MOD Bicester and Illegal Migrants

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 14th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Joy Morrissey]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. This issue is not just in that area, either, but across the country. It is affecting women and girls in constituencies everywhere across the UK.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

To reiterate the point that the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) has just made in his intervention, illegal immigration and illegal migration are a massive issue in my constituency. My constituents tell me that every day that I am on the doors. Illegal migrants are a problem not just on the UK mainland but in Strangford and across Northern Ireland. My concern is that illegal migrants use the European convention on human rights system to bypass the system and to be an obstacle. Does the hon. Lady agree that it is time for the ECHR to be abolished and for those illegal migrants to be sent back home?

[Joy Morrissey]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and when we are back in government, we Conservatives will vote to leave the ECHR. We believe that we should deport illegal immigrants the moment that they arrive.

The village of Piddington has a population of only 350, and the 1,300 migrant men will be a blight on their small village—men from cultures where women are treated worse than animals; men who the Government have decided need a leaflet asking them not to rape women and girls.

Police Funding: North-east England

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Luke Akehurst]

My hon. Friend has anticipated the general thrust of my remarks. I join him in paying tribute to PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough, who lost their lives trying to protect the public.

While the Labour Government were right to provide an additional £2 million for Cleveland police in response, it struck me that the challenges facing Cleveland are not unique in the north-east region. They are faced across the Durham, Cleveland and Northumbria police forces areas. Police numbers were cut in the years after 2010. Public safety has therefore deteriorated, and our constituents are paying the price. It terrifies me to think that communities like those I represent could ever face a breakdown in law and order of the kind that occurred temporarily in Cleveland. It drew me to ask the question: why was our region left so under-resourced that it became vulnerable to such pressures?

Sadly, I can only conclude that the answer lies in an ideological choice by the Conservative party during the 14 years in which it was in government that places such as North Durham were not deserving of the necessary police resources, despite the severe social and economic challenges that our communities have faced following decades of deindustrialisation. Frankly, that decision should be regarded as nothing short of a national scandal. As I hope to demonstrate today, it has reduced safety, security and opportunity for the people of our region. The numbers paint a damning picture of how badly the last Conservative Government failed the north-east of England. Our three police forces all sit in the top four across England and Wales in terms of percentage reduction in police numbers between 2010 and 2024.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. I wanted to come along to support him in his demands, along with his colleagues from the north-east. Unfortunately, I am sorry to say that police underfunding does not just happen in the north-east; it happens to us in Northern Ireland as well. Our police numbers are down and our funding is scarce. At the same time, in the last year, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has been able to detain and seize £0.5 million-worth of drugs. I am a great believer in community policing, and I know the hon. Gentleman has the same belief. Does he agree that it will suffer? It is the frontline and the face of the police. Does he feel that the Minister’s response must place a real emphasis on community policing as a priority?

[Luke Akehurst]

Obviously, I do not share the hon. Gentleman’s knowledge and expertise of the unique policing challenges in Northern Ireland, but I appreciate his support for north-east England in this debate and his points about community policing.

I do not believe it is a coincidence that, over the same period, Durham, Cleveland and Northumbria recorded the three largest increases in crime, excluding fraud, of any police force areas in England and Wales. Today, County Durham still has 120 fewer police officers than in 2010, equating to 102 full-time roles and a decrease of 6.7%. Across the whole north-east, 578 officers have been lost since 2010, a fall of 7.8%.

In stark contrast, the areas that saw the greatest increase in police numbers were Surrey, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Thames Valley. If one were being cynical, one might point out that those are all areas that, on the whole, had Conservative MPs when the Conservative party was in government, and generally greater levels of prosperity and lower levels of policing demand than many of the communities represented in this room.

Although officer numbers across the country sit 1.5% higher than in 2010, the regional disparity in which communities benefited from increased police numbers is clear and has grown. That prompts the question: why did successive Tory Governments deem those places to be most deserving of frontline police presence? Why did politicians in Westminster at that time decide that working-class families in North Durham were less deserving of police protection than people living in more prosperous areas with lower crime levels, where police officer numbers were increased?

To compare the demand that different police forces face, we can look at the measure of police recorded crime per officer. In County Durham, there were 42 recorded crimes per officer in 2025-26, which is much higher than the national average of 36. If our county received the same funding per recorded crime as the national average, it would be £29 million a year better funded. Not only are policing numbers on the ground lower than 2010, but our area faces more incidents requiring police time.

During July 2026, Durham Constabulary received more than 10,000 emergency 999 calls, an increase of 11% compared with the same month the previous year. Demand remained high throughout the summer, with crime-related incidents more than 14% above normal levels in August. Antisocial behaviour related to off-road bikes, e-bikes and scooters poses another challenge in policing in County Durham.

My hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy), who cannot be here, has been campaigning on this issue over the past year, as have many others in the room. I commend her for highlighting the support that police officers in our area need to tackle this issue blighting our communities. Just last week, she observed 70 illegal bikes and scooters being crushed after being confiscated by Durham Constabulary.

Police chiefs in our area tell me that there were more than 1,000 more incidents each month over the summer than for the same period in 2025, representing two full days of additional demand each month. In particular, high levels of deprivation in our county translate into higher police demand related to mental health crises, drug or alcohol abuse and cases of missing children.

In the Durham and Northumbria police force areas, officers face the especially challenging combination of high levels of deprivation and extremely rural areas. It takes more money to police rural areas, due to additional travel costs and the need to maintain smaller, less efficient police buildings. I hope the Minister will set out what consideration has been given to the additional needs of police forces in rural areas that also have high levels of deprivation, and how the Government are supporting them with the unique challenges that that combination poses.

