Asylum Seekers: Wethersfield

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate for the question. We are cognisant of the pressures on individuals at the site. There is a regular meeting between the police, agencies, local councils and others to assess the needs on site, and we had some external reports which the Government have responded to positively. I take on board his points; the Government’s position is to try to resolve those. Individuals spend a maximum of nine months at the centre before being dispersed, and I hope that will help with the issues raised by the right reverend Prelate.

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, it is deeply disturbing that the Government have broken a manifesto commitment by opening new asylum hotels, such as the one in Altrincham. Can the Minister tell this House how many new asylum hotels are being opened, or are scheduled to be opened, and how local concerns are being addressed in decision making?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question; there is a net increase of seven so far. The Government’s manifesto commitment is to reduce the use of hotels and get rid of them in full during this Parliament. We are doing that by increasing the volume of asylum processing. There were 10,000 processed this month, compared with 1,000 a month when the noble Lord was in office. Since July 5, we have removed 9,400 people by deportation—a 19% increase since the noble Lord was in office. I think he needs to reflect on the fact that we have had four months in office and we have made an impact. We have closed “Bibby Stockholm”, decommissioned Scampton, put in place a £700 million saving on the Rwanda scheme and put in place new border security to stop boats in the first place. Please will noble Lord reflect on that and give credit to this Government for their actions?

Police Reform

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Monday 25th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, having spent 32 years as a detective officer investigating crime in the police, I never thought I would ask this question, but does the Minister agree that it is important that police spend their time actually investigating crime, not policing thought? Will he agree to change the guidelines urgently on non-crime hate incidents?

Counter-Extremism Strategy

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Again, my noble friend tempts me to produce the outline of the review’s conclusions. But we genuinely take this issue seriously. When I was a Member of Parliament, a constituent of mine in a small village in north Wales was badly attacked and injured by someone with a machete who was radicalised by Nazi philosophy online. That radicalisation is extremely important, and we need to look at how we build up the stability of individuals to resist that radicalisation and, as my noble friend said, stop that radicalisation at source. If it comes from outside this country, we need to take effective action through the security services and others to close it down. I will give my noble friend further information once the review is complete.

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

Following on from the last question, what steps are being taken to address the growing threat of online radicalisation, particularly among young people, and to hold tech platforms accountable for extremist content? In the context of online radicalisation, how are this Government ensuring effective co-ordination between departments, including the Home Office, the Department for Education and the Ministry of Justice, in delivering the counter-extremism strategy?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful for the question and the way in which the noble Lord put it. Again, I am slightly constrained in outlining the conclusions of the review before it has been completed. But let me say to him that online extremism and online radicalisation, whatever forum they come from, are extremely important issues and will be a focus of government. Going back to the point my noble friend made earlier, we have to look at a cross-government strategy on this; what happens in communities through local government departments, for example, is as important in preventing radicalisation as what the Home Office and the security services do, and we need to be aware of that. When the conclusions are published and my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has announced and opined on them, I will be able to report back to this House in more detail.

Istanbul Convention: Article 59

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Tuesday 12th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, under the previous Conservative Government, we passed the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021. If I may, I suggest that the Government should now build on our work to tackle this issue. In that context, can the Minister tell us what is being done by the Government on the wider issue of combating domestic abuse, both here in the UK and abroad?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I welcome the noble Lord to his post as a shadow Home Affairs Minister. I have been here for only four months, but I already feel like a veteran. It is a pleasure to see him on the Front Bench. He will know that the Labour manifesto, which is now the Government’s manifesto for change, included a number of key points on tackling violence against women and girls. We have set an ambitious target to halve that violence against women and girls over the course of this Parliament. That includes help and support for police officers and for individuals who are victims of violence, and the issues to do with education mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, a moment ago. We will be judged on that target in the course of the programme the Government have set.