Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Browne and Simon Danczuk

Monday 19th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

T2. Following my comments in the House about Cyril Smith’s abuse of boys, I understand that the Crown Prosecution Service has now located investigation files relating to Smith from the 1960s. Could the Home Secretary now look at whether it is true that the then Director of Public Prosecutions received a second opinion recommending that Smith be prosecuted; why he concluded that it was not in the public interest; what role, if any, the security services played; and how the Government intend to get to the bottom of what several former police officers are now referring to as a cover-up?

[The Minister of State, Home Department (Mr Jeremy Browne)]

All I can say to the hon. Gentleman is that if members of the public have concerns that they wish to report, they should report them to the police, and if they have concerns about the police, they should report them to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Obviously, we would expect those authorities to act on the information provided to them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Browne and Simon Danczuk

Monday 15th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Browne]

I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. One of the difficulties is giving people the confidence and the practical means to report hate crimes in the first place, but we are keen to encourage and facilitate that process. Of course, the level of recorded crime is sometimes higher although the baseline is the same or even falling because people are being encouraged to come forward, but we want them to come forward, and we are making it easier for them to do so.

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

I understand that the Metropolitan police have a specific category of recorded hate crimes against Muslims. Does the Minister agree that, as part of our fight against Islamophobia, it should be rolled out in areas throughout the country, including Greater Manchester?

[Mr Browne]

As I said earlier, the Home Office has compiled statistics on recorded hate crimes in England and Wales for the first time. Only 4% of hate crimes were based on religion—the vast majority were race-based—but we take all hate crimes very seriously, and where we can further improve not only the compilation of data but the practical consequences and the way in which that information is used to tackle such crimes, we shall do so. I shall give serious consideration to the hon. Gentleman’s comments.

Jerusalem (Humanitarian Issues)

Debate between Jeremy Browne and Simon Danczuk

Monday 26th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr Jeremy Browne)]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to respond to this short but important debate. I start by congratulating the hon. Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) on securing the debate and on the measured but impassioned way in which he approached the topic.

The humanitarian situation in East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories is an issue that remains a high priority for both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development. This evening, in response to the many points that the hon. Gentleman has raised, I hope to set out the actions that the Government are taking. The Government’s position on the status of Jerusalem is clear. East Jerusalem is an occupied territory. The solution to Jerusalem must be sought as part of a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Any solution should enable Jerusalem to be a shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states. Moreover, that solution must allow access for all those for whom Jerusalem means so much, whether they be Jews, Muslims or Christians.

The Government share many of the hon. Gentleman’s concerns about Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. Those concerns relate to demolitions and evictions; the construction of illegal Israeli settlements; severe difficulties of access to Jerusalem for Palestinians from the west bank, or for those residents of Jerusalem who live beyond the separation barrier; the removal of residency rights from Palestinians; and detentions. I shall address each of those matters in turn.

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

Does the Minister not agree that Israel is doing everything it can to prevent the Palestinian people from developing economically?