Although the Durham force has managed to maintain performance in responding to public requests for help, despite severe challenges, in other areas demand is affecting performance. According to the latest inspection, Durham had the highest rate of repeat domestic abuse incidents per thousand of the population of anywhere in England and Wales. Of 188 priority domestic abuse incidents, 118 did not meet the attendance target. That is shocking evidence of the scale of demand facing our police force and why it needs the resources to do more to protect vulnerable people and prevent abuse. Can the Minister please set out what assessment the Government have made of this particular problem and say how they will ensure that those experiencing domestic abuse in my constituency and across the region receive the same level of support as domestic abuse victims anywhere else in the country?

My message to my North Durham constituents is this: I will not allow our area to be denied the support that it needs and deserves from the state. A Labour Government will always stand up for our area and I look forward to hearing the Minister set out how we are doing that later on in the debate.

Having told Members what the numbers show, let me tell them what the impact is on typical constituents in North Durham. For a family in Stanley, it means worrying about their children being the victims of antisocial behaviour on their walk home from school. For a small business on Chester-le-Street Front Street, it means accepting that shoplifting is an inevitable cost of doing business. For a farmer near Lanchester, it means having no support to fend off perpetrators of agricultural crime who damage or steal their expensive machinery. For residents of Craghead, it means worrying that stretched police resources might prevent the prompt response and support they deserve when a crime occurs.

The consequences of stretched policing resources were hammered home to me in Parliament just last month when I hosted a group of women and girls from the Just for Women Centre in Stanley and St Bede’s school in Lanchester. In our discussion, the group highlighted their public safety concerns, recalling that they no longer feel safe walking home at night. They were clear that rather than simply catching perpetrators when awful crimes happen, our priority should be to prevent harm in the first place. I firmly believe that visible neighbourhood policing has an important part to play in preventing violence against women and girls, and in helping women to feel safe in their communities. I would be grateful if the Minister could specifically reflect on the safety of women and girls in the north-east of England and update the House on efforts in our region to tackle the scourge of VAWG and on any assessment that the Government have made of the gendered impact of the previous policing cuts in our area.

Of course, policing is not just about officers patrolling the streets in our neighbourhood; when the worst happens, it is also important to have enough officers in the response team to deal with the fallout. Too often, police shortages have meant that when major incidents occur, officers are pulled out of neighbourhood policing to respond, leaving our communities with a reduced police presence. In County Durham, such support for response teams from neighbourhood policing was provided on 129 occasions in August and 233 occasions in September. Will the Minister set out the Government’s thinking on the balance between neighbourhood policing and response teams, in particular explaining how she will ensure that when incidents occur, the towns and villages in my constituency and across our region are not stripped of their neighbourhood policing?

I now come to the rallying cry of this debate. As MPs from across the north-east of England, we are here today to call for more resources from central Government to deal with the challenges that our communities face. What we need is recognition that, because of decisions by previous Tory Governments, we are starting from a lower baseline of officer numbers than we should be. That is why I am calling for Ministers to deliver additional police numbers to the north-east on top of what is already promised through the neighbourhood policing guarantee, to reverse the cuts to policing in our area that have compromised our safety since 2010.

I welcome the Labour Government allowing Durham exceptional flexibility over our policing precept in order to prevent further avoidable cuts to our policing presence. I commend our police and crime commissioner, Joy Allen, for her consistent advocacy for policing across County Durham and Darlington, and for taking the difficult decision to propose a modest precept increase to ensure that residents are protected from crime and ASB. However, she has rightly pointed out that because our area has a low council tax base, the amount of money that we can raise locally to invest in policing is very limited. About 70% of County Durham properties are in council tax bands A and B, and I note that I am standing next to a proponent of council tax reform for those reasons, my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr Brash). Although a 1% council tax increase generates £1.9 million in Surrey, the same change in County Durham would raise only £500,000. The safety of my constituents should not depend on the value of property in their postcode. In fact, it is areas such as ours that need investment most desperately.

I know that the Police Federation, which represents 145,000 serving officers, has highlighted that reliance on council tax precepts risks a postcode lottery of funding. The Police Federation has called for a long-term funding settlement that takes that into account. Does the Minister think it is fair that local areas are expected to raise money for policing themselves when the areas that have the least ability to raise money are the same that, because of their levels of deprivation, need a police presence most?

In making this case, I am optimistic about our Labour Government, who have already shown that they care about these issues and want to deliver a fairer settlement for the north-east. Nationally, the Labour Government have been robust in making the case for a visible police presence on our streets to improve public safety, backed by a neighbourhood policing guarantee to deliver a named police officer for every community. Police funding is increasing, and after the unrest in Middlesbrough the Government acted swiftly and firmly to deliver more funding for Cleveland’s police force. The Home Secretary is also committed to a wider review of the police funding formula to ensure fairness. Will the Minister confirm when that review will happen, whether it will consider incidents of crime and ASB and whether we will see a real cash increase in funding for our north-east police forces during this Parliament?

As the Minister responds, I urge her not to lose sight of the fact that the north-east is still dealing with the consequences of years of disproportionate policing cuts. I hope she can outline what role that context plays in the Government’s thinking on the fairness of the current formulas, and how she is ensuring that this review properly takes into account the policing demand and lack of funding so clearly presented by our region.

Our constituents are not asking for special treatment; they demand that they are afforded the same level of protection as people elsewhere in the country. The safety of a family in Stanley, Chester-le-Street, Annfield Plain, Sacriston, Pelton, South Moor or Craghead should matter to politicians just as much as that of a family anywhere else in the country. That is why the Government must ensure a fair funding settlement that accounts for the challenges facing our communities to ensure policing that the public can have confidence in. Today, we are sending a clear message: the Government must do more to ensure that policing in the north-east of England is adequately funded to deliver for our constituents.

