Oral Answers to Questions

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 15th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Reform)]

3. What steps she is taking to help prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel illegally.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)]

Under this Government, the National Crime Agency has led 347 disruptions of immigration crime networks—its highest level on record, and a 40% increase on the previous year. We are passing legislation to give both the National Crime Agency and law enforcement more powers to arrest those suspected of facilitating people smuggling at a much earlier stage. I was very sorry to see that the hon. Member did not match his rhetoric with real action by voting for those measures when they were before the House.

[Lee Anderson]

I have it on good authority that the people smugglers in northern Europe are absolutely delighted with Labour’s new Front-Bench team, and especially with the promotion of the hon. Member for Dover and Deal (Mike Tapp), because they know we will get more of the same from this Labour Government. The boats will keep coming, the boats will get bigger and the people smugglers will make more money. What difference is this Home Secretary going to make that the last Home Secretary could not?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I think the hon. Member has just admitted to having a hotline to a bunch of people smugglers. Perhaps he would like to contact the National Crime Agency and tell it that he is in touch with a bunch of criminals, so that they can be appropriately dealt with. All he and his party have is a bunch of rhetoric and no answers to the problems that the previous Government left behind. It is this Government who will clean up the mess and secure our borders.

[Chris Murray (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab)]

Illegal immigration is, by definition, an international crime. That is why it is so important that we work with our allies, such as France, in targeting this issue, which affects our communities. I welcome the Government’s “one in, one out” deal with France, which has the potential to be the most game-changing step in British migration policy in decades. Can the Minister give us an update on how the “one in, one out” deal is going, and has she spoken to her counterparts in France in her new role?

[Shabana Mahmood]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that international co-operation is the key to us securing our borders here at home and assisting our international partners to do the same with theirs. I am already in touch with my French counterparts. That was a landmark agreement, which the Conservatives tried to achieve for many years, but they were all words and no action. It is this Government who struck that landmark deal, and we are working with our partners in France to get the first flights off the ground as soon as possible.

[Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)]

I congratulate the right hon. Lady on her appointment and I wish her every success. It is in the national interest and the national security interest that this issue is tackled, but her Front-Bench colleagues and the Prime Minister are absolutely wrong to get rid of a deterrent. Notwithstanding all the new policies, all the new Bills, and all the new relabelling and rebadging of organisations, unless there is a deterrent the illegal migrants will continue to cross the channel, as they have done since this Government came to power. When is a deterrent going to be put in place, and what will it look like?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I welcome the tone of the first part of the right hon. Gentleman’s question. It is in our collective national interest that we secure our borders, and I look forward to working with Members from across the House as we get on with that important task. It is important not just to prevent criminality, but to hold our own country together, which is why I have always said I will do whatever it takes.

The Rwanda agreement, which is what the right hon. Gentleman referred to as a deterrent, was nothing of the sort. From the day that agreement was signed to the day it was cancelled, 84,000 people crossed into this country. That shows it was not a deterrent that was ever going to work. I am clear that I will do whatever it takes. I am already considering other measures that will deter people from making that crossing in the first place, and I will update the House in due course.

[Mike Reader (Northampton South) (Lab)]

Immigration is still a big issue for my constituents—they email about it and it comes up when I am in the pub—but people’s frustration is turning to direct action, and Northampton is now filled with flags. Does the Home Secretary agree that flags are a symbol of our pride in our country, and they should not be hijacked by plastic patriots and those who do not work in our country’s interest?

[Shabana Mahmood]

Let me be very clear: I understand the strength of feeling across communities in this country about the use of hotels, in particular—the right to protest is an ancient right in this country, and we will protect it—but it is important that we do not slip into rhetoric that incites violence or hatred towards other communities. I love the St George’s flag and I love the Union Jack. Those flags belong to me as much as they do to anybody else, and we must never allow any of our flags to become symbols of division.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Shabana Mahmood]

Coming from one of the Conservative Members who, frankly, did nothing across their period in office and who are responsible for the mess I am having to clear up, I think that is a little bit rich. This Government have been absolutely transparent. We will carry on being so, and we will publish all the relevant data at the appropriate time. I am very clear that nobody who tries to game our system will get away with it. We will strengthen our rules, rather than weaken them, which is what we saw under the Conservative party.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

