:26. | :11:28. | |
there with nobody to support them or look after them. What can the | :11:29. | :11:31. | |
Minister tell me about whether we can have safeguarding put in place | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
there when we have identified them, when we have had that take charge | :11:35. | :11:37. | |
request to look after them there and have a Home Office official based | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
there, not in Paris? I would like to tell my honourable | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
friend that I met with my French counterpart last week and also met | :11:50. | :11:52. | |
with our representatives who do attend the camp. I am sure she is | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
aware, as many members of the House are aware who have visited the camp, | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
that it is a fine line between wanting to help and safeguard those | :12:02. | :12:04. | |
children and making sure that we do not encourage the traffickers to | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
bring more children to the camp and thereby make more children more | :12:10. | :12:12. | |
vulnerable. We are doing our best to tread that fine line and make sure | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
we always support those vulnerable children. But it is not as simple as | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
she tries to pretend. I understand the natural inclination to look at | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
one's interlocketer but if the Home Secretary and other ministers could | :12:27. | :12:29. | |
address the House that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. May | :12:30. | :12:33. | |
I tell the Home Secretary that the situation in the jungle which I | :12:34. | :12:36. | |
visited recently is truly horrific. Can I invite her to join me to visit | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
Dover and Calais to see the situation in the jungle, the evil | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
activities of the people traffickers and will she work with me to do our | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
best with Britain and France to end the evil trade of modern slavery | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
these people traffickers are pursuing? Thank you, I am grateful | :12:54. | :12:56. | |
to the honourable gentleman and the work that he does to keep me | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
informed and to support what the Government does to make sure that | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
there is for instance not just a smooth traffic going through Dover | :13:05. | :13:07. | |
and Calais but we are always well informed of what is happening there. | :13:08. | :13:10. | |
Of course I will work with him to make sure that we do our best and | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
the real criminals here are the traffickers who do their terrible | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
violent work and take advantage of families. Children arriving at | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
Greece seeking to be reunited with families in the UK are forced into | :13:26. | :13:28. | |
immigration detention which is a breach of their human rights. Can | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
she assure the House that she's in discussion with Greek counterparts | :13:33. | :13:35. | |
as to how to do that because that will prevent more children having to | :13:36. | :13:38. | |
come to Calais in the first place? Well, I can tell the honourable | :13:39. | :13:43. | |
gentleman that we have a sonnedee, in Greece we are wo working closely | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
with the Greek Government and we are in fact - we have identified some | :13:49. | :13:56. | |
children who we think we can assist. We anticipate the first arrivals to | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
the UK this month. The point of those young people and have been | :14:02. | :14:04. | |
accepted and have family here waiting for them to arrive here. | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
Surely when we talk about fine lines the fine lines for these young | :14:09. | :14:11. | |
people where we have accepted - the fine line they're taking at risk of | :14:12. | :14:15. | |
attack as we saw from young people, risk of exploitation and trafficking | :14:16. | :14:19. | |
surely the line has been crossed, we have a responsibility to ensure they | :14:20. | :14:22. | |
get back to family here and avoid being in a position where they're | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
not safe and let's make them safe rather than risk of exploitation and | :14:28. | :14:30. | |
trafficking they're facing at the moment. My honourable friend is | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
right to refer to the fine line. He is right to refer to the fact that | :14:35. | :14:39. | |
the camp is a place of terror and of danger and we will follow up on our | :14:40. | :14:42. | |
obligations and as I said in an earlier answer to a question we are | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
now managing to move more quickly but I would ask him not to | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
underestimate the difficulties sometimes of dealing with French law | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
and EU law, we can not simply move in and take action. We have to act | :14:55. | :14:57. | |
within the law which is what is always in the best interests of the | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
child. Can I welcome the Home Secretary and tell her I was in | :15:04. | :15:06. | |
Calais this weekend, the second time I went over, both times I have met | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
some of those 800 young unaccompanied children who are in | :15:13. | :15:14. | |
that camp, children who told me they have not spoken in many months | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
they've been there to a single Government official. A pregnant | :15:20. | :15:22. | |
woman who said she had tried to claim asylum in France but the | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
system is so broken she was told it could be months before they would | :15:27. | :15:29. | |
even begin to process her application. These people are living | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
in hell because of a lack of bureaucracy. My colleague is right. | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
They need our safeguarding because they're sleeping in tents with men, | :15:39. | :15:42. | |
strange men, will she meet with me and other MPs affected by this and | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
concerned to discuss how we can change that? I would point out to | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
the honourable lady that the French have already dispersed 5,000 people | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
from the camp. The interior Minister has already said that he has plans | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
by the end of the year to make sure that the camp is phased out so that | :16:01. | :16:03. | |
everybody can be rehoused. It is important for the children to know | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
as the adults do know that they are not forced to come to the UK to find | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
a bed. They can claim asylum in France. The French Government is | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
willing to do that. The honourable lady should have a care not to | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
encourage unwittingly the traffickers to bring more children | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
to the camps. Number three, MrSpeaker. Thank you. With your | :16:29. | :16:34. | |
permission I will answer questions three and nine together. PCSOs have | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
been playing a key role in policing our communities over recent years | :16:39. | :16:41. | |
and they should play a greater role in the future and that's why the | :16:42. | :16:45. | |
