Terrorist Attack: Nice

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A theme is emerging of many Members asking questions about the radicalisation of people through the internet. I will indeed ensure that we put extra effort into tackling that and keeping it under review, and that we take down the relevant websites as often as possible.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

I welcome the Home Secretary to her new post. The shadow Home Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), rightly said that a similar terrible attack could happen anywhere at any time. Salford’s policing resources are already stretched by high levels of crime, including stabbings and shootings, in addition to the new threats. Can the Home Secretary assure me that she will protect Great Manchester police’s budget so that the police can protect my constituents?

[Amber Rudd]

The police play a critical role in ensuring that we are all kept safe, which is why my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister protected the police budget in last year’s review. However, I will certainly take a careful look at all spending within the police budget to ensure that the maximum amount is available for the clear, visible policing on our streets that plays such an important part in deterring criminal activity.

Policing

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Wednesday 4th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andy Burnham]

My hon. Friend puts it very well. Let us look at what Merseyside has said about what the proposed cuts would do. It has said that they would mean scaling down teams dealing with sexual assault and hate crime. Those are very serious implications. Where is the evidence to justify cutting the police on that scale? I have not seen it. I hope we hear it today, because this House cannot give permission to the Government to proceed with these cuts until they have made the case for what they are trying to do.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

Is my right hon. Friend as surprised as me to hear that there are Members who do not understand that, in certain parts of the country, crime is rising, not falling. Crime in Greater Manchester rose by 14% in the 12 months up to June 2015 compared with the previous 12 months. Recorded violent crime rose by 39% over the same period. Members must take account of the fact that some parts of the country are different. We have guns and gang violence in Salford, and it is a very serious issue.

[Andy Burnham]

My hon. Friend puts her case very well. Crime may indeed be changing, and moving away from volume crime, such as car crime and burglary, but that is not to say that crime is falling. As I have said before, online crime is not adequately reflected in the crime figures. She rightly says that there are worrying increases in the most serious crimes in a number of areas, including in our part of the world, in Greater Manchester.

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[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

I want to talk about the serious gang-related violence and crime happening in my constituency and in Salford, and the strain that the incidents are placing on an already-overstretched police force in Greater Manchester and on our community.

Over the past 18 months in Salford we have witnessed a frightening escalation of gang-related gun crime, with 21 shootings. Hundreds of “threat to life” warnings have been issued to people in Salford in the past nine months. These “Osman” warnings are given to people, including children, whom the police believe are at risk of being killed or seriously injured. Recently, in the Winton area of my constituency, a seven-year-old boy and his mother were shot at close range on the doorstep of their home. Both were seriously injured, and the seven-year-old boy suffered life-changing injuries. This was a sickening attack which shook the whole community locally in Eccles and in Salford, and I was shocked by it. The escalating violence in my constituency and across Salford has been linked to feuding among armed gangs which are seeking to settle disputes. The use of weapons in Salford is now becoming a regular threat. Constituents have contacted me to tell me about their fears and how they feel about living in an area where shootings happen so frequently. After the seven-year-old boy was shot, people were very fearful about the safety of their own children and grandchildren.

Despite many of the comments by Conservative Members, crime is rising in Greater Manchester. From November 2014 to October 2015, recorded crime rose by 12%, and violent crime rose by 34%. Given this rise in violent crime and the shootings on our streets, I join our police and crime commissioner, Tony Lloyd, in saying that it is time for the Home Secretary to listen to him, to stop the policing cuts, and to invest in keeping our communities safe. As he says:

“Local people are rightly concerned about the cuts to GMP and, while police officers and staff remain committed to keeping people safe, it is getting…more difficult to put the public’s mind at ease. The reality is that we are heading towards 1970s police numbers where police were used simply as an emergency response”.