Many of those who come to this country by crossing the channel go on to be granted refugee status. Earlier this month, the Government backtracked on their promise to continue with the 56-day move-on period for those granted refugee status, barely weeks after a Home Office Minister assured this House that the policy would last until the end of the year. The move-on period extension was working, in that it was giving refugees time to secure work and housing while shielding local councils from sudden surges in homelessness caused by people being forced out of asylum accommodation too quickly. Halving the move-on period is worse for refugees who want to support themselves, worse for the communities supporting them until they can get on their feet and certainly worse for already stretched council budgets. Does the Home Secretary agree that it is better to do what works, both for refugees and for communities welcoming them, and will she look again at reinstating a policy that worked, rather than chasing headlines?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I say to the hon. Lady that we are following what is working. Rather than having an arbitrary time period, we are working with local authorities to make sure we have the appropriate move-on period. It is in nobody’s interest that people remain in hotels for longer than is absolutely necessary, and of course this Government will end the use of asylum hotels.

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

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

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[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)]

Every day the police make us safer, but the public are rightly concerned that there are crimes that blight their communities and too often go unpunished. We are focusing police on the crimes that matter to local communities. We have delivered the neighbourhood policing guarantee, including a dedicated named officer in each neighbourhood, guaranteed response times and 3,000 more officers by April 2026.

[Perran Moon]

The Devon-based Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner announced months ago, with great fanfare, that Camborne in my constituency would be a focus for her. There has been very little evidence of that increased focus since. She also said that Redruth would not be a focus because it was not a business improvement district. Neighbourhood policing performance in the towns of Camborne, Redruth and Hayle are inextricably linked. Will the Home Secretary meet me and Cornish colleagues to discuss neighbourhood policing across Cornwall?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I am very sorry to hear about those issues with the police and crime commissioner in my hon. Friend’s local area. It is important that those concerns are listened to. I would be very happy for him to meet the Minister for Policing and Crime, my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon West (Sarah Jones).

[Mrs Brackenridge]

I welcome the action the Government are taking to strengthen neighbourhood policing in Wolverhampton, with 27 additional roles and officers newly allocated or moved back into neighbourhood roles. Fourteen years of cuts have left west midlands police with around 700 fewer officers than in 2010 and a funding formula that short-changes our region by £40 million every year. Will my right hon. Friend commit to reviewing the Tories’ funding formula so my constituency can have the same level of neighbourhood policing and security as other parts of the country?

[Shabana Mahmood]

As a fellow west midlands Member of Parliament, I of course hear my hon. Friend’s concerns, but she will understand that, as with previous years, decisions on police force funding allocations will be made via the police funding settlement, which is taking place later in the year.

[Kevin Bonavia]

I commend the Government for their commitment to neighbourhood policing, not least the proposed powers in the Crime and Policing Bill that will empower officers to stop antisocial and illegal e-scooter riding, which has been a dangerous blight across Stevenage town centre. However, does my right hon. Friend not agree that we should be giving police the legislation and guidance they need to keep our local neighbourhoods safe, rather than arresting individuals for posting on social media views that, while considered offensive by some, are nowhere near the bar for inciting criminal behaviour?

[Shabana Mahmood]

On the first part of my hon. Friend’s question, he is absolutely right about strengthening neighbourhood policing to deal with the concerns he raises. That is why we have brought forward new powers in the Crime and Policing Bill. I agree that it is important that the line between that which is perfectly legal fair comment, even if offensive, and that which is illegal is maintained as strongly as possible. I have already had conversations with senior police officers on this matter, and I am pleased to see statements from, for example, the chief of the Met police. I will be meeting them in more detail to make sure that that line is not crossed, so we can maintain confidence in our police.

[Mr Morrison]

The Prime Minister promised there would be a summer blitz on antisocial behaviour, with more funding and more community police officers promised for our constituencies, yet this summer in Cheadle village we have seen even more antisocial behaviour in the community. Throughout the summer I was contacted by residents about crime in the area, including police officers attacked, a local school broken into and neighbours threatened for simply asking gangs not to throw rocks at their houses. One of my constituents, Adam, told me it is the worst he has ever seen it. Why did the summer blitz on antisocial behaviour not include Cheadle?