police and Crime Bill sets out a series of reforms that will allow | :16:46. | :16:48. | |
Chief Constables to designate them with a wider range of powers. | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
Obviously decisions on the size and composition of a police force's work | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
force are individual police and crime commissioners. Thank you. The | :16:59. | :17:05. | |
Minister in his former role as housing Minister, St Ives will be | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
known to you and I am sure you are glad to be rid of that role, this is | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
a new problem for St Ives. There is a neighbourhood popular police | :17:15. | :17:17. | |
officer and valued member of the policing team in St Ives. There are | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
5,000 people who are in support of his current role and yet he has been | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
moved by Devon and Cornwall Police to an effective back office role | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
soon. What can the Minister do to support local community policing in | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
St Ives and safeguard front line policing roles? Well, I congratulate | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
my friend in highlighting an issue that's clearly important enough to | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
his constituents to have so many get in behind what must be an impressive | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
PCSO to get that many people signing his form. Obviously those kind of | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
operational decisions are for the force's Chief Constable but I will | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
be visiting my honourable friend's area soon and I hope I will get a | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
chance to meet a sergeant who can indefiniter to get that kind of | :18:01. | :18:03. | |
support for his community. In Wrexham town centre we have fewer | :18:04. | :18:10. | |
police and more antisocial behaviour under this Government. Police | :18:11. | :18:13. | |
community support officers introduced by a Labour Government | :18:14. | :18:17. | |
are very welcome and perform a very valuable role but there is a | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
disturbing lack of understanding and clarity about their powers so will | :18:23. | :18:27. | |
the review that the Government should undertake make clear to the | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
general public and to offenders how important police community support | :18:33. | :18:37. | |
police officers are? Well, the honourable gentleman makes an | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
important point in terms of community support officers - they do | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
play a key role. They've increased by about 40% in his part of the | :18:46. | :18:48. | |
world. It's important in the bill we are giving that power to Chief | :18:49. | :18:51. | |
Constables to look at what is right for their area to have the power to | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
give those powers to the people, PCSOs and other volunteers to do the | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
work needed appropriate for their area. I was with one of the few | :19:01. | :19:07. | |
remaining PCSOs on Friday for a walk about in the town, it would appear | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
were it not for the funding provided by the council there would now be no | :19:12. | :19:17. | |
PCSOs in the Borough at all. Does the Minister agree that PCSOs are | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
vital for developing the intelligence picture locally and | :19:22. | :19:24. | |
without them it's difficult to see how frontline officers can do that? | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
Well, my honourable friend makes a very good point in a sense that when | :19:30. | :19:35. | |
I was a council leader myself and PCSOs first came in my council | :19:36. | :19:38. | |
funded them back then and they do play an important part as part of | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
the remit of powers that the Chief Constables and the PCCs do have to | :19:43. | :19:45. | |
make sure they're gathering intelligence to prevent crime which | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
obviously is our first priority. The Minister must be aware of the survey | :19:51. | :19:56. | |
conducted by Unison which says 78% of PCSOs have said they've become | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
less visible, that their units have got smaller and they've stopped | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
doing that patrolling preventive work but are actually doing | :20:06. | :20:08. | |
callbacks on crime for other police officers. Isn't it true that PCSOs | :20:09. | :20:14. | |
are no longer doing what we created them for, and as a result our | :20:15. | :20:19. | |
communities feel abandoned by the police. I would disagree with the | :20:20. | :20:23. | |
honourable lady. I would say what she needs to think about is yes | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
crime is changing and the way police forces fight crime needs to be | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
reflective of the modern world we live in. That's why it's right this | :20:32. | :20:35. | |
Government has moved crime fighting to being locally driven with PCCs | :20:36. | :20:38. | |
and the Chief Constables have the powers they need to fight crime | :20:39. | :20:45. | |
locally in the way they see best. Number four, MrSpeaker. We continue | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
to strengthen our counter terrorism powers. The 2015 counterterrorism | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
security act provided the police with new powers and created a | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
general duty on public bodies to prevent people being drawn into | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
terrorism. To apprehend terrorist suspects the police and security | :21:04. | :21:06. | |
agencies need to collect intelligence to support arrests and | :21:07. | :21:09. | |
develop evidence to secure prosecutions. I am grateful for that | :21:10. | :21:15. | |
answer. A major terror threat to the United Kingdom comes from people | :21:16. | :21:18. | |
trafficked into this country and it's vital we maintain the strongest | :21:19. | :21:20. | |
intelligence sharing relationships and agreements with other nations. | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
What steps will the Home Secretary be taking to ensure these agreements | :21:25. | :21:27. | |
are prioritised and protected following the vote to leave the | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
European Union? Well, I thank my honourable friend | :21:34. | :21:36. | |
for that important question and I am aware of his expertise as a former | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
police officer himself and I would like to reassure him that we are | :21:40. | :21:43. | |
leaving the EU but our co-operation on security with our European and | :21:44. | :21:46. | |
global allies will be undiminished. We are about to begin negotiations | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
and it would be wrong to set out uni lat ram positions in advance but I | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
share his view on this important matter. Thank you, MrSpeaker. Could | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
I warmly welcome the Home Secretary to her post. I hope she has a long | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
and successful term as Home Secretary. As she knows earlier this | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
year - left the country having not handed over his passport to local | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
police officers and he went to fight for Daesh. Her predecessor, the | :22:17. | :22:21. | |
Prime Minister, changed the police and Crime Bill to make the situation | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
