Jesse Norman
Main Page: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)Department Debates - View all Jesse Norman's debates with the Home Office
(10 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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The hon. Gentleman is getting his quotations mixed up. I made it absolutely clear in my statement, and in my response to the hon. Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas), that the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister concluded that I did not authorise the release of the letter. Following the review, certain things took place in relation to the Education Secretary, and in relation to further comments that were made to The Times, my special adviser Fiona Cunningham resigned on Saturday.
Does the Home Secretary share my surprise, indeed astonishment, that it had to fall to her to impose bans on hate preachers and to set up an extremism unit, and that those things were not done under the last Labour Government?
My hon. Friend has attributed to me an action to which I referred earlier and which was actually taken by the Education Secretary, namely the setting up of an extremism unit in the Department for Education. However, as I said earlier, I have banned more hate preachers than any other Home Secretary. That is because this Government take the clear view that we want to deal with not just violent but non-violent extremism, which is clear from the actions that we have taken.