Business of the House

Clive Jones Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

As my hon. Friend says, I am very keen for this issue to be tackled. I hope to return to my constituency this weekend, and if the weather is fine, I am sure that the police—I am meeting them tomorrow—will, through Operation Coastwatch, rise to the challenges posed by young people, predominantly, coming to the coast. I welcome them, but I do hope they will behave when they get there.

We have passed the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which will tackle some of these behaviours. We will introduce respect orders, with named local antisocial behaviour leads, and we are also providing the police with the powers that they need to address these incidents. We must have the powers, but we must also have investment in more police officers. We should also encourage chief constables to recognise, as many of them do, that at times of great demand, they need to deploy officers in a certain way, and coastal towns have a particular claim.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

Pubs are the lifeblood of our local communities. In Wokingham, we are very lucky to have so many great pubs. To try to help them, I ran my “Wokingham’s Best Pub” competition, recognising the value of pubs and their staff. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating The Two Poplars, which won the best pub competition last Friday, and, as I know he likes to support local pubs, will he consider joining me for a pint in The Two Poplars, where he will find good beer and good food?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

Again, the hon. Gentleman is an assiduous campaigner for his constituency. I congratulate him on setting up that scheme to recognise the importance of pubs in his local community, and I congratulate The Two Poplars on its achievement. I am tempted, I have to say, so I will have a look at my diary and see what we can do.