[Shabana Mahmood]

More than 500 town centres across England and Wales have seen the benefits of that summer initiative. I will ask my officials questions about the hon. Gentleman’s area in particular, but it is an important model that we have trialled this year. We look forward to building on it as we ensure we have the local responses and neighbourhood policing to deal with local concerns, building confidence so that people can enjoy our town centres as they used to do.

[Lorraine Beavers]

I welcome the Government’s commitment to the neighbourhood policing guarantee to restore bobbies on the beat in our town centres, following 14 years of Conservative cuts that have left our towns and villages at the mercy of shoplifters and antisocial behaviour. Will the Home Secretary outline how Lancashire, and in particular my constituency of Blackpool North and Fleetwood, will benefit from that guarantee?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The neighbourhood policing guarantee is absolutely critical to dealing with the issues that my hon. Friend raises and to raising confidence more generally. The guarantee will ensure that all areas, including her constituency, will have a named, dedicated officer, guaranteed patrols and reliable response times, and will give communities absolute clarity about local policing priorities.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

How can persistent shoplifters be deterred if short sentences are abolished?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The right hon. Gentleman is asking me a question relating to my previous brief, but he will be pleased to know that I expect the new Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor to set out proposals for dealing with prolific shoplifters in particular, based on some of the conversations and exchanges he and I have had. I know it is a big problem, but the Government will have a response to tackle the scourge of prolific shoplifting.

[Mr Lee Dillon (Newbury) (LD)]

I was contacted by constituents yesterday from the Pound Street mosque and Riverside Community Centre mosque who had heard comments from the Unite the Kingdom rally about Islam not being welcome in this country or in Europe. How can neighbourhood policing help to reassure my constituents and the 3.9 million practising Muslims in this country that they have the right to practise their faith without fear?

[Shabana Mahmood]

Freedom of conscience, religion and belief is a protected freedom in this country; it is part of the rights and responsibilities that we have as citizens of this great nation, and nothing should get in the way of that. Freedom of speech is also protected in this country. There will always be some crossover between those freedoms, but, as I said in answer to a previous question, I am absolutely clear that there is a line between content that is offensive, rude or ill-mannered and incitement, whether to violence or hatred, which is a crime. It is important that we police the line between those types of comments effectively so that everybody in this country can have confidence in our policing system, as well as confidence in exercising their rights under the law of our land.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

Last week was Rural Crime Action Week. I recently had an opportunity to join Cambridgeshire constabulary’s rural crime action team to see the work that it does, despite having to cover a huge county of eight constituencies with just 14 officers. Those officers have recently been reallocated from being designated operational support unit officers to neighbourhood policing officers, thus bolstering the number of officers the Government will classify as neighbourhood police and helping them to reach the target of 3,000 officers. However, those officers are neither new nor dedicated neighbourhood police. Can the Home Secretary explain why she is artificially inflating neighbourhood policing numbers by reclassifying those in specialist roles?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The Government’s policy position is to ensure that the policing resource that we have focuses on neighbourhood policing, because we know that visible neighbourhood policing increases the confidence that communities have in going about their business and helps us to take back our town centres from those who indulge in low-level criminality—which is not low level, because it harms people and their confidence in their own communities. That is why we make no secret and are not ashamed of our neighbourhood policing guarantee.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Very simple question: why are police numbers coming down under a Labour Government?

[Shabana Mahmood]

This Government are focusing on delivering neighbourhood policing. We are going to have 3,000 neighbourhood police officers by April 2026, with 13,000—as we committed in our manifesto—by the end of the Parliament.

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal) (Lab)]

5. What steps her Department is taking to support Ukrainian nationals with their visa applications.

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[Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)]

11. What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of disapplying the Human Rights Act 1998 to immigration matters.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)]

Clearly the balance between the human rights of illegal migrants and the wider public interest is out of kilter. This Government will legislate to limit the application of article 8 of the European convention on human rights, which covers the right to a family life. This will mean that we can deport and remove more illegal migrants, and we will pursue international reform, too. In my previous role, I was already involved in conversations with other member states of the Council of Europe, and this Government will continue that work.

