Immigration and Home Affairs

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy). I congratulate her on a fantastic maiden speech. I know she will be a proud champion for her area.

I must start my first speech of this Parliament by expressing to my constituents how humbled I am to be elected as their new Member of Parliament for Epping Forest. Epping Forest has given so much to me and my family over so many years and it is an honour and privilege to try to repay that and stand up in Westminster for our fantastic communities.

I cannot mention my constituency without mentioning my predecessor, Dame Eleanor Laing. I pay tribute to her 27 years of tireless service on behalf of Epping Forest and this place, as an MP, in shadow Cabinet and as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means. She was in the Chair for my maiden speech, a very personal and emotional occasion, a few days after the passing of my father Christopher, her constituent whom she knew so well. I am so pleased that she will continue in public service in the other place. Our area is privileged to have been represented not only by Dame Eleanor Laing, but by the former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, who represented the then seat of Epping from 1924 to 1945.

Today we are talking about home affairs and security. I want to pay tribute to our brave, hard-working police on the frontline, who are keeping our streets and communities safe and secure in Essex and right across the country; to our brilliant Essex police, fire and crime commissioner Roger Hirst; and to our chief constable, Ben-Julian Harrington. They have truly led the way in reducing crime, with antisocial behaviour down by at least 63% in the past five years. I firmly believe that that needs to continue. I know, of course, that my constituents in Epping Forest feel that there is a lot more we need to do to keep our communities secure and safe; their concerns include violent crime, fly-tipping, drug crime, burglary, shoplifting, fraud and car crime.

We also need to think about international security. I am proud that the previous Conservative Government supported Ukraine and I am pleased that the new Labour Government will be doing that as well. I was disappointed that the new Government omitted from the King’s Speech our cast-iron commitment to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence; I really urge them to move forward on that quickly.

I welcome the fact that in the King’s Speech mental health was given the same attention and focus as physical health. Parity of esteem between mental and physical health is so important; it is something that I have raised since my maiden speech. I urge the Government to confirm the work we did with 3 Dads Walking to get age-appropriate suicide prevention on to the school curriculum to protect our young people.

As a veterinary surgeon, I was disappointed by the lack of any mention of animal health and welfare in the King’s Speech. In the last Parliament, huge strides were made to bolster our reputation in the area of animal welfare, with the Animal Welfare Sentencing Act 2021 and the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. I urge the Government to continue that progress and to support legislation on issues such as banning the smuggling of puppies and heavily pregnant dogs and the importation of dogs with cropped ears.

Epping Forest is a beautiful area and has precious green spaces, but I am nervous that the Labour Government will put some of that in jeopardy by re-badging the green belt as grey belt. We must make sure that new housing is put in the right places and that infrastructure is protected. I urge this Government to carry on with the capital build projects committed to by the previous Conservative Government: a new community diagnostic centre at St Margaret’s hospital in Epping and rebuilds for the Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow and Whipps Cross hospital—hospitals my constituents depend on. Those projects were committed to by the previous Government and I urge the Labour Government to carry on with them in full.

It is important that we as a constructive Opposition help this Government to serve our communities and get things right, but that we point out things when we feel they are getting them wrong. I wish this Government well, and I look forward to working with colleagues across the House on important issues of public health, animal health and welfare, protecting our green spaces and ensuring that our constituents have access to the good health and education systems that they deserve.

Tackling Spiking

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Laura Farris]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has been really vocal on this issue and deserves credit for everything she has done on it. She made two excellent points. The first was about whether the Home Office would respond to flashpoint time periods such as freshers’ week. I think that that is absolutely within our purview and it is set out in the spiking report, which I hope she has had an opportunity to read. The second was about best practice, and that is an excellent point on which I hope to update the House over the course of next year. We can create as many new offences or practices as possible in this House, but unless they are being applied evenly across every force, we cannot be sure that they are working as well as they should be. I hope my hon. Friend will continue to scrutinise the Government on that issue in the months ahead.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

I hugely welcome this statement from the Minister and thank the Government for taking strong, positive action on tackling the horrific crime of spiking, which affects young and older people, including students and non-students, and hugely negatively impacts public safety. Can my hon. Friend reassure the House and the public at large that the police and hospitality businesses will be supported to better detect this crime and so ultimately bring these perpetrators to justice?

[Laura Farris]

I can provide my hon. Friend with that reassurance. The critical part of our response today is that we are working at every single level from the barman to the bouncer to the statute book. We recognise it as critical that people are protected when they are out at night and if they have cause to go to the police the following day. Our objective is to stamp out spiking.