tougher for those who seek to go abroad. Will she follow the advice | :22:26. | :22:31. | |
of the head of counterterrorism and expect suspects to hand over their | :22:32. | :22:34. | |
passports as a precondition for bail? | :22:35. | :22:39. | |
Well, I thank the right honourable gentleman for raising this very | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
important matter. It was a very distressing case where he was able | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
to go away on bail and go away to do such damage and create such - join | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
Daesh in Syria. He is absolutely right, this is something that the | :22:55. | :22:56. | |
former Home Secretary addressed and we are looking at the best way to | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
implement it and may well be following the particular route he | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
has said. Rest assured that we do take it very seriously. I | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
congratulate the Home Secretary on her new role. Will she agree that | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
the investigatary powers bill is Nell if the intelligence services | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
are to retain their existing capability to collect - it's crucial | :23:18. | :23:20. | |
in detecting terrorism and serious crime? | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
I thank my right honourable friend for that question and she will know | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
from her former role as Secretary of State in Northern Ireland how | :23:29. | :23:30. | |
important being able to collect that information is. She's absolutely | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
right the powers bill is critical to making sure our police and security | :23:36. | :23:38. | |
services and intelligence services generally have the tools they need | :23:39. | :23:42. | |
to get to the convictions they hope they will have. Thank you very much. | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
Can I on behalf of my party welcome the Home Secretary and the entire | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
team to their role. In Northern Ireland we know the true benefits of | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
both the police and security services working together. If we can | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
take the local case of my constituent who was murdered this | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
year, the chief suspect in his murder has been bailed and despite | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
having breached bail twice still remains at large. When the police | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
and security services succeed can the Home Secretary advise what | :24:10. | :24:12. | |
conversations she will have with the justice department to make sure that | :24:13. | :24:15. | |
the judiciary play their part as well? | :24:16. | :24:18. | |
Well, I thank the honourable gentleman for that question. I would | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
like to point out it's a matter for the judiciary in Northern Ireland | :24:23. | :24:26. | |
but rest assured it's a matter we take very seriously. In welcoming | :24:27. | :24:29. | |
the Home Secretary to her new role, may I ask her whether she has had a | :24:30. | :24:35. | |
chance to see to what extent profiling of those who commit | :24:36. | :24:38. | |
terrorist atrocities has been examined by her department, by the | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
police and by the security services. People such as the journalist Peter | :24:44. | :24:48. | |
Hitchins have noted a Coralation between drug abuse and the | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
commission of atrocities which is rather greater than at any link | :24:53. | :25:00. | |
between there having a Muslim faith background than one would normally | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
expect. Therefore, is profiling is to be carried out successfully will | :25:05. | :25:10. | |
the appropriate effort be invested? Thank you. I thank my honourable | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
friend for that question. We do have a behavioural unit in the Home | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
Office which does try to look at types of behaviour which may lead to | :25:20. | :25:23. | |
certain actions and rest assured now he has raised that question I will | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
look at it more seriously. In Birmingham we are only too aware | :25:29. | :25:31. | |
that terrorism is not something that has recently been on our shores and | :25:32. | :25:35. | |
I wanted to welcome the Home Secretary and ask her does she agree | :25:36. | :25:41. | |
with me and most of Birmingham that the relatives of the victims of the | :25:42. | :25:46. | |
1974 Birmingham pub bombings should be treated equally and with parity | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
to the relatives of the Hillsborough disaster? And be provided with the | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
access to legal representations so that they can effectively pass to | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
say paint in the inquests into the murder of their -- participate into | :26:01. | :26:03. | |
the inquests into the murder of their loved ones. The honourable | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
lady has raised this with me before, I know about the campaigning she has | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
done on behalf of her constituents and the city in general and I don't | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
know whether she is aware but I am seeing representatives of the | :26:15. | :26:16. | |
Birmingham families this evening and I will follow up with more | :26:17. | :26:18. | |
information after that. Number five, Mr Speaker. | :26:19. | :26:32. | |
Mr Speaker, protecting the public is a priority for this government and | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
it is important that checks undertaken are thorough. I visited | :26:37. | :26:40. | |
the Metropolitan Police Service last week to see the work they are | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
undertaking to tackle the delays and I will be visiting the DBS in the | :26:44. | :26:52. | |
near future. I will continue to maintain a close interest in | :26:53. | :26:55. | |
disclosure turnaround times and be DBS. | :26:56. | :27:01. | |
I welcome the honourable lady but she is taking on intractable | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
problems in seeing the Metropolitan Police dealing with checks in good | :27:06. | :27:12. | |
time. I have had cases in the 12 months prior including teachers | :27:13. | :27:15. | |
unable to get their checks done in time to start work. I wish every | :27:16. | :27:21. | |
power to her elbow but it has been going on for nearly a decade and | :27:22. | :27:24. | |
what practical steps is she going to take? I share the honourable lady's | :27:25. | :27:30. | |
frustration with the delays in the Met police but I can assure based on | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
my visit last week that the DBS have increased resources made available | :27:36. | :27:39. | |
to the police and in the last six months alone, over 100 new members | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
of staff have been recruited. They have made improvements to the | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
processes that they are undertaking and I'm looking at weekly | :27:49. | :27:51. | |
performance statistics and she can be assured that I will be doing | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
everything in my power to speed up the processing of this very | :27:56. | :28:01. | |
important service. You must try to speed up as we have a lot to get | :28:02. | :28:05. | |
through and I would like to accommodate colleagues. Jack Dromey. | :28:06. | :28:13. | |
Number seven, Mr Speaker. Minister Wallace. As crime falls, we as no | :28:14. | :28:22. | |
that it is changing. The Internet offers criminals new opportunities | :28:23. | :28:29. | |