National Security

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

I repeat what I said to all members of the public in my statement: if they see anything suspicious, they should contact the police, as residents did in relation to the incident at RAF Fairford. The hon. Gentleman will know that, as the Defence Secretary has said, there is more to the investigation and how the incident unfolded than is known or said publicly at the moment. That is because the investigation has to be able to continue in the normal way—so there is more to those circumstances. But let me commend the resident in question and all others for doing their civic duty in spotting something suspicious and making sure they call the police. I would urge everybody else, if the same ever happens again, to do the same.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Home Secretary for her statement. My constituents are deeply proud of Northern Ireland’s unmatched cyber-security and resilience, but they are also deeply worried about the modern, multi-layered threats confronting our nation. We are seeing unprecedented levels of foreign interference, state-sponsored cyber-warfare, and trans-national repression from hostile states such as China, Iran and Russia, targeting democratic institutions and communities on our own soil. At a time when global instability is worsening, will the Home Secretary reassure the House that this Government will stand firmly behind our intelligence-sharing networks with key democratic allies such as Israel, rather than risking them through short-sighted, one-sided trade or diplomatic restrictions, such as those against Israel?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I assure the hon. Member, as I assured the hon. Member for South Antrim (Robin Swann) earlier, that the Government approach in relation to our people and our places in Northern Ireland is no different from our approach anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Let me also say that the Government value our defence and security and intelligence relationships with all of our allies and partners, and those relationships are important and strong, and they continue. That is also the case in relation to Israel, and we will continue working with our allies and partners to make sure that we are collectively doing everything we can to keep our people safe.

Public Confidence in the Police

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Thank you, Sir Alec, for calling me to speak. I also thank the hon. Member for Pendle and Clitheroe (Jonathan Hinder) for his introduction. The debates he brings to the House, and to Westminster Hall in particular, are usually on policing matters. He and I resonate in our comments, support and the thrust of where we are from. Interventions from others have also indicated that. I thank the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) for her 12 years of service, which is appreciated by all. I have no doubt that the hon. Lady made a positive and constructive mark in her 12 years.

I want to start by paying tribute to the wonderful work of local policing in my Strangford constituency and across Northern Ireland by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I commend Superintendent Johnston McDowell, who is responsible for policing the area I represent, along with his dedicated team in Ards and North Down. I also commend Chief Superintendent Haslett, who covers the Newry and Down side of the constituency. They work tirelessly, day in, day out, with incredibly limited resources, to keep our communities safe. We sleep easy in our beds because of the commitment of police officers across the borough.

The PSNI has been active in responding to rural crime, which is an issue. Alongside the Ulster Farmers’ Union, of which I am a member, they mark trailers, tractors and machinery. Sometimes, stolen machinery, cattle and other livestock are moved to the Republic of Ireland. Dear knows where they end up; it could be over here or even further afield.

The PSNI is stretched to the limit, yet its commitment to public duty never wavers. I have seen the policing of events, such as the 12 July parades, at which the police are vigilant yet certainly in high spirits. We thank them for the balanced way they police those parades. I have seen difficult situations where cool heads were needed, and they did not fail to meet expectations.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that confidence in policing is often undermined by the public’s use of finite clips on social media, which do not take account of what happened immediately before whatever incident is broadcast? Senior police officers and Government Ministers need to respond quickly in respect of the entire environment around the clip. We all remember the attacks in Manchester where, initially, videos seemed to show police officers overreacting, but a few weeks later the reality of what actually happened came to light. More account needs to be taken of the environment in which clips that undermine confidence are used.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank my hon. Friend and colleague for highlighting that matter. A two, three or five-second clip sometimes gives an impression of what is happening, but a wee bit more discretion and sight of what happened beforehand would be useful.

Commitment alone cannot fill the gaps left by a lack of funding. I welcome the Minister to her place and thank her for coming. I know she is not the Minister responsible, but I wonder whether she or the Minister for Policing and Crime has spoken to the PSNI or met the Minister responsible for policing and justice in Northern Ireland, Naomi Long, to ascertain the problems there. Superintendent Johnston McDowell and his team want to be more proactive, and I always think we should focus on preventive work, and more community policing.

I am old enough to remember when—the hon. Member for North East Fife referred to this—everybody knew every officer in the area where they lived. Different times mean different pressures and different needs, but I have always supported community policing in all my years as an elected representative, throughout my time on the council and in the Northern Ireland Assembly before coming here. We should, for example, encourage police officers—this is something I want to do and have tried to push—to be more involved in visiting schools. That is a chance to interact and engage with young people, to build lasting relationships and to foster trust from an early age. If those relationships can be built, the confidence and trust can be built upon.

In Northern Ireland, the PSNI is considering introducing police cadets, which I am very supportive of and which I asked the PSNI to look at. I have spoken about it to the Justice Minister, Naomi Long, who has responsibility for policing, because I think there is an opportunity for us in Northern Ireland to build on police cadets in the way that we perhaps did in the past but have lost over the last number of years. The PSNI is keen to pursue this in a pilot scheme, and I have suggested that that scheme should be in my constituency of Strangford and perhaps the neighbouring constituency of North Down. The police cadets could be an organisation that gives young people the opportunity of a job that they might be interested in and that is also about building social engagement and interacting with people.

Grassroots community policing is how we stop crime before it starts and how we build relationships in communities, but the police urgently need the funding and resources to make that happen. Without the cash, these vital community links simply cannot be sustained. I am sorry to say that, although crime is falling marginally across the rest of the Province, Ards and North Down, parts of which are in my constituency, is one of the few areas where crime has increased.

In particular, there has been a problem with antisocial behaviour. I know that the police are trying to address it in conjunction with the chambers of trade and with shopkeepers in the high street. Local shopkeepers in Newtownards and families in Downpatrick are dealing with rising antisocial behaviour, yet the thin green line is stretched thinner than ever.

