Violence against Women and Girls: London

Rosena Allin-Khan Excerpts

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Mr Stringer. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for securing the debate. Since she has come to Parliament, she has been a tireless campaigner on this issue and a real credit to her community and any victim of violence against women and girls.

The damning statistics are so well reported and have been well noted in the debate so far. Although this is a national challenge, in London specifically, almost 160,000 domestic abuse crimes and more than 25,000 sexual offences were reported to the police last year. We know that those figures actually underestimate of the scale of the problem, because so much goes unreported. Silence is not consent; it is the result of a system that fails to empower survivors.

As we all know, the effects of violence against women and girls are often too deadly. Across the UK, a woman is killed, on average, every three days. Just think about that for a moment. Behind those numbers are mothers, daughters and sisters—precious lives cut short too soon by a death that was entirely avoidable. Their names and stories must never be forgotten, and today is our opportunity to honour each and every one of them.

When instances of violence against women and girls occur, victims should be able to turn to the police, but, too often, women lack trust and faith in our police—and their concerns are not without merit. Reports of misogyny and sexism in police forces remain commonplace and continue to undermine confidence in policing. Just last week, former Met police officer David Carrick received another life sentence for sexual offences. Let us be very clear: today, on our streets, purporting to keep our young women safe, are police officers. When one of Carrick’s victims attended hospital following being assaulted, she was warned that it would be difficult to seek justice as the law protects its own. That is emblematic of a view held by many that officers close ranks and protect their own rather than listening the voices of survivors. The only way for the Met to rebuild trust is to take action when officers fail to meet the high standards that we all rightly expect of them. I know that the Met and its leaders have promised action, and I am sure that any changes will be well supported by us all.

No one should have to plan their route home, clutch their keys, or second-guess whether a street is too dark or too quiet to walk down. As a mother of two girls, I should not be having to think about when the right time is to tell them what side of the road they should walk on or how they should seek help, or to take them to learn Muay Thai and boxing at a local gym, because I feel that that is the only way I can protect them in this day and age.

In my constituency of Tooting, I launched my Safe Space campaign, signing local businesses up to offer a place of safety to anyone on local streets. The situation is critical, but there is cause for hope, and I welcome work done in London to create our city’s own violence against women and girls strategy, which champions prevention and education while placing responsibility squarely on perpetrators to change their behaviour. I know that our Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, cares deeply about this, and with over £17.7 million invested in specialist support, the strategy recognises that harm often begins with words and attitudes, and it seeks to restore trust in justice.

In Wandsworth, our Labour-run council has been proactive in addressing violence against women and girls. It has doubled investment to address violence against women and girls, which has allowed for the employment of a domestic abuse specialist in the housing team and the creation of an advocacy service to help women to navigate the system. These measures will go a long way to supporting those in desperate need of help.

While this work is much needed and welcome, we surely all see that there is much more to be done. Violence against women and girls does not occur in a vacuum. It is born out of misogyny. It is born out of the sexism that goes unaddressed on our streets, in our workplaces and in our schools. We need a continued focus on early intervention and education to address the root causes of the violence that impacts too many women and girls. The online world has become a breeding ground for extreme misogyny, targeted at young boys and often glorifying violence against women. Finally, survivors must feel empowered to come forward. That can only be done by driving up standards in our police forces and fixing our justice system, so that all victims are believed.

Employer National Insurance Contributions: Police Forces

Rosena Allin-Khan Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Dame Diana Johnson]

With the greatest of respect to the right hon. Lady, who I think was Chief Whip under the disastrous premiership of Liz Truss, I am not really prepared to take lessons on economic stability and how to run the economy from a Government that trashed the economy and that caused such devastation to many families through the rise in interest rates and mortgages. I think perhaps a little humility might be in order.

We have set aside funding to protect the spending power of the public sector, including the NHS, from the direct impacts of the increase in employer national insurance. That is why we are providing compensation of £230.3 million to support forces with the cost of changes to national insurance and to ensure that no force is left out of pocket as a result. The right hon. Member for Tatton may like to know that that is similar to the funding provided by the previous Government in the 2024-25 police funding settlement to cover the additional costs of pension changes. Again, this is not unusual.

The right hon. Lady may have concerns about the £3.7 million pressure reported by her local police force as a result of the changes and the impact that that could have on officer numbers. As set out in the settlement papers, however, we are fully covering those costs. Actually, Cheshire is getting £3.9 million in national insurance compensation for next year—more than the anticipated need. That is alongside the £200 million that we are investing in neighbourhood policing to ensure not only that officer numbers are maintained, but that visible policing in our communities increases. Our mission is clear, and the funding provided in this settlement will ensure that forces across the country are equipped to meet the challenges that they face and to protect our communities.

As I have said a number of times this afternoon, I of course recognise that any additional pressures on forces are concerning. That is why we will continue to engage closely with forces and finance leads to ensure policing has the resources it needs.

I thank the right hon. Member again for securing this debate, and thank all those who have spoken. We are compensating for the national insurance increases to ensure that forces have the resources they need to protect visible neighbourhood policing. Our position could not be clearer. We will work in lockstep with the law enforcement system in our shared effort to keep people safe, whether that involves restoring and protecting the long-standing tradition of British policing, such as neighbourhood policing, or acting to combat the most dangerous emerging threats. This Government are wholly committed to providing the police with the powers, resources and tools that they need to protect the public.

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (in the Chair)]

I call Esther McVey to wind up the debate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rosena Allin-Khan Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

2. What steps she is taking to improve the effectiveness of community policing.

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)]

11. What discussions she has had with the Metropolitan police on the effectiveness of community policing.

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

17. What recent progress her Department has made on improving neighbourhood policing.

--- Later in debate ---

[Yvette Cooper]

The hon. Member is right to talk about the deep frustration felt in communities, including local businesses and town centres, about not just the absence of neighbourhood policing, which we need to turn around, but the weakening of powers over the past 14 years on things such as shoplifting. That is why we are introducing new respect orders and strengthening powers on shoplifting and assaults on shop workers.

[Dr Allin-Khan]

We all know that well-resourced neighbourhood policing, with bobbies on the beat working in the community, is central not just to solving crime but to preventing it. We saw some great results in Tooting just last year, with a special operation resulting in a 70% cut in crime. Fourteen years of Tory government have decimated our local police teams, despite our brilliant London Mayor pulling out all the stops to bolster the numbers. Will the Secretary of State pledge that our local communities will have properly resourced policing teams under the new Labour Government?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is right about the importance of having neighbourhood policing teams working in communities with local residents and businesses, knowing the kinds of crimes and challenges that that area faces. That is why we are determined not just to get neighbourhood police back on the beat, with funding in place to do so, but to ensure that, as part of a neighbourhood policing guarantee, the officers are not abstracted to deal with other things.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rosena Allin-Khan Excerpts

Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I think most people in this country want to see strong border security and a properly controlled and managed asylum system, where we do our bit for those who have fled persecution and conflict, but where those who have no right to be here are returned. We do not have any of those things at the moment. That is why we are strengthening our border security and why we continue to support important routes such Homes for Ukraine and the support for Afghanistan.

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)]

In Tooting town centre, we have had Operation Kenny rolled out this year, which has been fantastic in tackling violent crime and making people feel safer. It has meant more police patrolling the streets on a continuous basis and has led to a 70% reduction in crime. We would like to see that programme rolled out across the country, so can I tempt the Home Secretary to visit Tooting to see the fantastic effects that it is having?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting that important work being done on the streets of London. We want to ensure that policing has the support it needs from central Government. I am sure that the Home Secretary or I would very much enjoy a visit to see that in action.