[Mr Snowden]

I welcome the Home Secretary to her position. Every new appointment comes with an opportunity to take a fresh look at these matters. Clearly, since the 1950s, when the refugee convention and the European convention on human rights were first written, the world has changed significantly. Successive Governments have tweaked various bits, working with partners, but does she agree that if we are to stop the small boats that are crossing the channel and illegal migration, the Government will need a more wholesale change?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I hope the hon. Gentleman will take a bit of time to look at the speech I made to the Council of Europe just before the summer recess, in which I made a very similar argument to the one he is making. For those of us who are supporters of the convention and who want to see it stand the test of time, we have to recognise that it is a treaty formed many decades ago in a different reality and we should have a conversation about whether it is still fit for purpose. It is a conversation that others in Europe are having, and we are taking a leading role in those discussions. We will pursue international reform and also reform of our domestic legislation.

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

By leaving the EU, the Tories tore up our returns agreement with the EU, and they completely failed to negotiate a new one, but this Government have now rectified that. Does the Home Secretary agree that the Tories and Reform are in cloud cuckoo land if they think that the French would have signed a returns deal with us if we had left the European convention on human rights?

[Shabana Mahmood]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that the fact that we are signed up to the European convention underpins other international agreements that we have with partners. It underpins the Good Friday agreement. It also underpins our treaty with the French on the France returns pilot. That is why we should be responsible in taking forward a conversation on reform of the convention, and that is the approach we are taking. I was taking that approach in my previous role, and I will carry on doing so as Home Secretary.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. You know the score; you know we have to get through questions. When colleagues do not get in, they will blame the shadow Home Secretary. Please try to help others.

[Shabana Mahmood]

After that performance, I have to confess that I find myself rather missing the shadow Justice Secretary, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick). The shadow Minister says that we are tinkering at the edges. He could not be more wrong; we have a proper plan for looking at legislative reform. But tinkering at the edges would have been fantastic under the Conservatives, because their track record is that they did nothing—sod all—in 14 years. Suddenly, they have found their reforming instincts now that they are in opposition. This Government will take forward domestic as well as international reform.

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

12. What recent progress she has made on establishing a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

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[Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)]

I would like to use this statement to address the subject of this weekend’s events. On Saturday, well over 100,000 protesters marched in London. Many were exercising the ancient right to peaceful protest,—but not everyone did. Some turned on the brave police officers who were there to keep the peace; 26 officers were injured and 24 protesters were arrested. Those violent thugs will face the full force of the law. Those who turned to violence on Saturday do not represent what this country really is. When a foreign billionaire calls on our citizens to fight against our ancient democracy, I know that is met by the vast majority with a shake of the head. That is because we are in truth a tolerant country, and, yes, a diverse one, too. You can be English and have roots here that stretch back 1,000 years, but you can also be English and look like me. The St George’s cross and the Union Jack belong to us all. They are symbols of unity—a kingdom united—and must never be used to divide us.

[Bradley Thomas]

I welcome the Home Secretary to her position. Does she have plans to introduce a statutory cap on in-bound migration?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I have one job, and it is to secure our borders. I will do whatever it takes, but what I will never do is take the approach of the previous Government, who were led by gimmicks and false promises that were never met.

[Mr Bayo Alaba (Southend East and Rochford) (Lab)]

T2. Antisocial behaviour, including cars producing excessive noise along the Southend seafront and Westcliff roads, has long affected my constituents. Southend city council, Essex police and I are working hard to address those issues. Will the Home Secretary set out how the Government are going further, faster, in tackling antisocial behaviour, and how delivering on our commitment to have a named neighbourhood police officer in every community will directly benefit residents?

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[Chris Philp (Croydon South) (Con)]

Does the Home Secretary accept that her predecessor was moved because this Government are failing on immigration? Indeed, 75% of the public think that the Government are failing. Illegal migration is up 38%, making this the worst year in history. Let me try again: will the Home Secretary take this opportunity to commit to real action, back our plans to disapply the Human Rights Act 1998 in relation to all immigration matters, and immediately remove every illegal immigrant upon arrival?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I will take no lessons from anyone sitting on the Conservative Benches. Their Government utterly failed on both legal and illegal migration. This Government, and this Home Secretary, will clean up their mess.