to commit fraud and cybercrime. We welcome reporting of this which has | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
trebled. Collating data with the ONS means that we can better map trends | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
and cyber security and take steps to combat cybercrime. On the day | :28:39. | :28:46. | |
Parliament went into recess, the Office for National Statistics | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
confirmed that there had been 8.9 million incidents of cybercrime in | :28:51. | :28:54. | |
the last 12 months affecting one in ten of the population. This means | :28:55. | :28:59. | |
that crime has near doubled. Does the Home Secretary agree that the | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
legacy of her predecessor, now the Prime Minister, is one of 20,000 | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
fewer police and soaring crime? Mr Speaker, I don't think that is much | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
of a proper point. Under his government, there was no proper | :29:16. | :29:20. | |
reporting mechanism for fraud. We set up Action Fraud. That has seen a | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
300,000 referrals and the best advice we can give our constituents, | :29:27. | :29:33. | |
rather than play politics, is to say that GCHQ advise that if you change | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
your passwords regularly, and have up-to-date software you will cut | :29:40. | :29:47. | |
your exposure to cybercrime. This government has an excellent record | :29:48. | :29:51. | |
both in tackling crime and cybercrime by setting up the | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
national cybercrime unit. I wonder whether the new minister, who I | :29:56. | :29:59. | |
warmly welcome to his position, will use his imagination and energy to | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
consider a bespoke career path for people and graduate level entering | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
the police force because those people need different skills from | :30:08. | :30:11. | |
the police we have relied on hitherto before the growth of | :30:12. | :30:15. | |
digital crime. Yes, we are working on that and we are working on direct | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
recruitment to enable the police and NCA get the skills they need. We | :30:21. | :30:25. | |
have invested in upscaling members of the NCA who host the National | :30:26. | :30:31. | |
cybercrime unit but it is important that we make everybody understands | :30:32. | :30:35. | |
that everybody can play a role in defending against cybercrime and | :30:36. | :30:39. | |
then if they follow the advice of GCHQ, we will go far. If the | :30:40. | :30:45. | |
Minister satisfied by the support being given to social media | :30:46. | :31:01. | |
companies and the police to prevent radicalisation online. The police | :31:02. | :31:04. | |
get the corporation and we would like to see more and we will keep | :31:05. | :31:08. | |
pressing because it is important that we protect vulnerable people | :31:09. | :31:12. | |
from the effects that the Internet can have in turning them to | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
terrorism. Given the increase in cybercrime, will the new Minister | :31:18. | :31:21. | |
commits to investigate the stories of these hardware and ethical | :31:22. | :31:24. | |
concerns that destruction orders on hardware containing child | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
pornography can be successfully challenged by offenders in court? I | :31:30. | :31:33. | |
think it is important that we make sure that the data is always there | :31:34. | :31:38. | |
to help people would be convicted of their crime and it cannot be put | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
aside. I hope the macro will support the investigatory Powers Bill when | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
it returns to the House because that is one of the best ways to prevent | :31:48. | :31:57. | |
cybercrime. For clarity, nobody, particularly a child, facilitates | :31:58. | :32:00. | |
being trafficked. The Minister will know that online child abuse has | :32:01. | :32:05. | |
reached unprecedented levels and is increasing. The Internet Watch | :32:06. | :32:09. | |
foundation says there has been a an increase in child images. However, | :32:10. | :32:22. | |
children and parents are woefully underprepared to recognise or | :32:23. | :32:26. | |
prevent abuse and exploitation online, despite the fact 65% of 12 | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
to 15-year-olds own a smartphone. What does the Minister plan to do to | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
prevent child abuse other than changing their password? The obvious | :32:36. | :32:42. | |
answer to that is first of all that what we need to do is continue to | :32:43. | :32:46. | |
educate children and parents either in its goal-setting or at home to | :32:47. | :32:49. | |
make sure that they operate certainly when surfing the net -- | :32:50. | :32:58. | |
either in a school setting. The National crime agency make sure | :32:59. | :33:01. | |
there are guidelines online for everyone to follow. The National | :33:02. | :33:05. | |
cybercrime unit is responsible. They are responsible to make sure we | :33:06. | :33:15. | |
catch people abroad or at home. Whatever side of the channel they | :33:16. | :33:23. | |
are on. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will answer questions eight and 17 | :33:24. | :33:28. | |
together. The latest figures show the attempts we have made to prevent | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
abuse. Reducing the number of migrants coming to the UK will be a | :33:34. | :33:38. | |
priority for negotiations to leave the European Union. I welcome my | :33:39. | :33:47. | |
honourable friendfriend to his new role which must be one of the most | :33:48. | :33:52. | |
challenging in government. The most recent figures demonstrate that | :33:53. | :33:55. | |
despite their steps already taken by the government, we urgently need | :33:56. | :34:02. | |
new, clear, workable and effective policies so can my honourable friend | :34:03. | :34:05. | |
set out when he intends to bring these policies before the House? We | :34:06. | :34:11. | |
are committed to ringing down net migration to sustainable levels as | :34:12. | :34:15. | |
soon as possible. That will take time because until we leave the | :34:16. | :34:19. | |
European Union we will still be affected by the free movement rules. | :34:20. | :34:23. | |
But we are doing everything we can to ensure the numbers come down. At | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
every step, we will make sure we get the best possible outcome for the | :34:28. | :34:33. | |
British people and it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions in | :34:34. | :34:38. | |
advance of that. The Minister has formally got the | :34:39. | :34:41. | |
most difficult job in government and he will be a national hero when he | :34:42. | :34:47. | |
reduces immigration to the tens of thousands... Could you tell the | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
House how he is going to work with the Ministry for excepting the | :34:53. | :35:00. | |
European Union? -- for the exit from the European Union? We may have been | :35:01. | :35:06. | |
on different sides of the campaign but we are one the same side in | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
delivering net result for the British people. The Home Office will | :35:11. | :35:13. | |
be the lead department in the biggest nations but forward to | :35:14. | :35:16. | |
working with the Brexit department and I think the Prime Minister may | :35:17. | :35:20. | |
be taking an interest given her experience the Home Office. Angela | :35:21. | :35:28. | |
Eagle. In China, the Prime Minister has unilaterally announced that | :35:29. | :35:32. | |
Britain will not be adopting the points-based system which the Leave | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
campaign put so much emphasis on giving the referendum but we will be | :35:38. | :35:40. | |
doing something more effective. Can you tell us what it is? When the | :35:41. | :35:48. | |
Labour Party introduced a points-based system, the numbers | :35:49. | :35:53. | |
