Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Tuesday 25th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I suggest that the right hon. Gentleman raises that issue with the Chancellor.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

It beggars belief that the Conservatives have the gall to question the actions we have taken as a Government in clearing up the mess they left behind, because they simply stopped doing anything other than wasting £9 billion of taxpayers’ money. We have returned 19,000 people with no right to be here, we have increased Border Force, and we have increased working with our European allies and our intelligence services, but there is more to do. It was a mess, and people in our country feel let down and a deep mistrust of politicians. That is causing division and rumour mills to develop and fester in our communities. Can the Minister tell me what we are doing as a Government to rebuild public trust and community cohesion? Does she agree that that should start right here in this House?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I believe that people need to think about the language they use and the impressions of human beings they give when they talk about this very emotive issue. It raises huge concern, I know. As a Government, we have certainly got to do all we can to try to reassure people that we can get this system back under control, after finding a chaotic mess when we came into Government.

Crime and Policing Bill

Amanda Martin Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 10th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

The hon. Member is exactly right to draw attention to that. Our rural communities see different kinds and patterns of crime, but it is very often driven by organised gangs who think that rural communities will be a soft touch. We have sometimes seen that with GPS machinery for factories; we believe that stronger action is needed there. The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council on a new rural crime strategy. I know that she would be happy to follow up on any specific issues that the hon. Gentleman wants to raise.

Too often, crimes are dismissed as low level, even though they leave residents in a living nightmare and corrode community life, so here are the things that this Labour Government’s Crime and Policing Bill will change. We are introducing new respect orders that the police and courts can use to ban repeat offenders from town centres, or to put new requirements on repeat perpetrators in order to prevent them causing havoc in the community—for example, requirements to take up drug or alcohol treatment.

Currently, the police cannot immediately seize bikes or vehicles that are being used in a dangerous, intimidating or antisocial way. They give a warning and have to hope that they catch the same person again, but that means that there can be two, three, four or endless strikes against the person, and the bike will still be on the road. Frankly, one strike should be enough. Under the Bill, if the police find somebody using a bike or a vehicle in a dangerous or antisocial way, they can seize it straightaway and get that dangerous, damaging bike off the road.

We will give the police stronger powers to tackle the rising amount of snatch theft. We will all know constituents, friends or family members who have had their phone stolen, and who could track it, maybe through Find My iPhone or a similar service, but when they told the police where their phone was, nothing was done. We will give the police new powers, so that where they have electronic evidence from tracking technology on the location of stolen goods, they can enter and search premises without waiting for warrants to be put in place. Ministers are also working with tech companies and the police to pursue stronger action on designing out and disincentivising phone theft, so that we can go after the criminal gangs making people’s lives a misery by stealing phones on the street.

We will take stronger action on shoplifting. Some 10 years ago, the Conservative Government introduced a new £200 rule, categorising shop theft below that amount as low value. That sent the signal, which has shaped the police response ever since, that such crime should not be taken seriously. It became a Tory shoplifters’ charter—a signal to thieves and gangs across the country that they could operate with impunity, wandering from shop to shop and stealing away because nothing would be done. That kind of crime spreads. It creates a sense of lawlessness, and huge anger and frustration among the law-abiding majority, who see criminals getting away with it and respect for the law hollowed out. This Government will finally end the damaging £200 rule.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that this is not just about the shoplifting, but about the fear it creates in our communities, including among our shopworkers? Our local corner shops and accessible shops are there for elderly people who cannot always get out to the big supermarkets or other people who have difficulty doing so, and shoplifting has put them in fear as well.

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is right. This is about the fact of the crime—the disrespect—but also the sense of fear that it can create and the huge frustration among shopworkers about the crimes that they see.

I am glad to see some signs of a change in heart on the Conservative Benches, with Conservative Members recognising how damaging their approach to town centre crime has been. The shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp), has written on Facebook that the police

“must have ZERO TOLERANCE to shoplifting and phone theft in Croydon…otherwise it will escalate. Stealing, even less than £200, is illegal…The police must focus ruthlessly on catching criminals and always pursue every line of inquiry.”

Who would have thought it? If that is what the right hon. Gentleman now believes, why on earth did he not take the opportunity during the two years that he was the policing Minister to scrap the £200 threshold, which sent all the wrong signals to the police?

