EU Referendum: Race Hate Crime

Debate between Karen Bradley and Keith Vaz

Tuesday 5th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

The hon. Lady asked about Leveson, too, and I note all the points she makes. The press have a responsibility, but she will know there are still some outstanding cases, and we do need to complete them before we can move on.

The hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth talked about how this is not a new kind of incident, and probably all of us experienced this through the general election campaign. Some of my posters were defaced and I received the most vile abuse. I have young children. This is why I am not on Twitter any more—because, frankly, they do not need to have that coming into our kitchen on a Sunday morning over breakfast; it is just not necessary.

The point is that this is not new. I went to the launch of the latest Tell MAMA report last week. It shows a 326% increase in 2015—compared with 2014—in street-based anti-Muslim incidents reported directly to Tell MAMA, including verbal abuse in the street and women’s veils being pulled away, with 437 incidents reported to Tell MAMA. The report also finds that 45% of online hate crime perpetrators are supportive of the far right.

This brings me to the work we are doing on our counter-extremism strategy. There has been some confusion about its aims. It is important to set this in context. Extremism is the public supporting and promotion of ideology that can lead to crimes. Those crimes might be terrorist activity or violence against women and girls. The public promotion of FGM, while not in itself a crime, might lead to somebody carrying out FGM, a violent crime against women and girls that we simply do not tolerate. It can lead to division in society and hate crime. That is why the Government are working on that strategy with communities and others. We need to make sure as a society that we are clear about how we tackle those ideologies, be they far right, Islamist or promoting violence against women and girls. Those are the kinds of ideologies we cannot tolerate in this society and that is what we are working on in our counter-extremism strategy.

I want to reassure the House that there is currently no police intelligence to suggest any significant public order risks following the referendum result. There has been a variety of spontaneous demonstrations both in support of and against the referendum result. To date, those have caused only minor disruption and have remained largely peaceful. Police forces are remaining vigilant around any tensions and potential for disorder, and will plan accordingly.

The right hon. Member for Leicester East, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, referred to the hate crime action plan. This is a follow-up to the hate crime action plan we had in the last Parliament, and we are making progress: we are seeing more reporting and investigating and prosecuting of hate crime, but there is still a lot more to do. That is why we will publish a new hate crime action plan, which will cover all forms of hate crime, including xenophobic attacks. It is a plan we developed across Government and with communities and society, including schools, to make sure that point is included and encouraged in schools from a very early age, so that it is clear that such behaviour is not acceptable.

The hon. Member for Bolton South East talked about working across Government. I am looking at the best way for us to come together to make this point. I look forward to working with her, the Select Committee and others to show a united front in this House and in the leadership of this House on this issue.

Citizens of other EU countries no doubt have concerns, but I reiterate the point that the Prime Minister made last week: we are a full member of the European Union today and we will continue to be a full member until two years after article 50 is invoked. During that period, there will be absolutely no change to the status of EU nationals.

[Keith Vaz]

The Minister has faithfully reported what the Prime Minister said, but three senior members of the Government who are contestants for the leadership of this country have decided to say that EU citizens can stay. Why does the Home Secretary not agree with them? This issue is not about the Conservative party leadership; it is about the rights of citizens in this country.

[Karen Bradley]

I understand the point the right hon. Gentleman makes, but he will be aware that the Home Secretary is the Home Secretary, whether she is a leadership contender or not.

The reality is that we have to get into a negotiation and to understand what the position is. We are all entering uncharted territory. This is the first time that any country has voted to leave the European Union. It is the first time that any country has been in this situation. We have to be clear about what the future looks like, and that involves grown-up negotiations not just for those EU nationals who are in this country, but for UK nationals who are overseas. I want to ensure that we get the very best deal for Britain, and that includes the EU nationals who are here and the UK nationals who are living in the European Union.

[Keith Vaz]

The point that my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi), I and others are making is that it is this uncertainty that leads to prejudice; it is this uncertainty that leads to one seven-year-old boy saying to another, “You’ve got to leave.” That is why we need to be certain.

[Karen Bradley]

I disagree with the right hon. Gentleman. I do not think that is what leads to it. It is about a lack of understanding and we need to work very carefully to make it clear that such comments are not acceptable from a seven-year-old boy or anybody else.

We are in uncharted territory. We need to go into the negotiation clear-headed about how we will get the best deal for Britain. To suggest that that is using people as bargaining chips is irresponsible, because everything that we negotiate in the deal will have an impact on people—on people living in this country and on people living overseas. We need to get the very best deal for this country. We need to ensure that it is the best deal for trade and for our citizens, including EU citizens who are living in this country. I want to be clear that it will be a priority to get that status cleared up as soon as possible, so that we can all learn how to live in the new world of the United Kingdom being outside the European Union as soon as possible.