went straight up. In Australia, they have such a system and they have | :35:54. | :35:56. | |
higher in interrogation per capita than Britain. It points -- higher | :35:57. | :36:03. | |
immigration. An immigration system that works for Britain would decide | :36:04. | :36:18. | |
who can come into the country. The practices, GP practices in my | :36:19. | :36:24. | |
constituency have sponsored students from Beirut for a four-week learning | :36:25. | :36:31. | |
experience. This week's student, a Syrian national, has been refused | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
entry although he has come on the same basis as previous applicants. | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
Woody Home Secretary -- with the Minister review of this with me as | :36:41. | :36:48. | |
he is due to arrive shortly. It is true that those who want to come to | :36:49. | :36:52. | |
our blue-chip universities can come and study and understand there are | :36:53. | :36:56. | |
particular cases and I will come with the honourable lady and try and | :36:57. | :37:00. | |
facilitate this particular case. Can I welcome my honourable friend to | :37:01. | :37:04. | |
his post. Would he agree with me that while it is essential that our | :37:05. | :37:09. | |
excellent universities continue to attract universities from all over | :37:10. | :37:13. | |
the world, it is not sustainable to go on with a situation where almost | :37:14. | :37:17. | |
two thirds of all non-EU students who come into this country, stay. Al | :37:18. | :37:24. | |
existing rules need to be enforced. It is certainly very important that | :37:25. | :37:28. | |
when people come here to study from abroad that given the qualification | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
they get, they can take those back to their country and improve the | :37:33. | :37:36. | |
development of those countries from where they came. It is not intent on | :37:37. | :37:41. | |
getting a place from the University in the UK is a licensed estate in | :37:42. | :37:47. | |
the UK for ever. It decade ago, Labour introduced a points-based | :37:48. | :37:53. | |
system and in the referendum campaign, many MPs pledged to extend | :37:54. | :38:00. | |
it. Today, without consultation or debate, the Prime Minister ruled it | :38:01. | :38:03. | |
out and failed to tell us what would come instead. This comes as the | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
Italian government gave his warning, the more they limit people in the | :38:08. | :38:14. | |
UK, the more we will emit goods. Just as country -- -- we will limit | :38:15. | :38:22. | |
goods. The country lacks leadership. Can we finally have a proper debate | :38:23. | :38:30. | |
about what Brexit means for Britain? He may have heard somebody this | :38:31. | :38:38. | |
morning saying this morning -- that this poison a system is not a | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
panacea. The system is broken, people were allowed to, were allowed | :38:44. | :38:53. | |
to enter and search parties were sent out... A complete nonanswer. | :38:54. | :39:01. | |
People at home wondering why we are getting no answers and it is because | :39:02. | :39:05. | |
they told the civil service not to plan for Brexit. But he could | :39:06. | :39:12. | |
address the situation of EU nationals in Britain. This is | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
causing uncertainty and hostility to some nationals. The whole country | :39:18. | :39:21. | |
was appalled by the attack in Harlow in late August which led to the | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
death of a Polish national. It is in the Home Secretary's gift to change | :39:27. | :39:31. | |
this climate. Will they respect the unanimous vote of the House and | :39:32. | :39:36. | |
confirm the status of all EU nationals already here? We have | :39:37. | :39:42. | |
already made clear that the status of EU nationals is not under threat | :39:43. | :39:45. | |
at all and indeed, we have always made the point that during the | :39:46. | :39:50. | |
negotiations, so long as those same protections are available to British | :39:51. | :39:54. | |
nationals abroad, then those protections would be there for those | :39:55. | :39:58. | |
who come from the rest of Europe. I would commend the contribution made | :39:59. | :40:06. | |
by the British economy for those from further afield. Want to attract | :40:07. | :40:09. | |
the brightest and best but we will curtail those who come. | :40:10. | :40:16. | |
Cooperation between the European Union and European member state has | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
continued after the referendum results, including on European | :40:21. | :40:25. | |
arrest warrants. We are exploring opportunities for further | :40:26. | :40:29. | |
cooperation once the UK has left the EU. We will do what is necessary to | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
keep people safe but it would be wrong to set out unilateral | :40:35. | :40:39. | |
positions before the negotiations. But the Brexit secretary has always | :40:40. | :40:43. | |
campaign for us to leave the European Arrest Warrant and so has | :40:44. | :40:46. | |
the Foreign Secretary. Does she agree with them or does she agree | :40:47. | :40:50. | |
with her predecessor, now the Prime Minister, who, when we debated this | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
in this House, said that there were 901 suspected serious criminals, | :40:57. | :41:01. | |
including paedophiles, rapists and murderers, who were extradited out | :41:02. | :41:05. | |
of this country thanks to the European Arrest Warrant. Would it | :41:06. | :41:08. | |
not be better for her to say that now she would -- say that she will | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
protect British people by ensuring we remain within the European Arrest | :41:14. | :41:14. | |
Warrant. We know how important it has been to | :41:15. | :41:24. | |
keep people safe. When people voted to leave the European Union, they | :41:25. | :41:27. | |
did not vote for a less safe country. We will make sure that | :41:28. | :41:31. | |
whatever the outcome of the negotiations are that we protect | :41:32. | :41:34. | |
people and we do so in a way that is as effective as with the European | :41:35. | :41:39. | |
arrest warrant. I too welcome the Home Secretary to her first | :41:40. | :41:42. | |
questions but I do hope we will get better answers than the ones we just | :41:43. | :41:46. | |
had the immigration Minister. I will give it one more go. This time on | :41:47. | :41:50. | |
security. Last week in relation to the discussions with the French | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
Government about Calais a senior Government source bereaved the Times | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
that the UK might withdraw co-operation on counterterrorism if | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
it doesn't get its way, references the Nice attack. At a time when | :42:04. | :42:09. | |
France is facing an unprecedented terror threat this is utterly crass | :42:10. | :42:12. | |
but it is also counterproductive as the same networks that threaten | :42:13. | :42:18. | |
France could have Lynx here. Will she today distance herself from this | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
and commit to maintaining co-operation with our EU | :42:24. | :42:26. | |
counterparts including to maintain our involvement in the European | :42:27. | :42:30. | |
arrest warrant. MrSpeaker, there are something | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
differently derisory with the right honourable gentleman trying to | :42:35. | :42:37. | |
lecture this side of the House on security measures when we know how | :42:38. | :42:40. | |
divided his shadow front bench is with a leader of his party that | :42:41. | :42:46. | |
refuses to defend this country with a Shadow Chancellor who calls for | :42:47. | :42:48. | |
the disbandment of the police and does not support MI5. This side of | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
the House is absolutely clear that we will do what is right to support | :42:54. | :42:57. | |
this country and to protect this country and he is right on one | :42:58. | :43:02. | |
element, which is when I had my many conversations with European | :43:03. | :43:05. | |