With, for instance, CCTV in the centre of town and in the shops, we can ascertain what is happening and catch those involved in antisocial behaviour and theft, which is rising for shopkeepers in the constituency that I represent. At the end of the day, if someone comes into a shop and they have a knife or otherwise threaten the person behind the counter, nobody needs to be a hero in this world. The wise thing to do is to stand back and let the CCTV and the police handle the issue when it comes to following it up and trying to catch those involved.

However, we must be honest about why general public confidence is being undermined. There is a growing and deeply concerning perception about police resources. I will say this to the Minister: although policing is a devolved matter for us back home, I want to make some comments, if I may, about the focus of the police, which means they sometimes do what is unnecessary. I will give an example. When a person makes a comment on social media that is not threatening or whatever, and the next thing they know the police are at their door to ask them why they did that and what their intentions are, while real crime on the streets is not being followed up, that causes a growing and deeply concerning perception that police resources are being misdirected towards policing offence rather than preventing actual crime.

We live in a nation built on Christian heritage and values, yet we see—I say this with great respect—street preachers simply declaring the word of God being arrested on our streets. Why? Because somebody objected. Yet real crime—burglaries, car thefts, muggings and other attacks—seems to be set aside while a squad of officers descend on someone preaching the gospel to arrest him or her on the streets. That causes, I have to say, immense distress to the public. People look on in utter astonishment when someone sharing the gospel is handcuffed and hauled away while at the same time no one is available, it seems, to investigate the muggings, car thefts and house burglaries.

I will give another example. When a grandmother’s home is broken into and she is told, “A police officer can’t attend for a few days, but they will be there,” yet there is a street preacher down the road who just happens to be preaching the gospel and a squad of officers arrive and arrest that person for causing offence, public confidence does not just falter—it shatters. The public want to see the police focusing on thugs, thieves and burglars, not on policing speech or theological debate, which seems illogical and unnecessary.

I am ever mindful that back in Northern Ireland we have had a sustained IRA campaign that my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) and I have lived through physically, both as elected representatives and as citizens of Northern Ireland. The emphasis on paramilitary activity has decreased greatly, but there is still a constant threat from that small portion of militant republicans who seem to want to take us back to the bad old days. The police seem to have got the better of them at this stage and have been able to catch them before they do most things, but a bomb was found in south Armagh over the last weekend and we have also had attacks in Belfast and Lisburn where the IRA militant group seemed to be intent. The issue for us in Northern Ireland is that we still have a terrorist campaign that, while greatly reduced, still has the ability to bring chaos.

To conclude, we must give our local teams—that is Superintendent Johnston McDowell, Chief Superintendent Haslett and Chief Constable Jon Boutcher—the funding they need to embed themselves in our communities while also ensuring that policing priorities return to common-sense core law enforcement. We need to police crime, not offence. That message must come from this place and resonate throughout every policing district within this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and I believe that it must begin today.

--- Later in debate ---

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I congratulate the hon. Member for Pendle and Clitheroe (Jonathan Hinder) on securing the debate.

Something odd has happened recently that has turned the debate about crime and policing in this country on its head. The hard right have always presented themselves as the defenders of law and order, but a problem has arisen because people on the hard right, in Reform and parties such as Restore, have started to argue about two-tier policing. That is a daft suggestion—there is nothing of the sort—but such accusations are a real problem in this country, because all sorts of issues have arisen and trust in the police has diminished specifically as a result.

According to the Office for National Statistics, confidence in the police has decreased in the past decade, even if crimes against people and property have mostly decreased. Tackling that will require proper resourcing. The hon. Member for Pendle and Clitheroe mentioned the 20,000 police yo-yo: there were 20,000 police fewer, and then the previous Government restored them. There is still a question about whether the Government have fulfilled, or are on track to fulfil, their pledges on police numbers.

[Jim Shannon]

At the same time as the number of officers remains the same, the population has increased dramatically. Surely the right way of doing this would be to ensure that if the population increases, the number of officers does too. Does the hon. Member agree that the 28,000 would not be enough, and that it should be more?

[Max Wilkinson]

I have an awful lot of sympathy with what the hon. Member says. We could get into a debate purely about police numbers—I know that the hon. Member for Pendle and Clitheroe was not keen to—but we should focus on not just the numbers but the visibility of police officers. We need police counters in our local communities and police officers on our streets.

In contrast with Members who have suggested there is two-tier policing, I would like to place on record my party’s thanks and admiration for hard-working police officers and their public service—I believe there are at least two former officers here today. I would also like to thank the police team in Cheltenham, ably led by Inspector Steve Benbow and Superintendent James Glansfield, who I visited recently. This debate is not about parochial local issues, but it is important when we have experience of joining our police officers on the streets that we reflect that in this Chamber.

During my visit, I learned that police officers in Cheltenham work very hard in increasingly difficult circumstances. I joined Inspector Benbow and Superintendent Glansfield as part of Operation Shield, which followed a summer in which we suffered very visible antisocial behaviour and crime in our town centre, and I know that that has been reflected in towns and cities across the country. One of the most arresting things I learned was that even in Cheltenham, which most people think of as a well-heeled place, there are several, mostly independent, shops where large groups of teenagers are making the lives of the shop workers and owners a misery. We were shown a video captured on a mobile phone by a shop owner of what looked like dozens of teenagers. They apparently go into that shop several times a week, steal stuff and abuse staff. That is not acceptable.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jo White]

As I am standing in for the Policing Minister, I cannot immediately answer that question, but I am sure that the hon. Member will get an answer as quickly as possible.

We are committed to a wider review of the police funding formula to ensure that force funding is fair and keeps the public safe. A new approach to allocating funding will be brought in as part of our reforms to police structures.

Public confidence in policing depends on communities knowing what they can expect from the local police service and on seeing those expectations met. That is why the Government are introducing local policing guarantees, which will provide greater transparency and accountability on the policing services that matter most to the public.

