Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Karen Bradley

Thursday 3rd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

I pay tribute to the hon. Lady for her Bill, which helped raise awareness of the issue, and I am pleased the Government are following her recommendations. We need to make sure this works; we need to work together to make sure that it does, and I will be very happy to continue updating the House on this matter.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

2. What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of regulation of fixed odds betting terminals.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Karen Bradley

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

The right hon. Lady knows that we are not giving a running commentary on numbers, but I can assure her that the work is taking place and that any unaccompanied asylum-seeking child in France should claim asylum there with the support of the NGOs, and if they have family in the UK, we will reunite them.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

In view of the clear link between trafficking and forced prostitution, and following the French Government’s change last week to their prostitution laws, criminalising sex buyers but not the vulnerable women involved, and similar changes in Sweden and Norway years ago which reduced trafficking substantially, do Ministers agree that that should be considered in this country?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Bruce and Karen Bradley

Monday 12th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con)]

17. What steps the Government are taking to tackle hate speech.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Karen Bradley)]

No one in this country should live in fear because of who they are. We have made progress in tackling hate crime, but we are determined to do more, including challenging those who spread extremist messages and seek to divide our society. We will therefore develop a new hate crime action plan, working in partnership with communities and across Government to ensure that we have strong measures to stop these deplorable crimes.

[Fiona Bruce]

Can my right hon. Friend reassure me that in tackling hate speech, the Government will continue to protect and cherish freedom of speech in this country, and, in particular, that Christian Ministers need have nothing to fear when preaching biblical principles in their own pulpits, as their predecessors have done for more than 1,000 years?

[Karen Bradley]

I assure my hon. Friend, who campaigns so much for the protection of religious freedoms, that we value the role of faith in society, and will protect everyone’s right to practise their faith. Freedom of speech is a fundamental value that binds our society together, and we will always protect that right. Nothing that we are doing, or planning to do, to tackle hate crime and extremism will stop the United Kingdom’s long tradition of preaching.