Caroline Spelman
Main Page: Caroline Spelman (Conservative - Meriden)Department Debates - View all Caroline Spelman's debates with the Home Office
(5 years, 10 months ago)
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Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con)
Dame Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)
Adam Holloway (Gravesham) (Con)
Sajid Javid
I can tell my hon. Friend that the new counter-terrorism strategy introduced today touches on counter-extremism as well, and some lessons were learned from the Parsons Green attack. If he would like to learn more about that, I am happy to meet him.
Dame Caroline Spelman
After the bombing in Manchester, my constituency experienced a sudden sharp loss of police resources in favour of the city of Birmingham, so I welcome the £450 million extra to be spent on combating terrorism. Does the Home Secretary agree that programmes such as the Church Urban Fund’s Near Neighbours scheme are also needed to tackle the underlying causes of extremism and to help strengthen social cohesion?
Sajid Javid
I agree very much with my right hon. Friend. She will know that I am a big fan of the Near Neighbours scheme. Since 2011 the Government have committed more than £11 million to it, and there is a further £2.6 million agreed for the next two years. There may also be support available from the Government’s “Building a Stronger Britain Together” campaign.