In Greater Manchester, we have already lost £175 million from our police budgets, meaning a loss of more than 1,500 officers. Now, any further cuts could be very damaging. We used to have a force of 8,000 officers, with former chief constable Mike Todd saying that that needed to increase to 11,000. It is obvious to me that the Government’s cuts to police numbers are leaving Greater Manchester police overstretched, and without the extra help that is needed to deal with the gang violence I have described. I am deeply concerned about the impact that any further reduction in police numbers could have on my constituents.

Recent comparisons have been made between the current situation in Salford and the gang-related violence that happened in the past in Moss Side. Our new chief constable, Ian Hopkins, has gone on record as saying that the gang violence would not be sorted out inside a decade. Our former chief constable had said previously:

“Certain families have been ruling the roost for many many years. That’s the sort of thing that needs to be tackled and it’s going to take…10 years to do that.”

So we are facing 10 years more than 10 years. High visibility policing and proactive community work have helped to tackle the gang violence in Moss Side. Our chief constable has said that

“the key…is gaining the confidence of the community...in south Manchester…the community said ‘enough is enough’ and worked alongside us, and we’ve seen a remarkable turnaround.”

Further cuts to our policing budgets could mean that our police force just becomes reactive, only able to deal with emergency calls. As we saw in areas of Moss Side in the past, proactive strategies are needed where police work with the local community, and we need a good visual police presence.

I hope that the Home Secretary will think again before forcing any more cuts on to Greater Manchester police, because we need not less, but more help to protect ourselves from the gun crime and violence on the streets of Salford.

Wanless Review

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Tuesday 11th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I understand that in their work, Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam did investigate whether files were held by a number of other Government Departments and agencies. I have in my letter to them today made it clear that I would like further reassurance on the role of the Security Service. I trust that they will be able to look into that further and report back to me.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

Greater Manchester police admit that they failed to pursue perpetrators of child sex grooming gangs despite allegations being made to them about those gangs over a decade or a more. Our admirable friend the shadow Home Secretary has pressed the issue about the lack of police resources, so will the Home Secretary now say more about providing those resources, because Greater Manchester police will need them to investigate the levels of current and historical sex abuse that we have had in that city?

[Mrs May]

I will repeat what I said in response to the shadow Home Secretary. I have spoken with the national policing lead on this matter, who is looking at all the investigations that are taking place in forces across the country, and on what is needed to ensure that those investigations can be undertaken. One issue that has clearly emerged from the Rotherham report and from the work that the shadow Home Secretary did in relation to Greater Manchester police and the issues around child sexual exploitation was not about resources but about an attitude which did not believe or listen to the victims and was not prepared to investigate their cases. We must change that attitude of mind and change that culture.

Child Sex Abuse (Rotherham)

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. Obviously, a number of investigations are taking place to identify whether action needs to be taken against individuals who were involved in these matters. As I bring Ministers together to look at these issues, I will ensure that, where necessary, we take the best legal advice.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

The Home Secretary has already said that we are starting to unveil the extent of the problem of child abuse across the country, and it is right that other towns and cities take a look at their child protection. Will she assure the House today that she will get the overarching child abuse inquiry going soon—that is a strong feeling across the House—and underline her commitment to start to bring the perpetrators to justice right across the country, as well as in Rotherham? That is a really important message to send out to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

[Mrs May]

Yes, it is, and I expect to be able to progress the overarching inquiry within a relatively short time scale. We now have a different approach being taken by police forces across the country. For example, Thames Valley police, who have been conducting further investigations, have made a number of arrests today. They have already had the case in Oxford. There have been a number of arrests in Buckinghamshire and elsewhere, which shows that these abuses are ongoing across the country. The Government and this House are sending out a very clear message that perpetrators must be brought to justice and that the abuses should be investigated properly.

Passport Applications

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I will make a little progress and then give way. Actually, I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley), because she has been waiting for a long time.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

The majority of the delays I have seen have been for parents with very small children and babies. They have been very distressed. The problem is not just the delay in itself. As she said, my constituent, Mr Martin Griffin, had to drive up to Durham, after paying extra money, the night before the holiday. He talked about days and weeks of distress and very poor contradictory advice, with different things being told to them every day. While his wife was trying to care for their little baby son, they were very anxious about their holiday. Day in, day out they were told different things. There is no excuse for the delay, but there is no excuse for all that confusion either.