[Chris Philp]

The Home Secretary has some brass neck. This has been the worst year in history, with illegal migration up by 38%. Press reports this week suggest that a handful of illegal migrants might be removed to France—she has been silent about that so far—but that amounts to only 5% of people crossing. Does she accept that allowing 95% of illegal immigrants to stay will be no deterrent, and will she commit to publishing full data on a weekly basis?

[Shabana Mahmood]

On the subject of brass neck, I will have to buy the shadow Home Secretary a mirror, so that he can stare at one. As I said, I will not take any lessons from him or any Conservative. This Government have got removals up to 35,000, got asylum decisions moving again, and struck an historic agreement with France. We are working with our partners in France to get flights off the ground.

[Peter Dowd (Bootle) (Lab)]

T5. Will the Minister give an update on the work of the defending democracy taskforce, please?

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[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

This weekend, as the Home Secretary said, Elon Musk used a rally to call—alongside convicted criminal, so-called Tommy Robinson—for the Dissolution of Parliament, and to incite violence on our streets. Given the seriousness of a high-profile figure apparently urging attacks on our democracy, what assessment has the Home Office made of these statements, and what steps are being taken across Government to respond to them, and to protect our democracy?

[Shabana Mahmood]

There is both a legal question here and a political question. On the legal question, in all cases, including the one that the hon. Lady raises, it is for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to decide independently whether the law has been broken and charges should be brought. We would never expect a Minister to comment on that; it would be improper to do so. On the political question, let me say this: the words that were used at the weekend are abhorrent, and I know that the vast majority of people in this country will feel the same way. Whether you are a hostile state or a hostile foreign billionaire, no one gets to mess with British democracy.

[Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)]

T6. Members of the all-party group on anti-corruption and responsible tax, which I chair, had the opportunity to meet National Economic Crime Centre officers last week and discuss the work that NECC is doing to disrupt money laundering and tax evasion, including through its landmark Operation Machinize. High-street money laundering is of huge concern to me, given the explosion of cash-intensive businesses over recent years seeking to hide beneath a veneer of respectability in order to conceal their dirty money. What measures is the Minister taking to empower trading standards, local councils, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and law enforcement to tackle this issue head-on?

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[Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)]

T8. The 2018 definition of Islamophobia by the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims said that the debate about rape gangs was a form of “anti-Muslim racism”. Among other alarming things, it said that raising concerns about entryism into government by extremists, which is an established tactic of the Muslim Brotherhood, was Islamophobic. The Home Secretary endorsed that definition. Does she still believe that addressing the religion of rape-gang members or identifying Muslim Brotherhood entryism is Islamophobic, or does she now disown that definition?

[Shabana Mahmood]

That definition sought to give context to patterns of behaviour. Let me be clear for the hon. Gentleman and the whole House: there is absolutely no excuse for, or hiding of, the criminality of those who engage in heinous crimes such as those involving rape or grooming gangs. That is why the Government will take forward the Casey recommendations and have that national inquiry. He knows that the Government are working with a working group on a definition of Islamophobia. We have been absolutely clear that we will not pursue any measures that would impinge on our ancient right of freedom of speech.

[Gill German (Clwyd North) (Lab)]

Ensuring that our town centres are safe, vibrant and welcoming is hugely important in Clwyd North. I warmly welcome the Government’s safer streets summer initiative in Rhyl and Colwyn Bay. From walkabouts I have done recently with local police, it is clear that a strong community police presence is crucial to tackling antisocial behaviour where it arises. Will the Home Secretary ensure that North Wales police have all the resources they need all year around in Rhyl, Denbigh, Abergele and Colwyn Bay to help build back our town centres?

