Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent conviction of Stephen Green, whether they intend to introduce legislation to amend the Public Order Act 2023 to ensure that it is not a criminal offence to display publicly Psalm 139 anywhere.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government respects people’s rights provided under Article 9 (freedom of thought, religion and belief), Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 11 (freedom of association and assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Government has recently consulted publicly on non-statutory guidance for section 9. We are currently analysing all responses to the consultation, which closed on 22 January, and we will publish the final guidance in due course.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by Malcolm Newsam and Gary Ridgeway Independent assurance review into historic child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rochdale, published on 15 January, what percentage of those involved in the grooming gangs were Muslim.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The independent review into historic child sexual exploitation in Rochdale identifies widespread organised sexual exploitation of children involving multiple ‘grooming gangs’. It also highlighted that many potential perpetrators were never investigated or identified.
The report does not disaggregate known offending by individual ‘grooming gang’ nor by ethnicity or religion. However, there are references throughout the report to perpetrators in these particular cases being predominantly ‘Asian’ or British-Pakistani men.
The 2020 Home Office report on Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation sets out the best evidence on ethnicity, age, offender networks, the context in which these crimes are committed and implications for national and local policy. As noted within the report, beyond specific high-profile cases such as in Rochdale or Rotherham, the academic literature highlights significant limitations to what can be said about links between ethnicity and group-based child sexual exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the circumstances in which journalists may lawfully be prevented from attending peaceful public events by (1) the police, and (2) the event organisers.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is clear that the role of members of the press must be respected. It is vital that journalists are able to do their job freely and without restriction.
Section 17 of the Public Order Act 2023 sets out that the police may not exercise their powers for the sole purpose of preventing a person from observing or reporting on a protest.
However, this does not prevent the police from using their powers, such as the power of arrest, for other purposes, for example to maintain public order and safety.
The use of police powers is an operational matter for the police. The Government is unable to intervene in operational decisions of this nature. To do so would undermine their operational independence.
In most cases, event organisers cannot exclude individuals from freely accessing public spaces.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 13 July (HL8940), whether they have taken any action to protect teachers from any threats to their safety made by Islamist groups.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains focused on supporting those who stand up to extremism.
We keep our response to extremism under constant review to ensure it is best placed to tackle the evolving threat. Alongside the police, we regularly review potential threats to ensure as are doing everything we can to protect our communities.
Advice on the safety of individuals is a matter for the police.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 27 June (HL8551), what criteria are used to determine whether groups or individuals have a "far right outlook".
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Intelligence & Security Committee’s 2022 report on Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism (ERWT) considers “far-right political outlook” as “views that Western civilisations are under threat from ‘non-native’ people and ideas.”
The report categorises ERWT as ‘Cultural Nationalism’, ‘White Nationalism’ and ‘White Supremacism’.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a Batley Grammar Schoolmaster and his family are in hiding after he showed his pupils a picture of Mohammed two years ago.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains dedicated to our commitment to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society and must always stand up to those who seek to undermine our fundamental values and spread hate.
The Home Office does not hold information on police protection in relation to this case. This is a matter for West Yorkshire Police, which is operationally independent of Government.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of, and what action they have taken in response to, the review by Sir John Jenkins into the philosophy and values of the Muslim Brotherhood, and its alleged connection with extremists and violence.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Our assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood remains as set out in the summary report published in December 2015, which concluded the movement is a secretive organisation and that parts of it – globally – have a highly ambiguous relationship with violent extremism. The UK Government continues to stand by the judgments of the review.
The Government keeps under review the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities and views when appropriate to ensure our position is based on the latest information available and we will consider action in accordance with the five commitments included in the former Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament, if and where legal thresholds are met.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 2 June (HL7951), what action they have taken against (1) groups, or (2) individuals, of Islamist extremist concern; when they took that action; and what was the outcome.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Some groups publicly demonstrate behaviours that oppose the values and principles that underpin our society. The Government is committed to tackling those who spread Islamist views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society. This includes using existing mechanisms to analyse, prevent and disrupt the spread of ideologies that can lead to community division.
We assess all evidence of those that radicalise others though their support for or justification of violence and will not tolerate those who spread divisive and harmful narratives.
We work with local, regional and national partners, including with policing, to reduce the impact of these groups in communities and limit their influence as a potential driver for radicalisation. We continue to work with law enforcement agencies and multi-agency partners to increase our understanding of new and emerging radicalising threats to society. Any violent threat is assessed and managed by the police and security services based on the threat that it is deemed to pose.
The Home Office avoids publicly commenting on whether or not specific groups or individuals are of Islamist extremist concern, as this could have a detrimental effect on our ability to take future action against them.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Minister of State for Immigration in answer to Stephen Farry on 29 March (HC Deb col 1033), whether they have adopted a common definition of "far-right"; and if so, what it is.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism defines Far Right as “an umbrella term to encapsulate the entire movement which has a Far-Right political outlook in relation to matters such as culture, race, immigration and identity”. The Home Office uses the definition as set out by the ISC in this report.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on freedom of speech of paragraph 3.10 of the Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on Firearms Licensing issued in February.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have not made an assessment of the impact on freedom of speech of paragraph 3.10 of the Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing. This paragraph sets out some of the factors to be considered by police forces when assessing the suitability of an individual to be granted a firearms certificate.
The Statutory Guidance was issued for the first time on 1 November 2021. Following a review undertaken by the Home Office after its first year of operation, a refreshed version of the Statutory Guidance was issued on 14 February 2023. There were no changes made to this particular paragraph. The factors highlighted in this paragraph are also based on earlier versions of the chapter on assessing suitability that appeared in the non-statutory Home Office guides. We will continue to keep the Statutory Guidance under review.