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is right. It is clear that a lot of the cases being raised are where there are long delays for families applying for their child’s first passport. Those applications should be relatively straightforward, but families are facing very long delays and that is jeopardising family holidays.

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[Mrs May]

We have been talking to the travel industry and the Post Office, which receives applications for passports through the check-and-send process. We are dealing both with those dealing with people who are travelling and with those dealing with passport applications to ensure that the messages people are getting are the correct ones.

To return to the figures I was talking about, over the first five months of this year, HMPO has processed more than 97% of straightforward passport renewals and child applications within the three-week target turnaround time. In the first two weeks of June—up to 15 June—89% of straightforward renewals and child applications were still being processed within the three-week turnaround time, so the majority of people have been receiving their passports within three weeks. Over the first five months of this year, more than 99% of straightforward applications have been processed within four weeks.

[Barbara Keeley]

I have to tell the Home Secretary that for people who have had to wait weeks and faced a distressing situation—those with a small baby who have faced the knowledge that they might not be able to go on holiday and then had to pay extra and drive up to Durham to get their passport—there is nothing more irritating in the world than to be told that other people’s passport applications are being met in three weeks. I never think it is helpful; indeed, it is the worst thing imaginable to say to people, “Other people are all right. Sorry about you.” Will the Home Secretary say now whether my constituent, Mr Martin Griffin, whom I mentioned earlier, can be refunded for having to pay extra and drive up to Durham after weeks and weeks of stress for his wife—who is trying to look after their small baby—over whether that child would get its first passport? What the Home Secretary has said today is no help to him and he will be very angry indeed to hear it.

[Mrs May]

I absolutely recognise that some people have been suffering delays and have not received their passports within the three weeks. I say to the hon. Lady and to her right hon. and hon. Friends that it is important that people out there who are applying for their passports understand what the situation is—and the situation remains that, thanks to the very hard work of Passport Office staff in passport offices up and down the country, the vast majority of people are getting their passports within three weeks. The hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) has spoken about an individual case, and other Members are raising individual cases, too. I understand why they are doing so, and I shall explain later how we hope to enhance our ability to deal with MPs’ queries on these matters and, as far as possible, to ensure that people are able to travel when they have booked their travel, and that they are able to get their passports in time.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of ensuring that complaints against the police are dealt with properly and the concern that members of the public often have about the police investigating themselves. That is precisely why we are giving extra resources and powers to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. In future, the IPCC, rather than the police themselves, will investigate serious and sensitive complaints against the police. I am pleased to say that for the other complaints that will remain with the police at local level, many police and crime commissioners are looking at how they can introduce a degree of independent oversight or consideration of those complaints.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

Greater Manchester police is constantly having to reform because its numbers have been cut by more than 400 since 2010. For the next 12 weeks, our local police and 150 specialist officers are being deployed to control a very small protest against the development of shale gas at Barton Moss. I am concerned that the police response to what is a small protest is complete overkill and very costly and that crime could soar in my constituency given that our diminished force is now being diminished even more.

[Mrs May]

I am pleased to say that crime in the Greater Manchester area is down by 9%. The hon. Lady raises the issue of how a particular protest is being policed by Greater Manchester police. That of course is an operational matter, which is entirely for the chief constable and officers of Greater Manchester police.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mrs Helen Grant)]

That is an interesting idea. There is no current plan for a national sports museum, but I know that the National Football Museum in Manchester is very popular. It is free and it receives about 100,000 visitors every year.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

MPs from both sides of the House had an excellent meeting with the FA last week on the future of women’s football. Unfortunately, the commission that the FA set up was initially all white and is still all male. What does the Minister think about that, and can we remind the FA that the future of women’s football is important, too?

