Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Spencer and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Monday 12th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con)]

18. What changes she plans to make to the investigatory powers of the police and security services.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May)]

The Government have been clear about the need to provide law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies with the powers they need to protect the public. A draft investigatory powers Bill will be published this autumn for pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament.

[Mark Spencer]

I thank the Home Secretary for that answer. I wonder whether she recognises the growth in internet-based communication systems, such as WhatsApp, Snapchat and many others, of which terrorists might be making use. Will she consider taking powers to support the security services in tracking relevant individuals who might want to do us harm?

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. New services are obviously being developed. The law makes it very clear that any communications service provider offering a service in the United Kingdom should be in a position to respond to a warrant when it has been decided that there should be access to intercept material on the basis that it is necessary and proportionate. That was made clear by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and we put it beyond doubt in the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Spencer and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Monday 7th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

20. What assessment her Department has made of the most recent statistics on net migration.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May)]

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave some moments ago.

[Mr Spencer]

The Home Secretary will be aware that, between 2001 and 2010, more than 50% of the increase in the population in England and Wales was the result of immigration. Do the figures that she gave in her earlier answer demonstrate that she now has control of a problem over which there was previously no control at all?

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the fact that immigration was out of control under the last Labour Government, and that it is this Government who have taken the tough decisions to bring it under control. We are able to attract the brightest and best to the UK and, as the Minister for Immigration has just said, the number of overseas students applying to and being accepted by our universities has increased. At the same time, we are driving out abuse. The fall in the net migration figures shows that it is this Government who are dealing with the issue of immigration and bringing it under control.

Abu Qatada

Debate between Mark Spencer and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

It is a simple matter because the deadline was Monday 16 April and the decision will be taken by the judges in the Grand Chamber of the European Court. What is also a simple matter is the fact that it is this Government who got the assurances from Jordan that will enable us to resume the deportation of Abu Qatada. That is what we want to see and what the British public want to see.

[Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

I wonder whether the Home Secretary would agree that the European Court of Human Rights is putting this nation in a position in which we could be perceived as a safe haven for foreign criminals who want to avoid justice from outside the EU, and that the only way to avoid that is to establish a Bill of Rights for the UK.

[Mrs May]

I made the Government’s position clear when I mentioned the commission on the Bill of Rights. I said here on Tuesday, and will repeat it today, that there has been concern about the ability of other European countries to deport people more quickly than we can. I have thus already initiated work to look at the processes— and the legal structures and systems—that happen in France and Italy, for example, to see whether we could learn anything from them and whether legislative changes could be made to give us the ability more quickly to deport people who are a threat to our national security.

Gangs and Youth Violence

Debate between Mark Spencer and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

The hon. Gentleman has made an important point. In helping a young person either to come out of gang membership or to prevent him from getting involved in the first place, it is often important to look not just at that individual but at the whole family. As I indicated in my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton South West (Paul Uppal), the problems sometimes lie in the family, and it is that family background that is a significant cause of what is happening to the young person. Work that is being done—for example, early intervention work by health visitors, family nurse partnerships and so forth—is important in providing essential support within a family.

[Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

I wonder whether the Home Secretary would recognise that there is a significant role for local authorities and housing associations in taking firm action against families that commit criminal activity or antisocial behaviour. Moving those families on by evicting them not only gives the community around them a respite but gives the family a chance for a fresh start somewhere else.

[Mrs May]

That is absolutely right. In fact, moving families on can help in two ways. One is where the family are creating particular problems on an estate or in an area, and the housing association or local council can take action that can relieve the rest of the community. Another is in circumstances where in order to get a potential gang member away from the area in which the gang is involved it is necessary to move that gang member and the family. There can be a positive move as well as a negative one, so to speak.