We do know one part of the shadow Home Secretary’s remedy for the disappearance of neighbourhood police and the soaring levels of town centre crime. He has said that

“The wider public do have the power of citizen’s arrest and, where it’s safe to do so, I would encourage that to be used…including potentially a physical challenge”,

otherwise it “will just escalate.” Putting aside the intriguing suggestion that the shadow Home Secretary wanders around with handcuffs in his pocket, I wonder whether he has misunderstood the Peel principle that the police are the public and the public are the police. What that principle means is neighbourhood police in the community, not leaving the community to pick up arms because the neighbourhood police have gone. As for Reform Members, it looks as if they are too busy dealing with their own internal antisocial behaviour to even show up. This Government will be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime, something that has not happened for far too long.

Alongside the action on community crimes, the Bill introduces much stronger measures on some of the most serious crimes of all, including the knife crime that is destroying young lives—teenagers and young people who do not get to achieve their ambitions or fulfil their dreams, with parents and families left bereft.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Philp]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. If we are to prosecute these offences, put more potential perpetrators in prison and, critically, protect the public, we need to detect more of the knives that are routinely carried on our cities’ streets. That means more stop and search and the use of knife-scanning technology of the kind I just described to identify those knives before they are used. My right hon. Friend put it very powerfully.

The Opposition may also be minded to table amendments on the setting up of a statutory national inquiry into rape gangs. For some reason the Government have only set up local inquiries in five areas. Some local authorities are refusing to hold inquiries, which is scandalous. About 50 towns are affected, so inquiries into just five of them is not good enough. Moreover, those local inquiries do not have the statutory powers under the Inquiries Act 2005 to compel witnesses to give evidence. The chairs of the Manchester local inquiry resigned last year because, even then, public authorities were covering this up. We need a national statutory inquiry, and we intend to amend the Bill to achieve that if the Government will not agree to one. Local councils and councillors, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service were all involved to a greater or lesser extent in ignoring or even covering up these terrible offences. We need to get to the truth.

[Amanda Martin]

Thank you for giving way. We as a Government are taking very seriously the culture of child grooming and gangs. In your previous role as Minister for crime and policing—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. You said “your”—I was not the Minister. A short and sharp intervention, please.

[Amanda Martin]

In the right hon. Member’s previous role he attended 352 meetings. Could he please explain why not one of those was on child grooming?

[Chris Philp]

The hon. Lady will know that child grooming falls under the portfolio of the Safeguarding Minister who, during the Conservatives’ time in office, had dozens of meetings on that topic. I had multiple meetings on Operation Soteria, which is designed to combat rape and serious sexual assault.

I think that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, are keen to move on to Back-Bench speeches, since there is so much interest in this Bill.

--- Later in debate ---

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

As the daughter and niece of retired police officers and with a cousin, Alex, currently serving for the same constabulary, I want to start by saying a huge thank you to Hampshire police.

It is a privilege to speak in this debate on a Bill that seeks to strengthen law enforcement and restore public confidence in policing. It is about the real experience of our constituents who have suffered as a result of crime and antisocial behaviour, and feel that the system is failing them. For example, in the first nine days of the financial year, the store manager of a Tesco Express in my constituency logged 22 incidents of shoplifting, trespass, verbal abuse and threats of violence. The Bill will ensure that the police have a mandate to act swiftly, especially in instances of repeat and organised retail crime, regardless of the value of the stolen goods.

Another constituent’s car has been vandalised twice, and one incident was so severe that the car was written off. Vandalism is not a minor inconvenience; it is costly and distressing, and leaves people feeling unsafe in their own communities. Car theft also continues to plague my constituents. One resident’s car has been stolen four times, and the daughter of another has had her moped stolen twice, even having to recover it herself on one occasion. That is not to mention the number of “tradies” who are subject to tool theft. The Bill will empower police forces to take property crimes more seriously, make it easier to track and recover stolen vehicles, and more importantly, ensure that victims of theft receive timely police responses.

The Scottish estate in Cosham, the London Road in Northend, Allaway Avenue in Paulsgrove and Tangiers Road in Baffins are just four of the many places where e-scooters, bikes and cars race deafeningly and dangerously in my constituency. I am pleased that the Bill removes the need of the police to issue a warning before seizing vehicles being used antisocially. This is the start of a real crackdown on vehicles being used to intimidate pedestrians and increasingly commit crime.

Antisocial behaviour is destroying the quality of life for so many people. One of my constituents, an 80-year-old woman, has suffered relentless harassment from a neighbour. Her garden has been vandalised, furniture has been thrown, and she has been physically intimidated. The Bill gives the police stronger powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, and strengthens the use of existing antisocial behaviour powers.