counterparts I always said to them that we will work with them, | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
irrespective of Brexit to ensure our joint security. Thank you, | :43:12. | :43:16. | |
MrSpeaker. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect | :43:17. | :43:21. | |
the status of EU nationals here. The only circumstances I have already | :43:22. | :43:25. | |
said in which that would not be possible is if British citizens | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
rights in other EU member states were not protected in return. Thank | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
you. In the two months since the EU referendum the EU citizens in my | :43:35. | :43:39. | |
conconstitute yens sri have become increasingly anxious, they lie | :43:40. | :43:42. | |
awaits at nights wondering if they're still going to be able to | :43:43. | :43:45. | |
call my constituency their home. Can the Home Secretary do the decent | :43:46. | :43:49. | |
thing and guarantee that no EU citizens will be used as bargaining | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
chips in the forthcoming negotiations following the | :43:54. | :43:57. | |
triggering of Article 50? Can I repeat again that there is no change | :43:58. | :44:02. | |
in the status of EU nationals living and working in the UK. But the issue | :44:03. | :44:06. | |
is not sichlly about the immigration status of an individual, EU | :44:07. | :44:09. | |
citizens' rights are far broader than just the right to reside in the | :44:10. | :44:13. | |
UK, the right to work, entitlement to benefits and pensions, rights of | :44:14. | :44:16. | |
access to public services as well as the ability to be joined by family | :44:17. | :44:19. | |
members from countries outside the EU. All these need to be discussed. | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
The Minister will be aware that the NHS would currently not be able to | :44:25. | :44:28. | |
function without the input of skilled migrants from across the | :44:29. | :44:33. | |
world. Indeed there are presently 236 known non-Irish EU migrants | :44:34. | :44:37. | |
employed by the health board in North Wales alone. What assurances | :44:38. | :44:42. | |
can he give about the status of existing EU migrants working within | :44:43. | :44:46. | |
the NHS and post Brexit how does he see future migration policy taking | :44:47. | :44:49. | |
into account the needs of the health service? Well, I hope I have already | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
made that clear. I do recognise that EU citizens make an invaluable | :44:55. | :44:57. | |
contribution to our economy, our society and our daily lives. They | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
provide vital services, including in the NHS where almost one in ten | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
doctors and one in 15 nurses are from an EU country. That is why the | :45:06. | :45:10. | |
Government will seek an early resolution to this issue. Thank you, | :45:11. | :45:17. | |
MrSpeaker. Last week in a statement issued by the Scottish Conservative | :45:18. | :45:21. | |
and unionist party press office a Conservative member of the Scottish | :45:22. | :45:25. | |
parliament, Alexander Burnett, questioned the rights of EU citizens | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
resident in Scotland to participate in Scottish politics. This has | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
caused great concern in Scotland. Will he unreservedly condemn this | :45:36. | :45:38. | |
statement and give EU citizens resident in Scotland and indeed | :45:39. | :45:45. | |
across the UK, the assurance they are still welcome to participate in | :45:46. | :45:48. | |
politics? So long as we are members of the EU the status of those | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
citizens does not change. We are running late and I fear colleagues | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
are making up for unspoken words in August with spoken words in | :45:58. | :46:05. | |
September. That said I am very keen to accommodate two further | :46:06. | :46:08. | |
inquiries. Thank you, MrSpeaker. Fraud is a behindous crime that can | :46:09. | :46:12. | |
have a devastating effect on individuals, families, the most | :46:13. | :46:14. | |
vulnerable members of society. That's why this Government launched | :46:15. | :46:18. | |
a joint fraud task force last February with law enforcement and | :46:19. | :46:22. | |
banks and has committed is spending ?1. 9 billion over the next five | :46:23. | :46:28. | |
years on cyber security including tackling cyber enabled fraud. I | :46:29. | :46:31. | |
thank my honourable friend for that answer. Can I ask what assessments | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
he has made of fraud in my area? The joint fraud task force will cover | :46:37. | :46:40. | |
all the UK and the members of the banks etc who are on that will be | :46:41. | :46:43. | |
involved in making sure when people commit fraud they can't take the | :46:44. | :46:46. | |
money out of the country and we at least give time for people to track | :46:47. | :46:50. | |
it back. I would also like to congratulate the Dorset Police who | :46:51. | :46:54. | |
launched a fraud prevention campaign in 2015 after reports in his County | :46:55. | :47:02. | |
had lost over ?1 million to fraud. I am still not cop Vinced about what | :47:03. | :47:06. | |
the Home Secretary said about European co-operation. Could the | :47:07. | :47:10. | |
Minister confirm we will remain members of euro poll which will | :47:11. | :47:17. | |
tackle fraud across Europe. I think you might have to wait for the | :47:18. | :47:22. | |
answer, because the Home Secretary and the colleague are meeting with | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
Europol. What we continue to do is to continue with Interpol and all | :47:28. | :47:30. | |
the other forces of the European Union to make sure this country is | :47:31. | :47:35. | |
safe and secure. Thank you. Question 13. Thank you. The police and Crime | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
Bill will introduce statutory safeguards to the precharge balance | :47:42. | :47:45. | |
process including time limits and judicial - will increase | :47:46. | :47:48. | |
accountability and scrutiny in a way that's manageable for the courts as | :47:49. | :47:55. | |
well. I have met with a 18-year-old conconstitute yept in Lincoln and | :47:56. | :47:59. | |
his family, there has been no admission of guilt nor the police or | :48:00. | :48:05. | |
CPS in a charge to charge or take my constituent to charge. I am aware | :48:06. | :48:08. | |
this is an operational matter for the police but my constituent's | :48:09. | :48:12. | |
right to a family life and education are being severely detrimental | :48:13. | :48:17. | |
impacted but what I feel is the police's underfunded and | :48:18. | :48:20. | |
understaffed investigation. Will my honourable friend agree to meet to | :48:21. | :48:22. | |
discussion the situation and how best for police forces across the | :48:23. | :48:26. | |
country to avoid lengthy periods of precharge bail for particularly | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
young suspects. My honourable friend makes an important point and it's | :48:31. | :48:34. | |
not right some people can spend months or years on precharge bail | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
with little safeguards. I am happy to meet to discuss how reforms in | :48:39. | :48:41. | |
the case he talks about and we will be bringing forward further | :48:42. | :48:44. | |
amentments to the police and criminal evidence ability of 1984 to | :48:45. | :48:48. | |
ensure 17-year-olds are treated as children and safeguarded as such. | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
Topical questions. Number one, MrSpeaker. Thank you, MrSpeaker. We | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
are meeting this September after terrible events over the summer in | :48:58. | :49:01. | |
Nice, Normandy and Munich and we must step up international efforts | :49:02. | :49:05. | |
to keep our people safe and tackle violent extremism. I have spoken to | :49:06. | :49:09. | |
a number of my counterparts other the summer, not least the French | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
