Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government will keep the list of proscribed organisations under close review, as we seek to protect the UK from the threats that we face. However, we will not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.
The Government is clear that Iran’s malign activity, including the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK. The UK already maintains sanctions on over 400 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation, including sanctioning the IRGC in its entirety. The Government will continue to consider what further steps may be taken to deter Iran’s malign activity.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential security threat from China to the UK.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
As a matter of long-standing policy, we do not comment on the detail of security and intelligence issues.
More generally, the government’s first duty is to protect our national security and keep our country safe. We keep potential threats to the UK under constant review and, where necessary, we use all the tools at our disposal to mitigate these threats.
When it comes to China this Government will take a consistent, long term and strategic approach, rooted in UK and global interests. We will cooperate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must, including on issues of national security.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the influence of the (a) Iranian regime and (b) Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the UK.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government does not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats. But the UK will always stand up to threats from foreign states. This government will always take threats to the UK incredibly seriously.
Iran’s malign activity, including the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK.
In concert with partners, the UK Government will continue to use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and its overseas interests against any threats from the Iranian state, including malign influence.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help protect (a) Hong Kongers, (b) Uyghurs and (c) Chinese dissidents who are resident in the UK from transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK does not tolerate attempts by the authorities of Hong Kong or China, or any other country, to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK. We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. This involves taking a proactive approach to countering the most acute forms of state-directed threats to individuals.
The National Security Act 2023 strengthens our legal powers to counter foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with additional tools to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats.
Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Captogan has been found in the UK; and whether his Department is taking steps to prevent it becoming available.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In December 2021, the Government launched its ten-year drugs strategy, to cut crime and save lives. As part of this, £300 million has been allocated to fund activity to break drug supply chains from end-to-end, This includes restricting upstream flow, securing the UK border, and ensuring we remain agile in the face of changing threats.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) regularly assess the threat posed to the UK by the trafficking of illicit drugs. At this time, we are not aware of any captagon on UK streets and to date, no instances of captagon being seized at a UK border have been recorded; however, shipments have been seized in Europe.
As such, the UK will continue to seek coordinated global action to address the effects of the captagon trade, in close cooperation with our regional partners.
Beyond this, the UK Government and its law enforcement partners are leveraging our extensive international networks to maximise cooperation with other governments to tackle drug trafficking upstream. This includes identifying and disrupting organised crime groups aiming to exploit the UK, and seizing drugs before and during their journey to the UK.
Additionally, we are also funding Border Force and the NCA to develop and deliver innovative intelligence-led approaches to securing our border which keeps pace with changes to routes and methods used by criminals.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK's national threat level following the recent (a) Hamas terrorist attack in Israel and (b) Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Security)
The UK National Threat Level remains at Substantial meaning an attack is likely and will continue to be reviewed to ensure it accurately reflects the threat of a terrorist attack in the UK.
Considerations have and continue to be made in light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help prevent white diesel thefts following the changes to use of rebated diesel introduced from 1 April 2022.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is working closely with police and industry partners to do everything we can collectively to drive down acquisitive crime, including theft of diesel.
The Home Office funded the set-up of the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP), which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle crime affecting rail networks, utility, agricultural and construction companies. Reports of fuel theft are being mapped through this Partnership to provide insights on the scale of these thefts and potential preventative measures.
Fuel users who store any type of diesel in tanks or in vehicles and machinery on their site(s) should continue to take steps to ensure this is stored securely. Practical crime prevention advice is published on the Secured by Design website, developed by the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives: https://www.securedbydesign.com/guidance/crime-prevention-advice/fuel-theft.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to investigate and prosecute people who abuse positions of trust by commencing relationships with people under the age of 18.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy affirms the Government’s commitment to ensuring there are no safe spaces for offenders to abuse and exploit vulnerable children.
The criminal law is clear: any sexual activity with a child under 16 is a criminal offence, regardless of whether consent is given. Any non-consensual sexual activity is also a crime, whatever the age of the victim and whatever the relationship between the victim and perpetrator.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 also contains a number of offences which criminalise sexual activity with a child under the age of 18 by people who hold a “position of trust” in respect of that young person even if such activity is consensual, effectively raising the age of consent from 16 to 18 in those circumstances.
We are committed to protecting children and young people from sexual abuse. That is why, following a review of the law in this area, we are including measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill introduced on 9 March, to widen the current offences which prevent adults in a position of trust from engaging in sexual relationships with young people under the age of 18, bringing sports coaches and religious leaders in line with other occupations such as teachers and doctors.
We have also strengthened law enforcement capacity and capability through funding for projects like the police Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme and have given police a range of powers to respond to people who pose a risk to children. We have further committed within the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse strategy to strengthen civil orders used to manage the risk posed by sex offenders and those who pose a risk of sexual harm, once a suitable legislative opportunity arises.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the participation of Overseas Territories in the Protected Person's Scheme.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The UKPPS provides protection to those judged to be at risk of serious harm where the protection arrangements required are not available to the local police or referring Agency.
UKPPS works with international partners as appropriate and as required, within the UKs judicial framework.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level of risk under the Prevent programme of the European Institute for Human Sciences and its operations in the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Prevent works closely with local people and organisations to stop vulnerable people being drawn into terrorism. Any indication that an individual or organisation is radicalising others is investigated and, if substantiated, appropriate multi-agency action is taken to address it. There are tried and tested mechanisms in place to address extremism in the charity sector.