The shadow of knife crime hangs over my constituency. In the past two months alone, and even today, there have been two stabbings and an attempted murder involving two teenagers. Parents are writing to me, terrified for their children’s safety and demanding action. Some have even raised concerns about the advertising of chefs’ knives on television. I welcome the fact that this Bill provides the police with the powers they need to take knives off our streets, enforce tougher penalties for possession and intervene early to prevent young people from being drawn into violent crime, because knife crime kills.

Finally, a father has reached out to me to say he is deeply concerned about the safety of women and girls in Portsmouth. His 15-year-old daughter, who loves running, has been catcalled and harassed multiple times, and she has not reported it because she believes it would waste police time. As we know, low-level crime against women can be a gateway to more serious crimes, and I welcome the fact that this Bill brings in new protections for women.

This is not a Portsmouth-specific issue, and it is not a Labour issue, which is why it is shocking to see the lack of Opposition Members in this place today. All our constituents deserve to live in safe communities, and they deserve their MPs to make changes and put those changes into action.

International Women�s Day

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for bringing forward this debate, and all the hon. Members who have spoken. I particularly thank my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball), whose experience of maternity services is shocking, but sadly not unique. I hope it is an experience that, together, we can eradicate.

On International Women�s Day, we celebrate the achievements, resilience and contribution of women and girls across our community, and what better way to honour this day than by shining a light on a place in my constituency that welcomes new life into the world and champions the health and wellbeing of mothers? I am talking about Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust maternity services, including the fantastic all-female team at Queen Alexandra hospital. In the past year alone, this remarkable unit has delivered 5,000 babies, and the dedication of the 24/7, 365 days a year midwives goes far beyond the delivery room. I would like to highlight some of the trailblazing initiatives that help make life for parents and babies easier and safer.

A new care pathway has been developed by the trust team and Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association to provide additional support and information for all families who are expecting a baby with Down syndrome. It includes appointments with specialist midwives and paediatricians, including feeding specialists, additional specialist scans and an offer of induction at 39 weeks. A new partnership also allows babies to be registered in the hospital. This service supports new parents through the registration process and takes only 10 to 15 minutes, enabling them to get a head start on applying for important documents such as a birth certificate, taking the pressure off and allowing all parents to get support and be treated equally as new parents whatever their background. Thanks to the introduction of lifesaving neonatal bedside resuscitation units, even the tiniest and most vulnerable newborn babies have the best chance of a healthy start. Babies born at 24 weeks have a fantastic 80% survival rate, while the national rate is 18%.

The trust�s dedication has earned it a place among the finalists in the NHS parliamentary awards, proving that its hard work is felt not just in Portsmouth but nationwide. I was proud to go along and meet the team at the ceremony, where it was shortlisted for the nursing and midwifery award, and the future NHS award. I am looking forward to going to the unit. Finally, the trust has been awarded the prestigious UNICEF baby-friendly award, the latest UK healthcare facility to be so awarded.

International Women�s Day is about celebrating progress, and the Queen Alexandra hospital maternity unit is a great example of that. I am proud to be woman MP No. 686 and to be able to celebrate the women in my constituency, of whom there are many. I am proud that the women of my constituency have such a dedicated team to support them through childbirth: 281 midwives, 101 maternity support workers and countless students. To them, I say thank you.

Prevent: Learning Review

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend and I completely agree with his characterisation of Sir David as a model for all Members—he is absolutely right about that. He raises a very important point, and I completely agree with his assessment of the learning review. It did identify a number of gaps, and those are gaps that will have to be closed. He will understand what I mean by this, but I need to be careful not to seek to provide too much direction and guidance to the independent Prevent commissioner, not least because, knowing Lord Anderson, I do not think he would take too kindly to it. What I am completely confident in is that Lord Anderson has all the requisite skills, experience and credibility to provide that function. He is an outstanding appointment. The Home Secretary and I look forward to working very closely with him. Further to the work he will be seeking to do, I can give my hon. Friend and the House an assurance that we will leave no stone unturned in doing what needs to be done to ensure that Prevent is fit for purpose and provides the confidence that people rightly want.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

As we have heard today and previously in this place from so many hon. Members on both sides of the House, Sir David was a loved and valued colleague, and not just an MP, but a man with family and friends. Sadly, I did not have the privilege of working with him in this place.