interior Minister and they all agree that the UK must not step back from | :49:14. | :49:17. | |
international co-operation on security and counterterrorism and we | :49:18. | :49:22. | |
will not shirk from that. In 2015 Northumbria Police were involved in | :49:23. | :49:25. | |
13 extraditions. If the Home Secretary is unable to commit to | :49:26. | :49:29. | |
retaining the European arrest warrant and I listened to her | :49:30. | :49:31. | |
earlier answers which didn't offer a great deal of comfort, can she set | :49:32. | :49:35. | |
out in much more detail how she will make sure that we will continue to | :49:36. | :49:39. | |
have the powers that we need to tackle cross-border crime, keep our | :49:40. | :49:42. | |
country safe and bring criminals to justice? Can I remind the honourable | :49:43. | :49:48. | |
Rab lady that nothing has changed yet. -- we will still have the | :49:49. | :49:51. | |
European arrest war apt in place. The Prime Minister has said she will | :49:52. | :49:56. | |
not be triggering Article 50 until next year. I would urge her to work | :49:57. | :49:59. | |
with her police force and to reassure them that nothing has | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
changed for now. We can carry on with the European arrest warrant. I | :50:06. | :50:08. | |
am assisting a constituent who has been the victim of a fraudulent scam | :50:09. | :50:13. | |
losing over ?30,000 of their life savings. The case has been referred | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
to action fraud. The Minister spoke about an increased referrals to | :50:20. | :50:22. | |
action fraud but it's result that is matter. The cases I have dealt with | :50:23. | :50:26. | |
show poor results. What action is being taken to ensure that action | :50:27. | :50:33. | |
fraud improve their performance? First of all, through further | :50:34. | :50:35. | |
investment we are investing in a new software programme for action fraud | :50:36. | :50:41. | |
that not only will improve the and lips of crimes reported to it but | :50:42. | :50:45. | |
also will allow victims of fraud to task their case in lifetime online. | :50:46. | :50:50. | |
I have also asked officials in response to my honourable friend's | :50:51. | :50:54. | |
concerns to look at how action fraud communicate with members of the | :50:55. | :50:56. | |
public because it's really important that we remember these people are | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
victims, very often they've done nothing brong whatsoever and have | :51:02. | :51:05. | |
been prayed upon by some of the worst people in society. Thank you, | :51:06. | :51:11. | |
MrSpeaker. The Home Secretary will be aware of continuing concerns | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
about the historical conduct of South Yorkshire Police. I understand | :51:16. | :51:20. | |
she's meeting the troous and justice campaign next week to discuss a call | :51:21. | :51:25. | |
for a public inquiry. Is she also aware of the tragic case of Terry | :51:26. | :51:28. | |
Coles, a Swansea City supporters who have trampled to death by a police | :51:29. | :51:33. | |
force at a football match in 2,000? Would she agree to look at the | :51:34. | :51:37. | |
evidence and accept that unless we have the truth about all these past | :51:38. | :51:43. | |
injustices we won't be able to restore trust in South Yorkshire | :51:44. | :51:46. | |
police? I thank the honourable lady for the question. She's right I am | :51:47. | :51:50. | |
meeting with the truth and justice and look forward to having that | :51:51. | :51:54. | |
opportunity to hear from them. This Government has not shirked at | :51:55. | :51:57. | |
looking at historical cases and if she wants to bring any other to my | :51:58. | :52:00. | |
attention I will certainly look at them. Thank you, MrSpeaker. Red dish | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
Borough council for welcoming five Syrian re-tees and families into our | :52:07. | :52:11. | |
town, over a third more promised than the County of Worcestershire. | :52:12. | :52:16. | |
Would she update the House on progress being made to follow they | :52:17. | :52:19. | |
follow the example of Redditch Borough council? Can I thank my | :52:20. | :52:23. | |
honourable friend for that question. It's local authorities leading by | :52:24. | :52:28. | |
example and showing how to welcome families into their community. I | :52:29. | :52:31. | |
particularly welcome Redditch council for leading ahead of the | :52:32. | :52:37. | |
pack and doing so. 188 councils so far are participating. We hope that | :52:38. | :52:41. | |
number will grow. Given the level of public concern about British | :52:42. | :52:45. | |
citizens who travel to fight with Daesh and attempt to return to this | :52:46. | :52:49. | |
country, can a Minister tell me when the numbers of those attempting to | :52:50. | :52:52. | |
return will actually be published and what action will be taken to | :52:53. | :52:59. | |
keep us safe in this country? It's incredibly important that when | :53:00. | :53:02. | |
people return and we hope that they do return, that they are properly | :53:03. | :53:05. | |
managed back into Saturday, not only if they pose a threat, that that | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
threat is managed but if they can be removed from radicalisation we take | :53:11. | :53:14. | |
the right steps to do so. I will certainly review her request to | :53:15. | :53:16. | |
publish the numbers of passports etc that have been with held from | :53:17. | :53:19. | |
individuals but first and foremost what I can assure the honourable | :53:20. | :53:23. | |
lady is that we have steps in place to make sure that these people are | :53:24. | :53:26. | |
not just left alone or indeed that we lose track of them so that | :53:27. | :53:30. | |
further risk can be put to the British people. Thank you, Mr | :53:31. | :53:35. | |
Speaker. Fraud and Scrams have a huge impact upon individuals, | :53:36. | :53:37. | |
particularly the elderly who are seen as easy pray. Does my right | :53:38. | :53:41. | |
honourable friend welcome the debate which I am leading this Thursday on | :53:42. | :53:46. | |
scams and commit to review what more can be done to tackle this rank | :53:47. | :53:52. | |
criminality? Can I congratulate the member for his leadership he has | :53:53. | :53:56. | |
shown, both on fraud but also on consumer rights and making sure that | :53:57. | :53:59. | |
the vulnerable in society are not taken advantage of. That's why we | :54:00. | :54:03. | |
set up the joint fraud task force and have invited people like Age | :54:04. | :54:07. | |
Concern to make sure the elderly, for example, are protected and we do | :54:08. | :54:11. | |
more to make sure in future the people that commit those crimes are | :54:12. | :54:16. | |
caught and the elderly are defended from unscrupulous behaviour. Thank | :54:17. | :54:22. | |
you, MrSpeaker. One of my constituents has recently returned | :54:23. | :54:25. | |
from Greece, she was work as a volunteer in a refugee centre and | :54:26. | :54:28. | |
brought back harrowing accounts of conditions facing in particular | :54:29. | :54:32. | |
young unaccompanied refugees. What steps is the Secretary of State | :54:33. | :54:36. | |
taking to make sure young unaccompanied refugees if they have | :54:37. | :54:39. | |
a right to move to the UK with families are allowed to do so | :54:40. | :54:43. | |
without any delay? Well, I thank the honourable gentleman for that | :54:44. | :54:47. | |
question. We take very seriously our obligations under the Dublin | :54:48. | :54:51. | |
agreement and will always look at how we can help unaccompanied | :54:52. | :54:55. | |
refugees, we have sonneded officials working with Greece, Italian and | :54:56. | :54:59. | |
French counterparts and hope to be able to speed up the process going | :55:00. | :55:04. | |
forward. Thank you, MrSpeaker. The Minister will be aware that the | :55:05. | :55:09. | |
Police Federation called for a review of the position regarding | :55:10. | :55:12. | |
police officers and visible. Will the Minister be able to give me | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
assure and shoons the Home Office has no intention of relaxing the | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
