Official Secrets Act
Lisa Smart Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
As always, I am very grateful to the Minister for advance sight of his statement.
For years, the Chinese Communist party has worked to undermine the democratic institutions and values that underpin our society. This House is all too aware of the warnings, not least from the Intelligence and Security Committee’s excoriating report on China. That report made it clear that the previous Government lacked a coherent strategy for dealing with the threat posed by the Chinese state and that insufficient resources had been committed to meet that challenge. We expect to see better from this Government.
We are faced with a case in which two men, one of them a parliamentary researcher with close links to senior MPs, were accused of serious offences under the Official Secrets Act, only for the Crown Prosecution Service to drop those charges due to insufficient evidence. In this context, the decision is deeply worrying. It raises serious questions about the UK’s capacity to detect and prosecute espionage linked to hostile states, particularly China. So what specific issues with the evidence led the CPS to conclude that the threshold for prosecution was no longer met?
More broadly, what does this outcome say about our preparedness to respond to threats from foreign intelligence services operating on our soil, and even within the corridors of this Parliament? The Government must make protecting our democracy a national security priority. That means implementing the recommendations of the ISC’s China report in full, and ensuring that we are not left exposed to foreign interference simply because our systems are not equipped to respond.
Finally, the Minister again today committed to introduce legislation for a proscription mechanism for state and state-linked bodies as soon as parliamentary time allows. Could he update us on the timeline for bringing this forward and what its scope will be?
Dan Jarvis
I am grateful to the hon. Member, as I aways am, for the very sensible and reasonable way in which she has made her comments. She raises a number of important observations, many of which I agree with. I do have to say to her what I said to the shadow Home Secretary, which is that it would be completely inappropriate for me to speculate about the reasons why the CPS sought to make this decision. I completely understand why right hon. and hon. Members would ask me about it, but I hope they also understand that I am not able to talk about why the CPS has decided to make this decision. That is very much a matter for it, not for the Government.
On the other points the hon. Member raised, let me give her an assurance that the Government do everything we possibly can to ensure that the UK is a hard target to guard against those malign forces, wherever they may come from, that seek to infiltrate or interfere with our democratic processes. We will ensure that our security and intelligence services and agencies and law enforcement have the necessary tools and resources they need to do the difficult job of guarding against the threats we face. Obviously, as she understands very well, there is also a legislative framework for that, and that is why, I understand, she asked the question about Jonathan Hall KC and the recommendations that she has made recently. As she knows, we have made an absolute commitment that we will legislate as soon as we can, and I give her an assurance that that work continues at pace.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lisa Smart Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
My constituent Charlie is from Offerton. He has a gender recognition certificate that states that he is male; he has a birth certificate that states that he is male; and he has a resplendent ginger beard. The interim EHRC guidance, however, states that he should use the ladies’ loo. That is clearly crackers, and Charlie tells me that he has had stick in the past when using the ladies.
It is in the interest of the whole of society for trans people to be able to leave the house and for there to be a loo that they can use in peace when they do so, while they contribute fully to our society. Does the Secretary of State agree that when the final guidance is published, which we expect soon, parliamentary scrutiny would be a good thing to ensure that the guidance is as good as it can possibly be, so that trans people can live their lives to the full with the clarity and security that they need?
Bridget Phillipson
I agree that trans people and women deserve appropriate access to safe spaces and the right level of accommodation and that we must ensure that provision is there, so that no one feels that their safety is at risk. To be clear to the House, the Government did not receive advance sight or notice of the interim update from the EHRC. The EHRC has now consulted on its proposed changes to the draft updated code following the ruling. I have yet to receive that code from the EHRC. Once that happens, we will ensure that, as a Government, we consider it fully, as the House would expect.
Ukraine
Lisa Smart Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Prime Minister
Yes, I will. I know that the Ukrainian communities here in the United Kingdom have been extremely anxious, particularly in the last few days. Having spoken to some of them myself, particularly those who have come from areas that are occupied by Russia, I know that they are extremely concerned about the ongoing situation.
