Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 16th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hurd]

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman completely; it is hard not to feel a huge amount of sympathy for Hannah Deacon and Drew Dingley, not least having met them with Alfie. We have said that we want to explore every option within the existing law. The right hon. Gentleman talks about a cumbersome licensing process. In fact, we are waiting for someone to make an application. We cannot process a licence application until we receive one, and we are waiting for that.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking to tackle organised crime through the National Crime Agency.

[The Minister for Security and Economic Crime (Mr Ben Wallace)]

We have made significant progress in the fight against serious and organised crime since the National Crime Agency was established in 2013. Capabilities have improved, partnership working is better and we intervene earlier to prevent criminal activity. The agency has been instrumental to that progress and has gone from strength to strength, with an impressive and sustained track record of disruption across the full range of serious and organised crime threats.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that, contrary to recent media speculation, politicians from within the European Union can be subject to unexplained wealth orders, and that this will continue to be the case after we leave the European Union?

[Mr Wallace]

I am sure my hon. Friend will be delighted to learn that no one is above the law when it comes to unexplained wealth orders—whether a Member of the European Parliament, a European politician or even, indeed, a Member of this House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

T3. I commend the Government for their work on— [Interruption.] It says here, “law enforcement with regard to the dark web”. What steps are the Government taking to best protect families and businesses from those who use the anonymity of online platforms for illegal activities?

[The Minister for Security and Economic Crime (Mr Ben Wallace)]

I think that my hon. Friend might have got lost in the dark web just then.

Our dark web programme is investing in specialist capability to disrupt and bring to justice those who use online anonymity to trade in illegal goods and services, including personal data. Much of the risk to families and businesses can be defeated by simple best practice. The Cyber Aware campaign encourages small businesses and individuals to adopt simple, secure online behaviours to protect themselves and their data from cyber-criminals.

Money Laundering

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 19th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Wallace]

If the hon. Lady has an issue about whether or not the National Crime Agency or the police have taken action, it is a matter for her to raise with the National Crime Agency. I have raised the same issues with the National Crime Agency—I have asked it, but it is operationally independent. What I can say is that by using the Proceeds of Crime Act, since 2010, we have recovered £1.4 billion of assets from crime. That is making a difference; it is taking the money out of the pockets of criminals, both internationally and domestically.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that although the Labour party talks about money laundering and tax evasion, the record clearly shows that it is this Government who are leading the world in dealing with these issues?

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 26th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Nokes]

I am sure the hon. Lady would welcome my comment about working to combat organised crime, and we should always reflect that many perilous journeys that are made are in the hands of organised criminals. Any loss of life is an absolute tragedy, but it is important we reflect that our juxtaposed controls are an important part of our border. Our Border Force staff are incredibly well trained and look for vulnerabilities wherever they might see them. She makes an important point, and we are committed to doing more to make sure we meet our allocation of Dubs children. Also, under the Dublin regulation, we continue to resettle thousands of children every year.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that our recent agreement with the French Government will not merely treat the symptoms of the problem but address the deeper-rooted problem by reducing the number of migrant journeys to northern France?

[Caroline Nokes]

An important component of the recent treaty looks at the whole route of migration. It is critical that we understand we cannot solve this solely by working with France. There is a real commitment with both Italy and Greece to make sure that, particularly with reference to our Dubs commitment, we resettle the children we are determined to bring to the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 3rd July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hurd]

The Grenfell tragedy, which should never have happened, and subsequent events, in terms of what we are learning about the fire safety of buildings, mean that there is a system failure, which has been allowed to build up over too many years. It is imperative that we do not just wait for a public inquiry, but that we get on with the work of reviewing not just regulation, but the whole system of enforcement and management of risk, and that we lead on that and are informed by an inquiry.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

I, like all Members, have been inundated with emails from constituents demanding immediate changes to fire regulations. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that we look at what changes are needed to the fire regulations, but also at what changes are needed in the implementation of existing regulations, so that tragedies such as Grenfell do not happen again?

[Mr Hurd]

I do agree with my hon. Friend, and his question allows me to build on what I was saying before. There has been a system failure, built up over many years, and we need to address it as a matter of urgency and with rigorous analysis underpinned by evidence. As part of that we will of course look at whether the regulations are effective, but my instinct is that the biggest failure has been in the system of enforcement, inspection and risk management.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 6th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Goodwill]

It is important that family life must not be established here at the taxpayer’s expense and that families are able to integrate. That is what our family immigration rules achieve, an approach that the Supreme Court has now endorsed.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does the Minister intend to use the same minimum income threshold for EU spouses as he currently uses for non-EU spouses?

