Olympics (Security)

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Helen Grant

Thursday 12th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that our fantastic forces’ stepping in at short notice to assist with security shows how vital they are?

[Mrs May]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Our troops do a fantastic job for us in so many ways. Their ability to step in at this stage to undertake this work and to provide reassurance to everybody coming to the games is yet another example of what a great military we have.

Family Migration

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Helen Grant

Monday 11th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I made clear in my statement the thresholds that we believe should pertain in this instance, and that only in exceptional circumstances should somebody who is committed to prison for four years or more, having committed a crime, be able to claim family rights here in the UK and that deportation is normally proportionate for those who have been imprisoned for 12 months or more. I say to the hon. Lady about the individuals concerned: I am sorry but if they do not want to risk the possibility of being deported as a foreign national offender, they should not commit a crime in the first place.

[Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)]

These proposals will help to tackle the scourge of the sham marriage. What other action is my right hon. Friend taking to address such issues?

[Mrs May]

Sham marriage is a problem and it is right that we should look at it. We are examining some further steps that could be taken to deal with it, such as combining some of the powers of the UK Border Agency and the registrars to ensure that they have greater ability to deal with what they consider to be sham marriages, should they appear. We have also stepped up our enforcement activity. As a member of the Church of England, I am sad to have to say that, as my hon. Friend may have seen, there have been cases where Church of England vicars have been undertaking sham marriages. I think that is appalling, but we have been identifying those cases and taking action.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Helen Grant

Thursday 5th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I am grateful to Lord Davies for his report and his excellent proposals. We are working with business to ensure that that will be done, particularly encouraging larger businesses to set the trend so that it can then cascade down to others. I have written to my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary to ask how we can get the same message out to private as well as public sector companies. I am pleased to say that the Home Office is setting a good example in that of the four non-executive directors on its supervisory board, two are female.

[Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that better, bolder and more ambitious career advice for our girls when they are at school and university could help bring on more female entrepreneurs?

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. It is necessary to look at the career advice given to girls to ensure that they are aware of all the opportunities open to them. That will help to increase their ambition about the sort of careers they can go for, and it is also important in respect of equal pay to let them know the financial consequences of the career decisions they make.

Counter-terrorism and Security Powers

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Helen Grant

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend accept that the last Government got the balance between security, unlimited stop-and-search powers and liberty completely and utterly wrong?

[Mrs May]

I think they did, and as I said earlier in response to the shadow Home Secretary, I am only sorry that they have not taken the opportunity of being in opposition to think again.