current guideline as soon as I thank my honourable friend for that | :55:21. | :55:23. | |
question and decisions on wlp to recruit are for the chief officer of | :55:24. | :55:26. | |
the police force kerbed and each case should be treated on its | :55:27. | :55:32. | |
merits. We have no plans to change guidance and the guidance is clear, | :55:33. | :55:36. | |
should not have tattoos that can cause offence or undermine the role | :55:37. | :55:43. | |
of a police constable. Leading os such as freedom from torture are | :55:44. | :55:46. | |
very concerned that the definition of torture used in imnebt statutory | :55:47. | :55:54. | |
guidance of adults at risk in immigration and detext should be | :55:55. | :55:58. | |
wide enough to cover. Will she agree to meet to discuss these concerns | :55:59. | :56:04. | |
urgently? I am more than happy to meet with the honourable member. I | :56:05. | :56:07. | |
understand exactly the point he makes where groups like Daesh and | :56:08. | :56:14. | |
the Taliban can be indulging in terrible acts and we need to make | :56:15. | :56:16. | |
sure we address that situation. With the minister be willing to meet | :56:17. | :56:30. | |
with the Metropolitan Police and why they are not prepared to meet with | :56:31. | :56:38. | |
people who prevented -- presented a dossier about Tower Hamlets which | :56:39. | :56:41. | |
showed a damning dossier of coronal intent on why this has not been | :56:42. | :56:47. | |
taken forward by the police? From -- criminals tend. I would be | :56:48. | :56:56. | |
willing to meet with Councillor Peter goals. This is an ongoing | :56:57. | :57:02. | |
situation and questions have been put in to investigate. | :57:03. | :57:08. | |
Can I understand from the Home Secretary's earlier answer is that | :57:09. | :57:12. | |
it is her intention that the relatives of those killed in the | :57:13. | :57:16. | |
Birmingham pub bombings should have access to legal representation at | :57:17. | :57:21. | |
the fresh inquest? I'm afraid the honourable gentleman has got a | :57:22. | :57:25. | |
little ahead of the meeting I am having this afternoon in order to | :57:26. | :57:30. | |
address exactly that proposal. No decision has been made yet. Better | :57:31. | :57:36. | |
to be a head than behind! The general consensus on that point. Sir | :57:37. | :57:42. | |
David Amis. I recently visited a UN gift box event organised by a | :57:43. | :57:49. | |
charity. Will my honourable friend agree with me that the general | :57:50. | :57:52. | |
public should do everything they can to cooperate with the police and | :57:53. | :57:57. | |
other authorities to stamp out this terrible trade. I agree entirely. | :57:58. | :58:06. | |
The public has a vital role in tackling this horrendous crime and | :58:07. | :58:11. | |
in July 2015, the Home Office ran an online campaign and on TV and radio | :58:12. | :58:16. | |
raising awareness around human trafficking and those campaign | :58:17. | :58:19. | |
materials are available on the website. A UN resolution in May, the | :58:20. | :58:29. | |
targeting of medical facilities of the Syrian government has | :58:30. | :58:34. | |
exacerbated the refugee crisis will be Home Secretary work with | :58:35. | :58:38. | |
colleagues across government to prevent this despicable targeting of | :58:39. | :58:43. | |
hospitals by Syrian government and international law is complied with. | :58:44. | :58:49. | |
The honourable lady raises a valuable point and yes, I will, we | :58:50. | :58:54. | |
will do everything we can to help the people of Syria who are | :58:55. | :58:56. | |
undergoing those terrible circumstances. Tragically, | :58:57. | :59:02. | |
ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson recently died outside his father's | :59:03. | :59:11. | |
house outside his father 's -- in my constituency after eight days was | :59:12. | :59:18. | |
used. Body cans were not being used, with the police -- body cameras were | :59:19. | :59:22. | |
not be in use, with the Minister agree that they should be? The | :59:23. | :59:32. | |
deployment of body cameras is matter for the police but it is | :59:33. | :59:35. | |
inappropriate for me to comment as there is an inquest. I have a young | :59:36. | :59:44. | |
couple in my constituency from Slovakia to have been in Scotland | :59:45. | :59:49. | |
for 15 years and began the process of applying for citizenship after | :59:50. | :59:55. | |
the Brexit diverge. The first stage is permanent right of residence. The | :59:56. | :00:00. | |
lady in this couple was refused and I cannot understand, when the Home | :00:01. | :00:04. | |
Secretary describes that nothing has yet changed, how and EU National | :00:05. | :00:08. | |
could be refused residency after living here for 14 years? It is a | :00:09. | :00:16. | |
difficult to comment on individual situations like that. But I will ask | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
the honourable lady issue will invite my department to have a look | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
and I would ask her and other honourable members to reassure their | :00:27. | :00:29. | |
constituents that at the moment, nothing has changed. There is no | :00:30. | :00:38. | |
point in naming the French for the mess in Calais if we continue to be | :00:39. | :00:42. | |
a magnet for illegal migrants. We grant asylum to more it legal -- | :00:43. | :00:49. | |
illegal migrants and deport fewer than France. Half applications were | :00:50. | :00:57. | |
granted and of the ones refuse, only half were deported. With the Home | :00:58. | :01:02. | |
Secretary take steps to deal with illegal migration? I'm always keen | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
to take action to follow the law where it is appropriate. I would say | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
to the right honourable gentleman, there are many reasons why we are | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
more popular than other countries for asylum seekers. It is often to | :01:16. | :01:22. | |
do with language, family, it is not the whole process around asylum | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
seeking. But we take it seriously to get those numbers down. As the Home | :01:26. | :01:32. | |
Secretary seen the report from the NSPCC that suggests that people as | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
young as 11 are becoming the victims of revenge attacks. When will the | :01:38. | :01:52. | |
Department do something to stop this because these pictures get out and | :01:53. | :01:59. | |
become a child abuse images. The government has brought in | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
legislation to make new offensive and also educate young people and | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
their families of the risks they are taking in sharing images of | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
themselves online. We will everything we can do to protect | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
young people. We must move on. Argent question, Mr | :02:17. | :02:25. | |
Hilary Benn. Will the Secretary of State for foreign and, love affairs | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
make a statement on government assessments of breaches of | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
international humanitarian law in the Yemen? I call the Minister at | :02:33. | :02:40. | |
the Foreign Commonwealth Office, Mr Tobias Ellwood. I would like to | :02:41. | :02:47. | |
thank the honourable member for raising this issue and pay tribute | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
to him for the work that he does in keeping the House up-to-date in | :02:51. | :02:56. | |
these matters. Recognising the importance of this, my honourable | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
friend the Foreign Secretary that adds a written statement to update | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
Parliament on the situation in Yemen. It includes references to | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
international humanitarian law. We are aware of reports of alleged | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
violations of international humanitarian law by parties to | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
conflict. And as I have said on many occasions, | :03:22. | :03:22. |