The Government have committed to setting clear expectations on the issues that matter most to the public, including a target for forces to attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas, alongside measures to improve the speed with which 999 calls are answered. However, public confidence is about more than response times alone. It is also shaped by whether victims receive a good service and whether forces are effective at tackling crime.

HMICFRS’s recent “State of Policing” report urged forces to make urgent improvements in how they investigate crime and secure justice for victims. Forces must get the basics of investigation right. The Government are strengthening the way police performance is monitored and improved. Through the policing performance system, inspection findings are brought together with analysis against the police performance framework to provide a comprehensive picture. This enables earlier identification of concerns and targeted support in collaboration with the College of Policing, and intervention where required. A stronger focus on delivering better outcomes for victims and the public will play a key part in rebuilding and maintaining trust and confidence for victims of crime and communities.

[Jim Shannon]

I understand and respect that this is a devolved matter, but I asked a question on which I hope the Minister can give me the assurance that I seek. Northern Ireland is one part of the United Kingdom where terrorism is still active, although to a lesser extent. To police that correctly and effectively the PSNI needs resources. Will the Minister please have discussions with the relevant Minister to ensure that it has those resources? She has given an assurance on resources elsewhere in the United Kingdom; we in Northern Ireland need equal and effective resources, to ensure that the terrorism threat in Northern Ireland is dissipated and reduced.

[Jo White]

I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman’s request is passed to my colleague the Policing Minister when she returns.

All communities deserve to have trust and confidence in the police. That starts with ensuring that those who enter policing are vetted and assessed thoroughly and remain suitable to work in policing throughout their service. This year we delivered our manifesto commitment to introduce mandatory standards on vetting. As part of those standards, applicants who have a caution or conviction for relevant VAWG offences, including domestic abuse and sexual offences, are disqualified from entering policing. A presumption of withdrawal of vetting clearance applies for serving police officers in these circumstances.

The Home Office has provided HMICFRS with £100,000 for this financial year to expand the scope of its integrity inspections. These will now look at recruitment and selection processes alongside vetting in every force in England and Wales. We have also provided £425,000 to the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council to develop an accredited regime on vetting. This will include the development of standardised training and stronger intervention in forces that are not complying with vetting standards.

The Home Office has to date provided approximately £3.5 million towards the NPCC’s continuous integrity screening programme. This is developing a system that will provide automated alerts from the police national database to forces in relation to anyone working in policing, enabling forces to take action earlier. Where police fall short of the standards expected of them, the public rightly expect that they will be held to account. The Independent Office for Police Conduct plays a crucial role in overseeing the police complaints system. It also investigates the most serious and sensitive matters, such as deaths and serious injuries and serious allegations of corruption involving the police. The Government announced plans to reform the governance of the IOPC to strengthen its accountability and resilience.

On 30 July the Home Secretary launched an independent end-to-end review of the police accountability system. It will be chaired by Dame Lynne Owens and Jason Beer KC, and will report in six months. It will establish whether the police accountability system is fit for purpose, whether it is transparent, and how we can minimise avoidable delays for victims, families and officers.

I agree that public confidence and trust in policing have been damaged by the social media clips referred to by the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell). Trust cannot be built through slogans or by drawing policing into wider debates. It is rebuilt when people see officers on their streets, know that crimes will be investigated, receive a proper service when they need help and have confidence that the highest standards are upheld. I agree with the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) that we as MPs have a responsibility to develop and give respect to the police officers in our communities, and to signal the way in which we should work with the police in order to build community strength and cohesiveness in the constituencies we represent.

Trust in the police matters because policing in the UK is fundamentally based on consent. When people trust the police, they are more willing to report crime, share information, act as witnesses, comply with the law and work with officers to solve local problems. We recognise that trust and confidence are stronger in some communities than in others, and that confidence has declined over time. That is why the Government are focused on practical action: restoring neighbourhood policing, increasing transparency about police performance, strengthening accountability, modernising police force structures and ensuring that forces have the support they need to tackle the crimes and antisocial behaviour that matter most to local people.

The reforms are about having the right policing in the right place, so that people feel safer, see police where they live and know they will get the help they need when they need it. The programme is needed to improve effectiveness and restore public trust, creating a stronger, more co-ordinated national approach to the capabilities that underpin policing. The public do not want a police service that is distracted from its core mission; they want a police service that prevents crime, protects communities and serves victims. That is exactly what our reforms are designed to deliver.

Let me turn to the matter of people knowing who their local police officer is. Neighbourhood policing is essential to restoring public confidence in the police. Officers who know their communities are better placed to understand local concerns, respond to issues that matter to residents and provide visible reassurance when needed. Every community deserves to have visible, proactive and accessible neighbourhood police officers. Through the neighbourhood policing guarantee, we are strengthening the connection between police and their communities by committing to delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament.

The Government recognise the profound and lasting impact that sexual violence can have on victims. We know that victims do not always receive the response or support they deserve, and that that has contributed to these crimes being under-reported. I am listening to the points raised by the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain). That is why we are committed to improving the police response to sexual violence to ensure that all victims are heard, taken seriously and treated with dignity.

To ensure consistency, we established the national centre for VAWG and public protection in April 2025. The centre provides co-ordinated national leadership in policing to tackle violence against women and girls. In addition, the centre is supporting all forces to implement the learnings of Operation Soteria, an academic-informed programme that has transformed the investigation of rape and sexual offences. As part of this, forces must maintain a commitment to continuous improvement—an acknowledgment that ongoing learning is essential to improving outcomes and experiences for victims. We want every force to have the right specialist capability to address sexual offences. That is why we have asked all forces in England and Wales to implement specialist rape and sexual offence teams by December 2027.