Illegal Migration Update

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick]

We of course take the wellbeing of the illegal immigrants—the residents of these new sites—seriously. I think they will be better cared for in this bespoke accommodation than in an ad hoc network of hotels that have been taken in emergency circumstances. The new sites will be run by well-trained individuals and have their own healthcare facilities, and we will be able to have Home Office personnel on site to process their claims swiftly so that they can either be granted asylum, remain in the UK and begin to pay taxes and make a contribution to our country, or be removed.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Minister for his update and his hard work in this policy area. Will he reassure the House that the treatment of women, children and families throughout this whole process will be compassionate, and that this Conservative Government are committed to supporting and bolstering safe and legal routes to help vulnerable people fleeing persecution and seeking sanctuary?

[Robert Jenrick]

First, my hon. Friend has my total assurance that although this policy is tough, it will also be decent and legal. The work I did in the autumn in making reforms to the Manston site in Kent is evidence of the way in which I will approach this work. On my hon. Friend’s second point, this Government absolutely believe in the UK’s being a world leader for resettlement schemes and safe and legal routes. We are already: 500,000 people have come to our country for humanitarian purposes since 2015. That is something we should be proud of and it is something that a Conservative Government will continue.

Safe Streets for All

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dr Neil Hudson (Penrith and The Border) (Con) [V]]

I welcome the measures in the Queen’s Speech to support policing, which will not only secure safer streets for all, but go more widely across the country to cover rural crime. In Cumbria, we have seen the re-election of our Conservative police and crime commissioner, Peter McCall. I pay tribute to Peter, to our chief constable, Michelle Skeer, and to all of Cumbria police for their efforts to keep us safe, especially with the added challenges of the pandemic.

I very much welcome the Government’s plans to tackle rural, wildlife and animal-related crime. The Government have announced measures in this speech to improve animal welfare, both here and globally. As a veterinary surgeon, that is something I welcome strongly. The action plan for animal welfare contains much-awaited measures to recognise animal sentience in law and plans to tackle puppy smuggling, pet theft, ear-cropping in dogs and livestock worrying.

The plans to end live exports of animals for fattening or slaughter are welcome, but in parallel, we need to help the farming sector to adapt. We need to bolster the local abattoir network to reduce travelling times and distances so that UK animals can be born, reared and slaughtered locally. By promoting high animal welfare standards here in the UK, and by using animal welfare chapters in our free trade deals, we can be a beacon for the rest of the world.

It would be an excellent use of some of our international aid budget to help farmers in the developing world to farm and rear animals more sustainably. On that note, I welcome the comments last week in the Chamber from my right hon. Friend the Chancellor that the UK economy will be on a stable footing in the coming months. Accordingly, I urge the Government to reinstate the UK’s commitment to 0.7% of GNI being spent on international aid as soon as possible.

The Queen’s Speech also contains welcome measures to protect and support our environment through the Environment Bill. I strongly support the Government’s plans to focus on improving mental health support and provision in our country, which has come into sharp relief in the pandemic.

In addition, I welcome plans to improve connectivity, not only physically with buses and trains, but virtually with improved broadband and mobile phone coverage. The measures on the lifetime skills guarantee and flexible access to education are to be applauded. I look forward to working with the Government for the learners of Cumbria.

Our Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee inquiry on land-based education raised serious questions over Askham Bryan’s planned exit from Newton Rigg and Cumbria. I reiterate our call for the Government to confirm whether Askham Bryan is within its legal rights to sell the college and its assets. If it is, we are asking the Government to ensure that it does the right thing so that we can secure a long-term future for education in Cumbria.

In conclusion, I welcome the proposals in the Queen’s Speech. They are progressive and ethical, and I look forward to working with Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Monday 28th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

My hon. Friend is quite right: it has been a sombre weekend for us all, with the tragic events of Friday reinforced by Police Memorial Day just yesterday. I am pleased to congratulate Philip Seccombe, with whom I have had many meetings in the last year or so, on his efforts to increase the number of police officers out there, which will make everybody in Warwickshire and, indeed, across the country, safer.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to increase police funding.

[Danny Kruger (Devizes) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to increase funding for rural police forces.

[The Minister for Crime and Policing (Kit Malthouse)]

The Government have announced a police funding settlement that sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system in a decade. In total, we are increasing the funding available to the policing system by more than £1 billion this year.

[Dr Hudson [V]]

Rural and wildlife crime sadly continues to affect our local communities. Theft of farm machinery, burglary, animal theft and cruelty, antisocial behaviour and vandalism are just some of the issues facing our rural areas. Cumbria has the excellent Cumbria Farm Watch scheme, a partnership between people and Cumbria police. What reassurances can my hon. Friend give my constituents in Penrith and The Border that the Government are supporting the police and communities in the fight against rural and wildlife crime?

[Kit Malthouse]

As a rural Member, I know exactly the type of concern to which my hon. Friend refers; it is shared by people in my constituency. Obviously, the provision of significant extra numbers of police officers to Cumbria police will help the chief constable in deliberations about where to put those resources. Although that is an operational matter, one would hope that some of it will be devoted to rural crime. I certainly hope that will happen in Hampshire. On wildlife crime, I am pleased to report that we are putting £136,000 into the National Wildlife Crime Unit so that it can continue its valuable work.