Ayoub Khan
Main Page: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)Department Debates - View all Ayoub Khan's debates with the Home Office
(1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Sarah Jones
It is not appropriate for me to comment on the intelligence and the situation, and who is or who is not going to be charged with these two incidents. We do not know enough at this point. The police are operationally independent for good reason and politicians should not be involved in that day-to-day process. Are we looking at the threats that we face in this country, of which there are many? Of course. Is the Home Secretary alive to all of those threats and doing everything she can with all the levers at her disposal? Absolutely.
Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)
One image in 2015 changed public opinion. It was of a toddler, Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old whose frail body washed up on the shore with his face buried in the sand. That changed public opinion, because as humans—and as a nation—we are compassionate. Some 250,000 Ukrainians came into this country, and we allowed them to utilise our services, but there seems to be selective outrage in this House. Does the Minister agree that we need proper safe routes that can prevent the exploitation by criminals and allow those who are desperate and fleeing war-torn areas sanctuary in this nation?
Sarah Jones
On the one hand there is selective outrage, whataboutery, “let this sink in” and all the nonsense that people put on social media all the time. At the same time, there is a significant problem that we have to deal with. The two are true. We have to deal with the control at our borders, and we will bear down on that control to make sure we have what we need. At the same time, where there are malicious actors stirring up hatred and division, we have to—I would hope this House would—come together to promote the unity, solidarity and the compassion of which he speaks.