Hate crime is a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, which places clear legal duties on platforms to take proactive action against illegal hate content online. The Government also fund the national online hate crime hub, the national policing capability dedicated to online hate crime.

Let me say in response to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) that police and justice are devolved to Northern Ireland, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s main budget is allocated by the Northern Ireland Department of Justice. The Northern Ireland Executive’s programme for government recognises that PSNI officer numbers are low, and I welcome the Executive’s commitment to grow police officer numbers in line with the 2020 New Decade, New Approach agreement.

In closing, I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle and Clitheroe for securing the debate, and I thank everyone who has contributed. We have covered a lot of ground, and yet the nature of the topic means that inevitably, there is much more that could be said. I know that the Policing Minister will take great interest in the discussion that we have had today, not least because the question of how we drive up confidence in policing is one that concerns us all and has an impact on the lives of everyone across this country. As I have set out, the Government are taking action across multiple fronts, and we will continue working closely with the police to ensure that they have everything they need to maintain public trust and deliver for the communities that depend on them.

Vehicle Theft

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2026 Westminster Hall

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the matter of vehicle theft.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. Data commissioned by the Liberal Democrats shows that since the start of 2025 115,448 instances of vehicle theft have been recorded across England and Wales. Home Office data shows that vehicle theft has risen by 75% in the past decade. Even accounting for the increased number of cars on our roads, theft rates have risen from 2.71 to 4.42 cases per 1,000 privately owned cars. To put those figures into perspective, that is one vehicle stolen in England and Wales every four minutes. According to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, 357,000 cars and vans have been stolen in the last five years alone.

In 2025-26, Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary recorded 2,408 cases of vehicle theft. Although that represents a slight decrease from the year before, when 2,455 cases were recorded, it remains far too many. Local police have told me that vehicle theft is increasing in my constituency. Car theft is not a victimless crime: behind every statistic is a person whose life has been disrupted.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Lady for bringing forward the debate. In 2025, 154 aggravated vehicle-taking offences were recorded across Northern Ireland. Stolen vehicles are often driven dangerously, which places the public and emergency services at risk. In June 2026, a man was charged with attempted murder in Downpatrick after a stolen police car was driven at an officer, leaving him with serious injuries. Does the hon. Lady agree that we must do more to deter individuals from engaging in aggravated vehicle theft, including by having harsher penalties, which are necessary to reduce these offences, thereby protecting the public?

[Liz Jarvis]

The hon. Member makes a good point.

This is also about the human impact of these crimes. I have heard from constituents, including NHS workers who have not been able to get to work or do the school run because their car vanished overnight. In one case, a couple told me that they saw a van pull up outside their property, and then someone get out and simply drive their car away. In April this year two constituents woke up to find that their brand-new car had been stolen while they slept. The insurance payout did not cover the real cost of a like-for-like replacement. The feeling of intrusion was significant for my constituents, whose sense of personal safety and security have been violated by the thoughtless crime that took place just metres from where they slept. The emotional toll was difficult for them both, and being without a car for several weeks was very disruptive: they had to cancel hospital appointments and other commitments, including collecting their grandchildren from school.

For tradespeople, the impact can be even more direct. A van is stolen every 52 minutes in this country, taking with it the tools of someone’s trade and their ability to earn a living. For many of my constituents, there is not always a bus to fall back on. With the 61 bus service cut in late 2025, there is one less option for residents who no longer have a car to rely on. Losing a car to theft leaves people feeling exposed and unsafe in their own homes. Their sense of security, once lost, is hard to win back.

To understand why this crisis is accelerating, we need to look at how these thefts are being carried out. The methods being used today bear little resemblance to the car thefts of a decade ago. The most common method now is relay theft, where criminals used a signal amplifier to capture a key fob signal from inside the owner’s home and then relay it to a device held next to the car. That tricks the vehicle into unlocking and starting without the key being present. Another method is controller area network bus injection, which involves physically accessing the vehicle’s onboard computer through an exposed entry point, using plug-in devices disguised as harmless electronics.

What should concern us most is how accessible this technology has become. These are not improvised tools: devices targeting high-end vehicles can sell for more than £20,000, so there is a serious criminal market built around vehicle theft.

Safety of the Jewish Community

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. I thank the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) for securing the debate and highlighting this issue.

I rise to speak on a matter that touches the very core of our shared humanity, freedom of religion and democratic values: the safety and security of our Jewish community. As the Member for Strangford, I have never hidden where I stand. I am an unapologetic friend of Israel. Although I may not agree with every move of the Israeli Government at all times, I will always stand up in this House against those who seek to bully or delegitimise the Jewish state. One does not need to share my geopolitical views to recognise that what is happening to Jewish people on our streets is an absolute disgrace. The hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet has underlined that, and I congratulate her on setting the scene incredibly well.

The stats paint an horrific picture. The Community Security Trust recorded nearly 2,000 antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom in the first six months of 2026 alone, making it the second highest first half of a year for such incidents ever recorded. We are seeing record levels of online hate, alongside physical assaults, threats and the desecration of Jewish property. This is not a temporary surge; it is becoming a terrifying new normal, and that has to be stopped. I look forward very much to the Minister’s response and to hearing what the Government will do to address the issue.

We see the spillover of such poison in Northern Ireland, where global political tensions are being used to justify systematic exclusion. Just a few days ago, in Londonderry, four young Israeli triathletes were forced out of the Europe triathlon cup. The local hosting group, the North West Triathlon Club, openly declared that it could not support the participation of the Israeli athletes, arguing that their presence would “normalise” Israel on the international sporting stage.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

That incident happened in my city at the weekend. Jewish athletes from Israel were forced to withdraw from the triathlon as a result of the hateful bile of these hard-left bigots. They complain about the far right, but we have to be consistent in any criticism and calling out of violent rhetoric, whether on the right or the left. Such antisemitic terrorism has to be called out and hopefully prevented in the future.

