Electronic Monitoring of Offenders

Debate between Emily Thornberry and Catherine McKinnell

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

The right hon. Gentleman asks a typically thoughtful question. Obviously, all these matters are kept under review. We work very closely with the Probation Service, which uses a range of measures to manage offenders once they are released into the community, to both support them to reintegrate and to ensure that the public are safe, and we also work very closely with the police on that. When an offender does find settled accommodation, a tag can then be put on as part of their licence conditions, but where there are concerns, the recall option remains available.

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

When Pentonville Prison was built in 1842, I do not imagine anybody expected that today it would have twice the number of prisoners the Victorians thought ought to be kept there. Furthermore, Pentonville Prison is a London remand prison—people used to be there for six to eight months on remand in pretty terrible conditions, but now they are there for years because of the crisis in the criminal justice system. The question is this: when they are released, what should be done with them? I was speaking to the governor of the prison on Friday, and he said that if the Government wished them to, prison officers would be quite happy to be trained to put the tags on people themselves before releasing them.

[Catherine McKinnell]

I thank my right hon. Friend for her thoughtful question. Like me, she has the greatest regard for our prison governors. They work on the frontline, keeping the public safe and keeping their prisons running, and they do come up with a lot of good ideas, many of which I have heard myself. I meet governors regularly about what we can do to improve matters; I am very much “ear to the ground.” Indeed, many of the proposals that we are taking forward to improve significantly on the situation we inherited come from the very practical reality that prison governors encounter, so I thank her for the suggestion.

Aleppo/Syria: International Action

Debate between Emily Thornberry and Catherine McKinnell

Programme motion: House of Commons
Tuesday 13th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Emily Thornberry]

There is a live debate about this, which is why I also pray in aid solutions such as unmanned drones or GPS-guided parachutes, which can carry much more than unmanned drones. We know that the Government are actively considering all these proposals. If airdrops are not the answer to delivering humanitarian aid, I hope that the Foreign Secretary will tell us what is, because inaction is simply not an option.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

I congratulate those who have secured this debate. A UN spokesperson stated this morning that there had been a “complete meltdown of humanity” in Aleppo. If that does not mean that we have reached the point of last resort, does my hon. Friend, like me, want to hear from the Foreign Secretary exactly what that point would be?

[Emily Thornberry]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend; I could not have put it better myself.

Thirdly, once Aleppo has fallen, attention will at some point turn to Raqqa and other cities where Daesh is currently in control or attempting to take control. Civilians are trapped in those cities as well, and they will be just as vulnerable as the civilians in Aleppo to bombardment, the use of chemical weapons and the humanitarian effects of any siege. To what extent, if at all, will there be co-operation with Russia, Iran and pro-Government forces, if and when their attention turns to fighting Daesh? If the answer is none, how will we stop Raqqa and other cities turning into repeats of Aleppo?