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
I very much agree with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the steadfast support for Ukraine across the United Kingdom, and if my inbox over the weekend is anything to go by, my Hazel Grove constituents agree too. I also agreed with the comments of the Foreign Secretary last week about the need to move from freezing to seizing Russian assets—the principal, not just the interest. The Prime Minister remarked that this was a complicated issue, and anybody sensible would agree. What efforts is he taking with ministerial colleagues and others to simplify it, so that we can strengthen the hand of our brave Ukrainian allies?
The Prime Minister
We are doing what we can. It is not just something within the UK, frankly; it came up yesterday in the discussions. If there is any possibility of going further, and I do not know whether there is, it is going to have to be done with other countries at the same time. I do not want to get ahead of myself because it may simply be too complicated and too risky, but certainly there is an appetite now to look more closely at the possibilities of looking at these assets.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lisa Smart Excerpts(10 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Pat McFadden
We firmly believe that, whoever someone is and wherever they come from, Britain should be a country where hard work means they can get on in life, and that their circumstances of birth should never dictate their future. The reality for too many children in Britain today is that that can be the case—that opportunity can be limited—and our opportunity mission is aimed at breaking that link. We will roll out Government-funded childcare to support improved access, delivering on the funded hours expansion and on the Government’s manifesto commitment to create 3,000 more school-based nurseries, increasing the availability of childcare places where they are needed most. As I said, we want to get a greater proportion of children ready to start school when they walk into primary school for the first time.
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
Stepping Hill hospital in Hazel Grove is reported to have a repairs backlog of £130 million. The people on waiting lists, which have been elongated by this repairs backlog, are police officers, teachers and nurses, thereby making it more difficult for the Government to deliver on any of their other missions. Can the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that due weight is being given to reducing NHS waiting lists, so that all the other missions can be achieved?
Pat McFadden
We announced an extra £22 billion for the NHS over the next couple of years in the recent Budget. I can certainly assure the hon. Lady that reducing waiting times is at the heart of our missions, because current waiting times are bad for people’s health and bad for our economy.
Plan for Change: Milestones for Mission-led Government
Lisa Smart Excerpts(10 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Pat McFadden
My hon. Friend is right that when people do the right thing and they go out to work and try to earn a living, they should have a decent reward for what they do. That is why Labour introduced the concept of a national minimum wage in the first place—opposed by the Conservatives, who said it would destroy jobs—and why the Chancellor announced at the recent Budget a significant increase in that wage so that when people do the right thing, they are rewarded and can get a decent living for the hard work they do.
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
Flexible affordable childcare is a critical part of our economic infrastructure. It gives parents more choice over how to organise their life, and it helps them return to work if they want to, as well as giving children a good start in life. Yet nurseries in Marple in my Hazel Grove constituency have told me that the Government’s increase in national insurance charges will force them to increase costs to families. The Government rightly say they are serious about fixing early years provision and tackling the attainment gap for disadvantaged children, so do they plan to exempt early years and nursery settings from their ill-advised hikes to national insurance charges?
Pat McFadden
If the hon. Member looks at the document, she will find that an expansion of nursery places is in it, because we know it is good for children and for working parents. That is part of the plan we set out today, and part of our plan to ensure that children in early years have the best possible start in life. I cannot announce anything further to the Budget on national insurance, but she knows the background to why we had to take those decisions.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lisa Smart Excerpts(1 year ago)
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Bridget Phillipson
My hon. Friend is a real champion for her constituents and for coastal communities, and I recognise that different communities have distinct challenges. Work is already under way to ensure that where someone is from does not determine whether they can succeed, but I would be happy to discuss that further with my hon. Friend.
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
Young people in my community with care experience are campaigning for care and care experience to be classified as a protected characteristic. Will the Minister meet them and me to discuss whether the Government plan to do that?
Bridget Phillipson
We are looking carefully at what more we need to do to ensure that all care-experienced young people receive the support they need. We know that outcomes are often incredibly poor, and we recognise the disadvantage that care-experienced young people face. We are looking at what more we can do through legislation and beyond to ensure that all young people get the support they deserve. I will ensure that my colleague from the Department for Education, the Minister for Children and Families, is in touch with the hon. Lady.