The Government are clear that hate crime of any kind must be taken very seriously indeed. Our country is thriving, liberal and modern precisely because of the rich co-existence of people of different backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities. That rich co-existence is something we must treasure and strive to protect. We must work together to protect that diversity, defeat hate crime and uphold the values that underpin the British way of life. We must ensure that all those who seek to spread hatred and division in our communities are dealt with robustly by the police and the courts.

Question put and agreed to.

Hate Crime

Debate between Karen Bradley and Keith Vaz

Wednesday 29th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

As Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government my right hon. Friend did an enormous amount of work in this area and he speaks with great authority. He makes an incredibly important point, and I agree that we need prosecutions to increase. We started from a very low base of reporting, prosecuting, and successful convictions. We are doing well and improving, but there is still a long way to go.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s statement and the measured way that she put forward her programme. That is the right approach to adopt. The Home Affairs Committee will meet today to consider some of those matters, and whether we can inquire into the activities of the far right. The Minister mentioned an increase in the number of people who have been reported, but how many have been arrested and charged? Is there consistency between police forces, because some will be more experienced than others, and what are we doing about internet companies and their failure to take down tweets that are racist or that encourage people to commit those crimes? They are simply not doing enough.

[Karen Bradley]

The Chair of the Home Affairs Committee asks detailed technical points, and it will be for police forces to gather information on some of those. If he will allow me, I will write to him with the specific details on some of those technical points. His point about internet companies is incredibly important. We have seen and worked with internet providers to combat indecent images of children online, and I pay tribute to them for the work that they have done and the progress made. However, companies and individuals simply have not yet done enough. We say that what is illegal offline is illegal online, but we need companies and businesses to take responsibility for the actions of some people whom they allow to appear anonymously and get away with saying things that are unacceptable.

Poppi Worthington

Debate between Karen Bradley and Keith Vaz

Wednesday 20th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. If he will allow me to do so, I will discuss the point with the Lord Chancellor, as this will be a matter for the Ministry of Justice, and return to him with further thoughts when I have had that discussion.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s commitment to pursue these matters until all lessons can be learned, but does she agree that the crucial relationship is that between the police and social services? The crucial process is that information is passed on immediately. If that is done, these terrible acts can be discovered even more efficiently.

[Karen Bradley]

The right hon. Gentleman makes an incredibly important point. If agencies are not working together and talking to each other, we will not find and protect those children who so desperately need our protection. I have been impressed and pleased with the work in multiagency safeguarding hubs, and in the many that I have visited it is truly refreshing to see police, social services, probation services and other agencies that have a role in protecting the most vulnerable people in society—particularly children—sitting together, co-located, working together, sharing information, and taking action immediately. We need more of that, and I know that Chief Constable Simon Bailey, who leads on child sexual abuse for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, is keen to ensure more multi-agency working so that we get that protection.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Karen Bradley and Keith Vaz

Thursday 26th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

I will make sure that the Home Office looks carefully at all the cases my right hon. Friend has raised. I repeat that pregnant women should not routinely be detained. The Home Office is currently considering Stephen Shaw’s review on detainee welfare, and we will publish his report before the Immigration Bill completes its passage.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

I agree with the right hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman). This is a big problem, but it is about the providers. What discussions will the Minister have with Serco, Mitie, G4S and other providers about the detention of pregnant women?

[Karen Bradley]

The Home Office has regular discussions with all providers to make sure that appropriate treatment is given to all vulnerable people held in detention. I repeat that the Stephen Shaw review will be published shortly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Karen Bradley and Keith Vaz

Monday 16th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. It is absolutely clear that there is no excuse for hatred—no religious excuse and no other excuse. Hatred will not be accepted by this Government. We work closely with community organisations such as Tell MAMA to ensure that we are aware of community work to stop hate crime and to ensure that we increase reporting of it. We have also announced that Muslim hate crime will be recorded separately by the police to ensure that we have a full assessment of its levels.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

Further to the comments of the hon. Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew), these terrible events in Paris mean that it is very important that police officers engage fully with local communities. The Government were right to suspend the operation of the police funding formula, which deals with frontline policing. Although the counter-terrorism budget has been protected, dealing with such offences means that we need bobbies on the beat. Will the Minister speak to the Home Secretary and see whether we can present an argument to the Chancellor to protect front-line policing so that the police can deal with such issues, which impact on local communities?

[Karen Bradley]

I am not sure that I need to speak directly to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, as she heard what the right hon. Gentleman said. It is important to point out that the proportion of police on the frontline has gone up and it is incredibly important that we work with communities to ensure that we root out these crimes.