[Jim Shannon]

I saw my hon. Friend on the TV and heard him on the radio over the weekend, speaking out on this issue. There is something wrong with the North West Triathlon Club in declaring that it could not support the participation of the Israeli athletes. Because the local organisers refused to back the NWTC, and with protests looming, the Israeli Triathlon Association was backed into a corner and forced to ask World Triathlon to remove the athletes for their own physical safety. It is an absolute disgrace that an organisation should do that in Londonderry of all places, or anywhere in this United Kingdom.

The ITA is now actively considering legal action over what it rightly describes as discriminatory treatment. When a so-called sporting body allows local political pressure to dictate who can stand on the starting line, the very purpose and integrity of international sport is destroyed. It mirrors the hostility we saw in Belfast city centre, where an Israeli television news crew was physically assaulted. Why? Because they were Israelis—because they were Jewish. A cameraman was injured simply because of his nationality. The extreme terrorism, attacks and potential attacks on Israelis in Northern Ireland worries me greatly.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

When the Labour party went through a terrible time with our own antisemitism crisis, the hon. Gentleman was a staunch friend of the Jewish members of my party, and I know that many of them remember him fondly for that. He is highlighting most starkly that this is not about Jewish people living less Jewish lives; it is about Jewish people living less public lives because of the constant fear of what questions they will be asked about geopolitical issues far outside their own sphere of influence or interest. We therefore have a less rich society, because those who can make contributions do not participate. I am sure the hon. Gentleman agrees that we need religious freedom and a diverse culture, and that if people retreat from public spaces, they are left vacant for those with nefarious intent.

[Jim Shannon]

The hon. Gentleman describes the issue very well. People of Jewish faith and those of Israeli nationality are unable to lead their normal lives, as he says.

I agree with my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson), the DUP leader, who hit the nail on the head when he said that

“strong opinions on Middle Eastern conflicts can never justify hatred, intimidation, or violence against Israeli or Jewish people.”

Having witnessed where identity-based hatred leads in my country, we must reject it completely. My right hon. Friend was right to call out the offensive delays in the removal of hostile slogans such as the graffiti targeting staff at the Royal Victoria hospital.

We have heard those three examples of hatred against Israeli and Jewish people in their work, in their play and in their normal lives. The Belfast Jewish Community is a valued neighbour. As the deputy chair of the Belfast Jewish Community recently warned, these incidents risk branding our region with a reputation for unchecked hostility, so we must uphold the Jewish community’s freedom from persecution and guarantee their safety.

I urge the Minister to ensure robust support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the authorities to protect places of worship, clear our streets of intimidation, ensure that international sport remains open to all without political vetting and keep our communities safe. The Government must acknowledge the problem and seek a solution. Will the Minister liaise with the relevant Minister in Northern Ireland and the PSNI—the police force dedicated to the safety of all the people in Northern Ireland—about how Jewish people are under the cosh? It is time that the Government here, the Government back home and the PSNI stepped up and ensured that Israelis and Jewish people have the freedom to live a normal life—the very thing that we want them to have.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim Shannon]

I met a Jewish student from Queen’s University Belfast at a synagogue a year and a half ago. She informed me that Jewish students there are under particular pressure. When it comes to universities across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, there is nowhere that the enemies of Jewish people are not present. Jewish students at Queen’s University Belfast have had to retreat into a small shell just to get away from the hatred and bile of those who hate them. That is an example of universities going the wrong way.

[Mark Sewards]

I could not agree more. Unfortunately, I am about to share some statistics that underline that problem even further.

I secured a debate on antisemitism on university campuses in this Chamber back in June, and I shared findings from the Union of Jewish Students’ “Time for Change” report, which underlines the seriousness of the issue. One in five students—20%—would be reluctant to, or would never, share a house with a Jewish student. One in four students—this is from all students—did not care very much, or at all, if Jewish people were forced to hide their identity. The figures shocked me then and still shock me now. What is happening on our campuses is sickening.

This is about so much more than individual incidents. It tells us something about the environment in which Jewish people are having to live their lives in all spheres, including university campuses. Jewish identity should not be something that any student has to explain or justify, and neither should Jewish students be treated as representatives of the Israeli Government simply because they are Jewish. The UJS has put forward practical recommendations in its report, which I urge the Government to consider seriously: they must be implemented. I would be grateful if the Minister set out how the Government might implement those measures, or how they are working across Departments and with universities, the police and Jewish community organisations to ensure a genuinely co-ordinated approach to ensuring that Jewish students are safe on campus.

Whether it is a Jewish student on a university campus, a family at a synagogue or a Jewish organisation facing threats from abroad, the principle is the same: British Jews should not have to organise their lives around antisemitism. The British Jewish community is an integral part of our society and national story. They belong here—they always have and always will—and we will always speak up for them.

European Entry and Exit System

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

The hon. Gentleman perhaps ascribes to me greater power than I have with regard to convening international summits. This issue is being considered outside of that process, anyway—these conversations are happening every day. I also know that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will meet her European counterparts next week and that the EES is on the agenda for that meeting. That work is going on.

I am concerned to hear about the inconsistent scanning, which I know has a profound impact on businesses and workers. If there are examples, I would be very keen to look at them, to make sure people are not being affected in ways they should not be.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister very much for his positivity in his answers—he always tries to calm us when it comes to these questions, fairly successfully. While the Home Office scrambles to prevent chaos at English ports, what specific, targeted measures is the Minister putting in place at our Northern Ireland seaports—such as Belfast and Larne—and at our airports, to stop this EES loophole turning Northern Ireland into a magnet for illegal, untracked transit into the rest of the United Kingdom?