We know that Sir David’s killer exited the Prevent scheme many years before the attack took place. Future actions are, tragically, too late for Sir David and his family, but what steps will be taken to ensure that all relevant agencies along the line do not just learn from but act on the lessons from the killer’s ability to evade detection in the period leading up to his attack?

[Dan Jarvis]

I completely agree with the points that my hon. Friend makes. She is right to highlight the difference between learning lessons and implementing and acting upon them. I can give her an assurance that, through the processes announced previously and today, we have the mechanisms to do that. That said, we will continue to have conversations with the Amess family and others to look at areas where we might want to do more. I want to have those conversations sooner rather than later.

My final word, I am sure on behalf of the whole House, is to reiterate a collective tribute to Sir David Amess. He was an outstanding parliamentarian. He is greatly missed and we will never forget him.

Extremism Review

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

It is the case that previous Governments were, on occasion, motivated as much by a desire to score political points. That will never be the approach of this Government. We are motivated only by a desire to protect the public.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

I echo the concerns raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray). Just this weekend in my own constituency, we had an incident in our community with young people and knives. Although I cannot comment on that particular incident, I am extremely concerned about the availability of knives, particularly to our young people. Does the Minister agree that the sale of knives is too easy, particularly online, and can he tell me and my constituents what the Government are doing to restrict that availability and the fear it spreads in our communities?

[Dan Jarvis]

The Government share my hon. Friend’s concern about the availability of knives online. That is why—as I said to another hon. Member a moment ago—just this weekend, the Home Secretary announced stricter age verification checks and a ban on doorstep drops, in order to better protect people from knife crime. We will do everything that we possibly can, working with online retailers and the police, to ensure that the availability of knives is very significantly reduced in order to protect the public.

United Front Work Department

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Monday 16th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I can assure the hon. Lady that this Government are, and will be, taking the robust action required to combat the nature of the threat that she rightly characterised. She is right to say that the particular circumstances of the case we are discussing today are not unique. The Government are working with the intelligence agencies and partners to combat a much wider threat On matters relating to China, she will understand that the Government have to weigh a number of considerations. While national security will always be our primary responsibility and the thing we take most seriously, there is, as there would have been for the previous Government, a requirement to look for areas where we can co-operate. In truth, we have to balance that relationship, but I can give her an assurance that we will take the robust action required, including through the defending democracy taskforce, which is a useful mechanism that we use across Government to look more closely at these matters.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

Members from across the House are right to raise concerns about the security threats and attempts to undermine or infiltrate our institutions that we face from China. On behalf of all Members of the House, will the Minister pass on our thanks to all those who work in the security services for their vital work? Most of us will never know or see that work, but it is constantly protecting us from those threats.

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. By necessity, the work that our intelligence services do is in the shadows, but since coming into this role a number of months ago, I have been extremely impressed by the professionalism and dedication of those men and women who work incredibly hard to keep our country safe. We all, across the House and the country, owe them a debt of gratitude, and I will ensure that is passed on.

Border Security: Collaboration

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the continuing instability. There is a lot that we simply do not know about how events will play out in Syria. Those who have taken over, and who were involved in the initial overthrow of the Assad regime, initially said they would pursue an approach supporting minorities within Syria, but the developments we have seen in recent days raise questions about that. We have also seen huge instability, with various organisations and groups operating across the country. That is why we need to monitor this closely. I think everybody wants to see greater stability. We have also seen the initial signs of people wanting to return from Turkey to Syria, for example, in the first few days, but the situation is very unstable, which is why we need to approach this with care and with detailed monitoring of what is happening.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

The Conservatives should be absolutely ashamed of their asylum and immigration policy, of their inactivity and of the complete mess in which they left Britain and our borders. [Interruption.] The anger and frustration they are showing is shared by my constituents in Portsmouth North on the small boat arrivals—their frustration continues to fill my inboxes.

When the Home Secretary came to power, she promised a relentless focus on these boats. We have already heard today about co-operation with other countries on raids, arrests, seizures and stronger enforcement. Will she assure my constituents in Portsmouth North that this is not a gimmick and that the focus will continue through the winter?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is right that the only way to deal with this issue is not through gimmicks—we have seen those fail time and again—or through the kind of posturing that the Conservative party continues with. It will be dealt with only through partnership, hard work and graft.

We have set up the Border Security Command, put in place new agreements with countries not only in Europe but beyond, such as Iraq, and strengthened our law enforcement capabilities—£150 million is going into the Border Security Command over the next two years. We are also getting on with returns and enforcement, which substantially increased this summer as a result of the actions we have taken to get them back on track after the system’s previous failings.

