Windrush

Debate between Liz Saville Roberts and Amber Rudd

Monday 23rd April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

Of course, those checks should be put in place—my hon. Friend is absolutely right. They were put in place by Labour in 2008, and other checks were put in place even earlier than that. It is the case in most European countries that if someone goes for a job or rents a property, they have to show evidence. The purpose of the accelerated, swift process is to make sure that the people who are so valued by this country have the evidence that they need.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

My constituent, Suzanne Kavaz, was four months old when she arrived from Cyprus in 1959. Cyprus was in the British empire until independence in 1960. Her application for a passport has been in limbo for 18 months, and she has lost work because of a lack of identity evidence, even though she had a passport in the past. When does a “hostile environment”, combined with implicit tolerance of austerity-workload fatigue and a culture of concealment, become textbook institutional racism?

[Amber Rudd]

I am sorry that the hon. Lady has chosen to interpret the problem in that way. I cannot comment on her individual case, but I simply advise her to ask her constituent—or she can do it herself—to contact my office so that we can make sure that the right steps are put in place and, if appropriate, she does not have to wait any longer.

Women’s Suffrage Centenary

Debate between Liz Saville Roberts and Amber Rudd

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

Even in this Brexit-free week, the Government have chosen to bring forward Bills about smart meters and space technology, while the gender-based violence legislation has been postponed time and again. A century ago, Parliament managed to cope with a world war and the women’s suffrage legislation at one and the same time. When will the Government stop procrastinating and deliver on their duty to improve women’s lives?

[Amber Rudd]

I do not recognise the hon. Lady’s criticism. We are bringing forward a domestic abuse Bill this year and will embark on a consultation shortly. We want to engage, as I have been doing, with stakeholders and Members of Parliament, including Opposition Members, to ensure that we include what really matters to them. Protecting women and their lives is central to what we do.

Harassment in Public Life

Debate between Liz Saville Roberts and Amber Rudd

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I say to my hon. Friend that there is no pussyfooting on this side of the House. We are determined to ensure that the social media companies are held to account. As I said earlier, we are pleased that Google has announced that it will publish transparency reports. Twitter has taken action. It is not enough, but it is an important step in an area that we care about so much. We need to make sure that the people who do these sorts of things and make these sorts of posts are held accountable. We will achieve that by leaning into the social media companies.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

The Government regularly state that what is illegal in the real world is also illegal in the virtual world. Effective laws need effective enforcement, yet the Home Office has allocated only £200,000 to the online hate crime hub. Now that exercising the sovereignty of this House is resulting in death threats, will the Government make sufficient financial resources available to protect all victims?

[Amber Rudd]

The hon. Lady has drawn attention to one element of our strategy—the online hate hub, which is staffed by police officers who centralise and act on reports of hate—but that is by no means the only activity. The CPS has increased the number of prosecutions by 68% over the past three years and we have put £17 million from the police transformation fund into proper engagement with different police forces to ensure that they have the right skills for the digital recording of the evidence. I reassure the hon. Lady that the online hate hub is only one part of a strategy and we will take action.

Terror Attacks

Debate between Liz Saville Roberts and Amber Rudd

Thursday 22nd June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

TPIMs form an important part of the tools we have to deal with returning foreign fighters. We do track foreign fighters very carefully, where we can, and we recognise that they are potentially the most dangerous cohort of people returning here. TPIMs are one of the tools and they can be used when necessary. I am involved in all the decision making around them. It currently seems correct that those tools are available and can be used when they are needed. If it becomes necessary to use them more, we may need additional legislation, in which case I will come back to the House and ask the hon. Lady to make that case with me to the shadow Home Secretary.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

Will the Home Secretary join me in wishing a full recovery to Lisa Bridgett, of Mynytho, who suffered multiple injuries in the Manchester attack while waiting for her daughter? Of course, we sympathise with all victims of the recent atrocities. I note the Home Secretary’s recent announcement, but will she commit to consider undertaking an independent review of policing resources as a whole, not only to maintain public confidence in counter-terrorism and efforts to tackle cyber-hate, but to underpin essential community policing?

[Amber Rudd]

I will join the hon. Lady in wishing Lisa Bridgett a swift recovery, but I cannot see the need for an independent review of policing. The police are doing an exemplary job, and they need all the support that we in the House can give them at this difficult time.

Calais Jungle

Debate between Liz Saville Roberts and Amber Rudd

Monday 10th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend is right: we should all thank Kent for the enormous amount of work that it does to look after unaccompanied children. It bears the highest numbers and the highest responsibility, and does so with graciousness and generosity, and we are all very grateful to it. On ensuring that other counties and nations benefit from these children, we will put in place a national transfer scheme, so that we can indeed spread the responsibility.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

Given the extreme vulnerability of unaccompanied children in Calais, will the Secretary of State commit to ensuring that the Home Office is charged with using discretion when it comes to the evidence required for establishing family links, as requested by the Red Cross?

[Amber Rudd]

There is legislation in place, and I would be careful about waiving legislation when there is already an obligation, as is the case with the Dublin agreement. There is, in a way, more discretion with the Dubs amendment, as the evidence is not quite as tangible, in terms of family links; it has to be proved that the children are more vulnerable staying where they are than in coming to the UK. There is enough latitude there to enable us to increase the numbers sufficiently, so that we can do the right thing by all these children.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Liz Saville Roberts and Amber Rudd

Thursday 19th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

The hon. Gentleman is entirely right. The two areas of renewable energy where we need to make progress are transport and heat. The renewable heat incentive has been a success, helping 50,000 homes. My proposal for continuing it is currently with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, so we will have to wait until after the spending review.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that subsidising progressively unaffordable fossil fuels, many of which are produced abroad, while cutting off support for renewable energy at home when schemes are on the verge of being self-supporting, mitigates our chances of reaching our targets?

[Amber Rudd]

It is not about one or the other. We intend to meet our targets while achieving the balance of supporting renewable energy and having fossil fuels as part of the mix. That is how we deliver secure, efficient and low-cost electricity nationally.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Liz Saville Roberts and Amber Rudd

Thursday 17th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I know that my hon. Friend takes a particular interest in solar power. It is too early to say what the outcome will be—we are the middle of our consultation—but we are receiving some very helpful replies from businesses and other participants, which will help us to work out the correct level of support. We want to be careful with bill payers’ money, while also ensuring that we support the solar industry.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

While the world embraces solar power, here the Government change feed-in tariffs, thus costing jobs—20,000 in the United Kingdom, as we heard earlier, and 25 from BayWa r.e. in Machynlleth. That may not sound much, but the vast majority of those who are employed in Machynlleth earn less than the official living wage. Will the Secretary of State agree to table, on behalf of the Government, a prayer in the names of the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) and me to annul the Feed-in Tariffs (Amendment) Order 2015, which amends the preliminary accreditation arrangements, so that Members can debate the issue rather than rushing into economically damaging implementation?

[Amber Rudd]

I am always interested in listening to other people’s views on this matter. If the hon. Lady would like to write to me, or to engage with her constituents in order to participate in the consultation, I will consider what is said very carefully.