[Mr Goodwill]

We have not even sat around the negotiation table, so that question is probably slightly premature.

Orgreave

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

The hon. and learned Lady addresses issues relating to the investigation. The IPCC has said that, should further evidence emerge of any impropriety by an officer, retired or otherwise, it would look at it. I met the chairman of the IPCC yesterday afternoon. She confirmed again that if new evidence came forward it would look at it. Furthermore, the report published by the IPPC was redacted on legal advice because it contained passages relating to the then ongoing Hillsborough inquiry. I refer back to my comments of a short while ago: investigations are still going on into Hillsborough and criminal proceedings may well come out of them. The IPCC is involved in those investigations.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

It is disappointing that the Labour party seems to want to divide our society once again. Labour Members would do well to remember that the miners in South Derbyshire, North West Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire wanted to work and bore the full brunt of secondary picketing. Does the Minister agree it is important that the new chief constable of South Yorkshire police, who was only appointed in the summer, has a chance to bed into his position and start to rebuild his relationships with the local community?

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point, a variation of which was raised yesterday by another hon. Friend. I spoke to the police and crime commissioner of South Yorkshire yesterday, so I know that the force is determined to build a new relationship with the people of South Yorkshire. There is new leadership and new membership in that police force, and I said that I was looking forward to working with them to develop a new approach from what existed some 30 years ago. They acknowledge that they have a piece of work to do to rebuild engagement with the community, and we will stand with them in support.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Richard Harrington]

I am pleased to report again that there are regular discussions between the Home Secretary and her French colleagues on this matter. The Department for International Development recently announced the provision of a further £10 million-worth of special funding precisely to help unaccompanied children in Europe. Details about how the money will be allocated will be announced shortly.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that, far from lagging behind the European Union on this issue, the UK is actually doing far more than any other country in Europe through its massive support for the camps and the refugees in the region, while also resettling the most vulnerable refugees from the camps to the UK?

[Richard Harrington]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. The Government believe that relocating children around Europe is not the answer. Under our scheme to relocate the most vulnerable people from Syria and the countries around it, 51% of the people being brought over here are children. I hope that Members on both sides of the House would accept that this is a well measured and well carried-out scheme, which has led to significant improvement in many children’s lives.

Child Refugees: Calais

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 29th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

It is a clear question of people claiming asylum, and children are being supported by the work of the NGOs that the French Government have put in place precisely for that purpose. We have taken a consistent joint approach, building on the agreement of last August, to support the French Government in their work to ensure that those in need of help get it.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Everyone has concerns for vulnerable children in the camps in Calais. When children have identified that they have relatives in the UK, how many of those relatives the UK Government are preventing from travelling to France to be reunited with the children? Why does he think refugees would rather be in the UK than in France?

[James Brokenshire]

These issues are often complex. The factor at the forefront of our minds is always what is in the best interests of the child. When we receive applications under Dublin or under family reunification, we always have to assess what is in the best interests of the child and whether the parents or other close family members can support the child. We give that focus to every case.

Child Refugees in Europe

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 25th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

The most effective way to do that is to see that those families claim asylum in France. There have been around 2,800 claims of asylum in and around Calais. The French Government have put in place the new arrangements that I described so that people can be moved away from Calais into better reception centres. That is the clear message that I would give, which may well identify some of the family reunion issues that the hon. Lady has highlighted.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Many Members of this House are suggesting that we rescue unaccompanied minors from other European Union countries and bring them to Britain. Does the Minister agree that one of the dangers of that is that their relatives will appear, and human rights lawyers in this country will insist that they have a right to join those minors in the UK because they have a right to a family life?

[James Brokenshire]

We need to consider these issues carefully. What is at the forefront of my mind is not seeing more children being put at risk and their lives being put at risk. That is what the people smugglers and traffickers will do, and why we need to act with such great care so that we do not make the situation even worse than it is.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 11th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mike Penning]

I visited Lancashire last Thursday on my first visit as the fire Minister as well as the Policing Minister. Although I absolutely praise the work of the police force, which went way beyond what we would expect any of our officers to do, all the other emergency services did so as well. The chief constable thanked me for making sure that there were no cuts.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the Minister confirm that when the precept is taken into account, it could mean extra funding for the police of up to £900 million across the country by 2019-20?

[Mike Penning]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If police and crime commissioners take the opportunity of the precept increase, it will amount to an increase of just under £1 billion or just over £900 million, rather than the cut of 10% that the Labour party wanted.