People are fed up with gimmicks, and we need to take a serious approach to get a grip on this issue.

Freight Crime

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Rachel Taylor]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. That is why I would like to reiterate my invitation to the Minister to visit Corley services in my constituency, so that he can hear at first hand about how freight drivers feel and the security issues that they are facing.

Freight crime often involves criminals slashing a lorry’s curtains to gain access to its goods or siphoning fuel from tanks while drivers are parked to commit fuel theft. Cyber criminals are now cloning the websites of legitimate hauliers and tricking sellers into letting them drive away with valuables. Yet, in law, freight thefts are treated with the same seriousness as someone smashing a car window and stealing a phone from the passenger seat. That must change; we need a co-ordinated policing and enforcement strategy.

I have highlighted the impact of freight crime on the economy, but it is crucial that we understand what freight crime does to an industry that is made up mainly of SMEs. To understand that impact, it is crucial to hear from representatives of the industry, as I have. Dave Hands is the managing director of LTS Global Solutions, and he introduced me to this industry when I was standing for election. Since March, his company alone has experienced six fuel theft incidents. Each theft has a significant impact on his operation and customers. LTS loses a day of deliveries, and then must replace the stolen fuel, pay a call-out fee to repair the vehicle, and supply fuel to get the vehicle to the nearest garage. Dave says that in a sector that operates on a 2% to 4% net profit margin, such incidents not only cause LTS to lose money but put their customer relations at risk.

Rhys Hackling is the managing director of Direct Connect Logistics. In January 2022, he had a truck attacked by thieves who stole pallets of batteries. The company lost all the revenue from the truck for three days while the inquiry went on and the truck was repaired. Even worse, Rhys says that Direct Connect Logistics has lost drivers due to the damage to their mental wellbeing, as the cutting of the lorry curtain is a direct attack on them.

The RHA detailed to me how curtain slashing can take place even when a vehicle is in transit. Freight criminals will pull up behind or to the side of the cab, slash the curtains, steal goods and put other drivers on the road in danger. Rhys says that many of his drivers remain committed but they do not sleep properly at night due to the threat of being targeted. Hollie Middleton is a transport manager from WOW Logistics and Warehousing—one of the country’s handful of female-run logistics companies.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

On that note, at least 8,000 of my constituents in Portsmouth North work in freight and logistics, and it has been highlighted to me that freight crime has really discouraged female drivers from entering and remaining in the industry. The International Transport Workers’ Federation found that a lack of secure parking facilities is a factor that contributes to the lack of diversity in the sector. Does my hon. Friend agree that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) said, we should be looking into secure places for people to rest in between their shifts?

[Rachel Taylor]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point, which I will come to later.

Hollie, who I was talking about, echoes Rhys’s sentiments and says that she feels disheartened when she works hard but cannot sleep in case something happens. In one particularly shocking incident, two men scouted Hollie’s building and then attempted to steal some boxes. When she told them to get off the estate, they threatened her and told her they would beat her up. The industry struggles with encouraging women to become drivers, and I am sure the Minister will agree that freight crime poses a particular issue to female-led businesses such as WOW. Does he recognise that the sector is struggling with retention because of freight crime, which prevents economic growth?

I will highlight two points in the report that the House deserves a response to. The first is that we must increase support and resources for law enforcement, and the second is that we must launch a national freight crime awareness campaign, especially as freight crime is about to hit its busiest season. The report has made it clear that police do not have the resources to properly tackle freight crime. Police services, drivers, the RHA and the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service all recognise that there is not currently a national strategy to deal with freight crime, nor the resources and training for police to tackle the crime properly.

Police officers have made it clear that they would like to invest in stopping crime and catching criminals, and I know that one of the Government’s five missions is to take back our streets. Sadly, the freight workers I have spoken to say that it feels futile to report incidents because they know that there is not much that the police can do. If this Government are to take back our streets, they must ensure that crimes committed on our roads, in lay-bys and at service stations are prosecuted.

Does the Minister agree that preventive infrastructural measures are a key element in reducing freight crime? A national shortage of safe lorry parking forces many drivers to park overnight at unlit, unpopulated and vulnerable roadside lay-bys. Will he commit to rectifying that by reforming the national planning policy framework to consider the needs of hauliers? Will he recognise that there must be a deterrent to prevent criminals from engaging in freight crime, and provision to reassure disheartened freight workers that they should report freight crimes?