[Alex Norris]

It is important to say that of course, there will not be EES checks at those ports; the only EES checks taking place on UK soil are at the juxtaposed ports I have talked about. Nevertheless, I am very interested in the travel arrangements and good holiday arrangements of the people of Newtownards and the rest of Strangford. It is really important that when they get to their destination and when they come home, they are able to flow through, and we are having conversations with all member states on that basis. Similarly, the hon. Gentleman will have heard about the changes and flexibilities we are introducing with regard to our domestic e-gates, to make sure that when his residents get home, they can get through their ports more quickly.

Defibrillators in Police Vehicles

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2026 Westminster Hall

[Steve Darling]

I have raised that very issue with Devon and Cornwall constabulary. Following an awful incident, a grieving mother is trying to ensure that we have stab kits across the United Kingdom. As I am sure my hon. Friend has done, I have corresponded with Avon and Somerset police on this issue. Bleed kits can save lives. I have had conversations with the security staff who support us. It is quite shocking to learn what they have in their bags in case there is an incident at an MP’s constituency surgery or another event. Such measures should not be focused solely on people like us; we need to make sure that there are opportunities to support people out in the community.

Going back to the serious issue of cardiac arrests, the medical evidence shows that for every minute without intervention, there is a 10% reduction in survival for individuals.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. By equipping every police vehicle with a device, such as the CU Medical iPAD SP1 or the Defibtech Lifeline AUTO, we will expand our chain of survival on the roads. Our police officers are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we must give them the physical tools to ensure that when a father, mother or child collapses on our streets, they have the best possible fighting chance of returning home to their loved ones—the very thing he is trying to achieve?

[Steve Darling]

The hon. Member makes a valuable point. Resuscitation Council UK highlights that if there is an intervention within three to five minutes, the chances of survival are between 50% and 70%. It really is all about timing and how we can significantly impact that.

A survey that the all-party parliamentary group for defibrillators undertook with all police forces across the country found that less than 10% of response vehicles have defibrillators as standard. That is really disturbing, because the police are often the first on the scene, as was the case with Jay. Naomi’s Our Jay charity has done stellar work in assisting both Bedfordshire and Warwickshire police to get defibrillators in a number of their vehicles. That had an immediate impact on saving lives. Within days of them being put in the back of vehicles, there was clear evidence of the impact they made. I hope the Minister will take that into account.

Another important element is that when mapping out where defibrillators are in communities, we often find they are in more affluent areas. The more deprived communities have fewer defibrillators, for whatever reason.

Asylum Accommodation

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

I think that is slightly unfair. The hon. Gentleman knows that they will all close by 2029, but within that, none of them will be open for a day longer than they need to be. In terms of criteria, a range of factors including size, condition and location goes into the decision making. I appreciate that in a process of reducing the number from a couple of hundred hotels to nil, everybody will want to be the first one, but all of them will close.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister very much for his statement and for his clear commitment to addressing these issues. That cannot be in doubt. This continues to be a massive issue in my constituency of Strangford and, indeed, across all of Northern Ireland. The shifting of thousands of individuals out of hotels and into large-scale alternative accommodation sites such as military barracks, vessels and repurposed institutional facilities is not a solution. It is simply moving a massive, expensive problem from one community’s doorstep to another’s, so when will the Government stop managing the symptoms of illegal immigration and start deploying the robust enforcement, rapid detentions and immediate deportations needed to secure our borders and end this accommodation crisis once and for all?

[Alex Norris]

It is rare that I disagree wholeheartedly with the hon. Gentleman. His incredible work on the persecution of Christians abroad, for example, is something on which I agree with him, and it shows the importance of having managed but humane asylum systems around the world. That is what we must have in this country. I did not take it from what he said that we are actually that far apart. He talks about the cost in financial terms and about the cost in terms of the community. I share those concerns. These types of schemes are part of changing that reality, because they will reduce the pull factors so that people are not tempted to come here or exploited by traffickers to do so. I think that that is the right balance.

Border Security: UK-Ireland Co-operation

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered UK-Ireland co-operation on border security. 

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. Ten years ago today, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. That historic decision should have ushered in a new era. People voted to strengthen our borders, reclaim our sovereignty and put the safety of our citizens first.

During the negotiations that followed, Northern Ireland was repeatedly assured that our place in the United Kingdom would be respected and protected, but what has followed has been nothing short of betrayal. Post-Brexit settlements were largely negotiated by politicians who voted to remain—people whose hearts were never in the democratic mandate with which they were entrusted. The result: a border system so broken that only one asylum seeker has been returned to the Republic of Ireland since 2020—I repeat, that is only one asylum seeker over a five-year period—even as illegal entrants exploit the border day after day. That is simply unacceptable.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend my hon. Friend for securing this debate. The party that she and I belong to has been highlighting this back-door approach for a number of years, but the Government have refused to act. The people recently took to the streets in their thousands to tell their Government peacefully that action was needed. Does she agree that the Government must listen and begin to act today? We look forward to what the Minister will say to reassure us.

[Carla Lockhart]

I will address just that as I go on with my speech. We are the only part of the UK with a soft land border with the EU. That reality has been downplayed by politicians in London and Dublin alike when it comes to illegal immigration. Northern Ireland has been left uniquely exposed—the weak link in the UK’s border security chain—and our people have been put at risk. In the case of the Sudanese attacker, they were quite literally at risk of life and limb. The attempted beheading in Belfast has served as a brutal reminder to us all. That is what happens when Northern Ireland’s security is treated as an afterthought.

The attacker came here illegally. He travelled from Sudan to Paris, flew to Dublin and took a bus to Belfast. That is all public knowledge. He was granted asylum with astonishing haste. He passed through two other safe countries first. He completed a 10-page application to gain access—really? It is simply not acceptable that our UK border with the Republic of Ireland has been left so porous.