Belfast: Violent Disorder
Debate between Dan Jarvis and Adnan Hussain(4 days, 4 hours ago)
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Dan Jarvis
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise concerns—which I am sure will be shared throughout the House—about the attacks on health service workers, to whom we owe a huge debt of gratitude for their incredible work. He is also right to raise concerns about activity taking place online. As I said in an earlier response, we take that very seriously and work on it across Government.
I think it important to reiterate that both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral West (Matthew Patrick), are in Northern Ireland today. I know that they will be talking to colleagues, I know that they will be consulting widely across this place to ensure that the support we provide is proportionate, and I know that when there is more that we need to do to help, the Government’s door will be open.
Mr Adnan Hussain (Blackburn) (Ind)
The pogroms that we witnessed last night should shock the nation. They were horrific in every sense, and are bound to have left minority communities across the country terrified. We saw widespread scenes of violent disorder, with homes ablaze, and there were reports of people’s cars being stopped and checked on the basis of their race. The depraved scenes of violence that triggered the eruptions last night were also horrific, and understandably provoked anger.
These are scenes more reminiscent of the darkest chapters of history than of modern Britain. We must be honest: something is profoundly wrong. Why is it that isolated incidents are repeatedly followed by such extreme and widespread eruptions of violence? What failures of policy and governance over the decades have brought us to this point, where anger and vulnerability have become so dangerously heightened and so easily exploited?
Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism
Debate between Dan Jarvis and Adnan Hussain(11 months, 1 week ago)
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Dan Jarvis
I am grateful to the Mother of the House, because she makes an important point. Before I respond to it, let me say politely and gently to her and others that my strong sense is that if the actions of the group that we are considering had been conducted by an organisation with different ideological motives, she and some of her colleagues would strongly recommend that the Government proscribed them. [Interruption.] That is, I am afraid, the conclusion I have arrived at.
My right hon. Friend mentioned the United Nations. The Government received a letter from the UN special procedures mandate holders at the end of 2024, and the UK Government provided a full response, which has been published. I gently say to her that national security and keeping the public safe are very much matters for this country, not other organisations.
Mr Adnan Hussain (Blackburn) (Ind)
This heavy-handed approach threatens basic freedoms and sets a dangerous precedent for all political dissent in the UK. Does the Minister acknowledge that?