Freight crime cannot be reduced without improvement in enforcement, but crucially, the police lack a national strategy to deal with the issue. We are talking about organised criminal gangs operating out of West Yorkshire and Coventry, whose operation spans several counties, yet the police lack a strategy to combat the crime. Furthermore, NaVCIS is under-supported and underfunded. It has a clear mission to bring industry and policing together to disrupt criminals and reduce crime, but it does not receive any funds from central Government or the police service for any of its areas of business. Instead, the national freight crime desk is supported by four sponsors from the freight industry and 62 members, who pay an annual subscription for freight crime data.

NaVCIS currently has one full-time service police officer on secondment, a part-time analyst and a part-time data inputter. That places it in a financially precarious position and does not facilitate co-operation between NaVCIS and UK policing. It is clearly not enough to tackle organised crime on a national scale. Developing a cross-county and national strategy is vital. There must be greater sharing of information between NaVCIS, businesses and police forces.

NaVCIS has identified that 38 criminal hotspots, and the main arterial roads close to the biggest ports, see the vast majority of freight crime. A well-executed, targeted approach in those locations could result in a massive reduction in crime for relatively little police resource. Can the Minister commit to providing more resources to tackle crime in those hotspots? Hollie told me that this is the worst time of year, because Christmas deliveries are at an all-time high. It is outrageous that the drivers who deliver Christmas to families across the UK cannot do so without feeling physically at risk.

The thousands of instances of freight crime each year endanger the mental health of the road freight industry workforce, but the freight crime epidemic is not known about in the public consciousness. We need greater public awareness, especially to ward people off buying stolen goods through social media pages and websites around Christmas. It is crucial to create a hostile environment for criminals to keep our drivers safe. It is timely to have this debate on 3 December, as many drivers are getting ready for the Christmas period, and this House should be under no illusion that it is lorry drivers—not Father Christmas—who will be delivering Christmas this year.

I end by reiterating that freight crime is serious and organised. It is threatening our drivers’ wellbeing and putting hard-working businesses at risk of closure. We must have a serious response from the Government.

Migration and Border Security

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I say to the hon. Lady that we are establishing new co-operation and networks not just across Europe, but beyond. We know that significant Iraqi-Kurdish gang networks operate in northern France, which the Kurdistan regional authorities and Iraqi Government are particularly concerned about. They are concerned about the routes back into northern Iraq, and about both the impact such activity is having on their country and the impact that we are concerned about—that it is happening in the channel. That is why getting law enforcement working in partnership together is at the heart of this agreement, and that is what we can now build on. This agreement is the first that Iraq has made with any country to tackle organised immigration, crime and border security. I welcome Iraq’s support for this agreement, and its determination and commitment to it. We need to work in partnership with Iraq on it.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

Residents in Portsmouth North are concerned about the rising cost of housing asylum seekers. Although it is not what we would have wanted as a Government, it is good that we have been open and apologetic about having to house, on a temporary basis, these people because of the inactivity of the previous Government. Does the Home Secretary agree that this is in stark contrast to the previous Government, who never explained and never apologised, even when there were more than 400 hotels, costing £9 million a day? Can she say when we expect the cost of housing asylum seekers to reduce?

[Yvette Cooper]

We are already saving hundreds of millions of pounds this year from the asylum accommodation budget as a result of the decisions we have taken to restart asylum decision making and get the system working again so that we can start clearing the backlog. Had we not done so, and had we carried on with the previous Government’s policies, those costs would have soared further. That is unfair on the British taxpayer, as well as being the sign of a broken asylum system. We will continue to do that work. We expect to make hundreds of millions of pounds more in savings next year. In total, the assessment is that over the next few years, we will save £4 billion from the previous Government’s failed schemes.

Police Reform

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dame Diana Johnson]

The Home Secretary announced yesterday that there will be £0.5 billion of additional funding for policing next year, including money for the core grant and neighbourhood policing. The announcement about the 2025-26 police funding settlement will be made in December in this House, in the normal way.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

Antisocial behaviour, fly-tipping, off-road bikes and e-scooters racing along pavements and streets, and an epidemic of shoplifting are all issues raised time and again by my constituents across all wards of Portsmouth North. Does the Minister agree that we need police officers back on the beat in local communities, equipped with tougher powers to crack down on these crimes, to not only make the people of Portsmouth feel safer, but to get pride back in our communities?