Salisbury Incident

Debate between Nigel Huddleston and Amber Rudd

Thursday 8th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

The chief medical officer has told us, given the information we have now, that she thinks the threat to the public is low, which I know will reassure local health officials in Wiltshire.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I agree we should be cautious about attributing guilt at this stage, but does the Home Secretary share my and my constituents’ anger about the cruel nature of this crime, which could so easily have resulted in considerably greater collateral damage, and will she therefore assure me and my constituents that eventually the full force of the law will be brought down upon the perpetrators?

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend is exactly right. Just because we want to approach this with a cool head in order to collect the evidence, it does not mean we do not share the outrage that he and his constituents clearly feel. When we have the evidence, I will return to the House.

Harassment in Public Life

Debate between Nigel Huddleston and Amber Rudd

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I agree completely with the hon. Lady. I had a similar experience when I was a Back-Bench MP, when somebody said, “Well you’re an MP—you can take it.” MPs are not blushing wallflowers, but nor should we have to take that sort of abuse. I would welcome the sort of approach she sets out.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Does the Home Secretary agree that we must all take personal responsibility on this issue and that any Member of this place whose name or hashtag is persistently associated with hate-filled comments on social media must do everything to distance themselves from such campaigns? Otherwise, they deserve the disdain of the entire House.

[Amber Rudd]

That is a very good point about something constructive that each of us can do. When we see one of our colleagues in the House receiving this sort of hate crime, we can go out of our way to call it out or, at the very least, not participate in any sort of endorsement, which sometimes does take place.

Terror Attacks

Debate between Nigel Huddleston and Amber Rudd

Thursday 22nd June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

The Prevent activity comes from referrals, usually from schools, universities or community groups. They are mostly acted on. Only a smaller portion of them go through to the Channel programme. A disproportionately larger number of far right-wing referrals go through to the Channel programme—about 25%. I can come back to the hon. Lady with more numbers if she would like.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Is the Home Secretary receiving sufficient co-operation from the tech giants and social media companies in her efforts to thwart terrorism? Are they putting sufficient resources in particular into removing inappropriate content quickly enough?

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend knows a little bit about this issue; I am grateful for his question. A lot of this is about making sure the tech companies resource sufficiently—that they do not just wait for us to ask them to take down hate material, but take action to make sure that it is not put up in the first place. We are working with them; there are signs that they will take action, and they are making progress, but I do not underestimate the difficulty and the challenge of making sure we get a truly international agreement, which is the big prize.

Unaccompanied Child Refugees

Debate between Nigel Huddleston and Amber Rudd

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I respect the hon. Lady’s views, but they are different from the one we take. That is not because of a lack of compassion, though; it is basically about trying to work out what is best for those children. She has failed to acknowledge the point that several Members have made, and that I have made as well: if we continue to take numbers of children from European countries, particularly France, that will act as a magnet for the traffickers. I wonder whether she has come across traffickers, or children who have been trafficked. It is a terrible crime and such danger is done to lives. It is imperative that we take action here to protect those children and stop that crime. Part of our process, by focusing on the most vulnerable from the region, tries to do exactly that.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

We should applaud all councils, individuals and families who have stepped up to the plate to assist these vulnerable children. Will the Secretary of State clarify whether the capacity of councils throughout the country to host these children has met, exceeded or disappointed the Government’s expectations?

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend is right that part of the proposal was to make sure that local authorities can support these children. We need to ensure that when the children arrive, it is not a feeling of “job done,” and that they are supported over the few years, however young or old they are, to make sure they have a good life here. We consulted with councils, and they came up with the number 400. I remind the House that that is not the total number that councils take in; we have an average of 3,000 unaccompanied minors arriving in addition to that, which councils generously step forward and support. My hon. Friend is right: we should all thank them very much for the work they do.

Climate Change Agreement

Debate between Nigel Huddleston and Amber Rudd

Monday 14th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about competitiveness. Although there are some elements of this that are not legally binding, there are plenty that are. The fact is that every country has to come back every five years and to demonstrate what they are doing. There will, I hope, be a political moment at that point. Non-governmental organisations, civil society and businesses will be watching and campaigning to ensure that we always make progress. Countries cannot go back on their commitments; they can only go forward. The hon. Gentleman should not underestimate the impact that this deal will have internationally.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I add my congratulations to the Secretary of State and all those who have worked for many years on achieving an impressive outcome. Will the Secretary of State confirm whether the success criteria set before the conference were achieved at it?

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend asks a good question. Most of our criteria were met, but nobody will have left the conference saying that all their criteria were met. That is how we got a deal—everybody had to compromise a little. That was the achievement of the agreement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Huddleston and Amber Rudd

Thursday 19th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)]

Paris is a city that is currently in mourning, but in less than two weeks’ time we will see the world gather there in solidarity to seek to achieve the first truly global deal on climate change. Yesterday I announced plans to close all unabated coal-fired power stations by 2025 and to restrict their use by 2023. This is a world-leading commitment to the environment and underlines our crystal-clear determination to cut carbon emissions as cost-effectively as possible. I stress that the UK’s energy security comes first. As we tackle a legacy of under-investment and build a new system of energy infrastructure fit for the 21st century, we need to replace ageing polluting power stations with reliable, good value-for-money alternatives that help to reduce our emissions.

[Nigel Huddleston]

Ofgem estimates that the average household could save about £200 a year by shopping around for their energy needs, but 62% of households have never switched, while 45% mistakenly believe that there is no benefit from doing so. My hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Nusrat Ghani) raised the issue of online information access, but what else are the Government doing to encourage households to switch and save money?

[Amber Rudd]

I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. The more opportunities that we have to raise and draw attention to the opportunities for switching, the better. Switching can indeed save £200 and sometimes more per bill. My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and, as I said, we have plans to reach out to people who are not online and to help the most vulnerable. We also had the recent Power to Switch campaign, which led to a significantly increased number of people switching.