[Mrs Grant]

Women do a remarkable job in football, and men do a remarkable job in football too. It is important that commissions and bodies reflect the make-up of the society they seek to represent and I have made that point very clear to all parties concerned.

Immigration Bill

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

It is right to have a proper system that is fair and supports our economy, universities and higher education sector, but also prevents abuse. It is a concern that the hon. Gentleman’s Government are dissuading and discouraging university students who want to come here from all over the world, but he should also be worried about the potential for abuse of student visitor visas, as highlighted by the independent inspectorate. Concerns were raised, but because those visas are not included in the Government’s net migration target, the fact that numbers have increased by 70% does not bother Ministers, even though the inspectorate raised the risk of abuse.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

rose—

[Yvette Cooper]

I will give way one more time, and then I must make progress.

[Barbara Keeley]

My right hon. Friend is perhaps moving on to what is not in the Bill. The Home Secretary said earlier that she wants to end modern-day slavery. Last week a dreadful case of modern slavery and trafficking ended with the conviction of a couple from Eccles who had brought a deaf 10-year-old orphan girl into the country, using the passport of a 20-year-old woman. They kept her as a domestic slave and subjected her to sexual assault. Is it not tragic that someone who is rescued, such as the victim in this case, and actually well looked after, might have been snatched back into trafficking, and ended up in a brothel or worse? The Government have not enacted measures to assign a trusted individual in such cases, although they could have done so in this or other Bills. How can we take the Home Secretary seriously when she has those opportunities yet does not take them?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It should disturb us all that an appalling two thirds of children who are rescued from slavery and trafficking go missing again and often become victims of the same traffickers or other groups. We need far stronger action on that; we owe it to those children who have been rescued, often from appalling conditions. We should not let them simply disappear again.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Monday 15th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

I have constant meetings with Defence Ministers on a range of subjects. I am happy to reassure my hon. Friend that crime in the Essex police area was down 4% in the 12 months to December 2012, so the success story of crime reduction under this Government applies to his constituents as well.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

Greater Manchester police has 825 fewer officers, including 652 fewer front-line police officers. Since the cuts started, police forces have been dealing with 14% of violent crimes against the person through community resolutions. Does the Minister agree that it is time to ensure that community resolutions are used for low-level crime and not driven just by police cuts?

[Damian Green]

There is absolutely no evidence that the use of community resolutions is driven by police cuts. Indeed, as the hon. Lady says, Greater Manchester police, like any large urban force, faces a number of difficult problems. As such, it deserves particular congratulations on the fact that in the 12 months to December 2012, crime in Greater Manchester fell by 13%, showing how effectively the force is doing its job of making Manchester safer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Keeley Excerpts

Thursday 20th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

5. What progress she has made on ensuring equality for disabled people.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Esther McVey)]

Our disability strategy, Fulfilling Potential, has been developed with disabled people. Through that we are removing the barriers that prevent disabled people from taking a full part in society. Recent indicators show that disabled people are seeing improvements in key outcomes and reduced inequalities between them and non-disabled people. We will drive that progress further when we publish a full detailed plan next month.

[Barbara Keeley]

The Government have refused to do cumulative impact assessments on their welfare changes, but these were done recently by Demos and Scope for the report, “Destination Unknown”. They found that thousands of disabled people will be hit by four, five or six different cuts to their welfare benefits simultaneously. Does the Minister think the Government have their priorities right when disabled people will be hit by a loss of £28.3 billion of support, while millionaires are enjoying a tax cut?

[Esther McVey]

The hon. Lady raises this point time and again and I have answered it. We do equality assessments on every policy change. A key reform that we have brought in for public sector duty is to ensure that equality is embedded from concept to development to delivery, right the way through. Cumulative impact assessments are not taking place because we have taken advice that they could not give a proper measurement as these changes in policy are being introduced gradually and those would therefore be inaccurate assessments. But we are doing independent assessment throughout to ensure that we are getting these policy changes right.