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[Gurinder Singh Josan (Smethwick) (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the Home Secretary and her team to their places. The Home Secretary will be aware of the recent horrific attack and rape of a Sikh woman in Oldbury, in my constituency, who reportedly had racist abuse directed at her. The case is being treated as a hate crime and a suspect is under arrest. What steps is the Home Secretary taking to support West Midlands police in securing justice in the case, and to address the wider concerns of the Sikh and other ethnic minority communities regarding the increase of racism in the public discourse, which can lead to targeted violence and damage community safety?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The horror of a sexual assault motivated by race or ethnicity is absolutely appalling. I am sure that the whole House will join me in condemning such crimes in the strongest possible terms. On the specifics of the case, it is an ongoing criminal investigation and it is imperative that we allow the justice system to do its work. I urge anyone with any further information about the case to get in touch with West Midlands police as soon as possible. I hope that my hon. Friend and Members across the House will have heard my comments earlier, when I said that this Government will not stand for any incitement to racial hatred or violence. It is imperative and incumbent on all Members of the House to ensure that we all jointly and collectively hold that line.

[Sir John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)]

In an earlier answer, the Minister referred to the increasing use by police of live facial recognition. While that may well have some effect on tackling crime, it is being used without any legal framework and no national instructions. Will she say when those will be put in place?

Oral Answers to Questions

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 28th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean]

I am pleased to say that because of my hon. Friend’s ardent campaigning there are more police officers in his area. I wish to highlight for him the safer streets fund, which is exactly the kind of initiative that we are putting into town centres to tackle these issues, through things such as better street lighting, CCTV and additional security for residents. The latest round of our safer streets fund is focused on targeting violence against women and girls. That will specifically look at patrols, safer streets and training and the night-time economy.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

10. What assessment her Department has made of the relationship between antisocial behaviour and organised crime.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Rachel Maclean)]

The beating crime plan laid out the Government’s commitments to working with local agencies to drive down antisocial behaviour and tackle the organised criminal business that often drives the most visible crime felt in local neighbourhoods.

[Shabana Mahmood]

Crooks, fraudsters and those with links to organised crime are exploiting loopholes in the law to access taxpayers’ cash in the exempt supported housing sector. The Minister for Crime and Policing is aware of the problem and he knows that the proliferation of this type of housing units is causing an avalanche of antisocial behaviour that is destroying neighbourhoods. He recently promised, when he visited Birmingham, that he would have urgent conversations with colleagues in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Work and Pensions, but in the Opposition Day debate that took place in this Chamber last week there was no reference to any such conversations having taken place and no Home Office interest in this matter. Can the Minister tell us what steps are being taken by Home Office officials and Ministers after that visit to Birmingham by the Policing Minister to make sure that the Home Office plays an active, cross-Government role in shutting down the loopholes that causing chaos in communities?

[Rachel Maclean]

The hon. Lady will appreciate that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Crime and Policing is sitting next to me on the Treasury Bench, and I am sure that he would be delighted to follow up on those specific questions.

Birmingham Attacks and Extinction Rebellion Protests

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend and her constituents. When a crime is committed, it should be investigated, whether it is under the guise of protest or otherwise.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

The appalling series of attacks that we saw unfold in my constituency, right at the heart of our great city of Birmingham, were truly shocking. My thoughts and deepest sympathies continue to be with the man who was tragically killed, those who were injured and all their loved ones. Given the rising levels of knife crime in Birmingham, which now has the second highest numbers in the country behind London, what further urgent steps will the Minister take to get to grips with this epidemic and prevent yet more people from being killed and injured on our streets? Will he also stop expecting urban police forces such as West Midlands police to do more with less, and commit to funding them in a way that is commensurate with the risks that areas such as mine face?

[Kit Malthouse]

I obviously recognise the challenges, in urban areas of this country in particular, and I know that the hon. Lady will be pleased to hear that we have provided many millions of pounds of surge funding to West Midlands police, alongside money for the violence reduction unit and, of course, the money to allow the uplift in the numbers of police officers. At some point this autumn, I will be visiting that force again to talk about its murder prevention strategy. I will then be able to take a better view about how prepared it is to help us in the fight against this kind of crime.

Fire Safety Bill

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 29th April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab) [V]]

I would like to associate myself with the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds), the shadow Home Secretary, both in welcoming the Bill and in relation to what is needed in respect of fire safety, funding for fire services and, in particular, justice for the Grenfell community. I shall focus my remarks on the plight of leaseholders in my constituency, who have been badly affected and for whom I believe the Government need to take much stronger action.

I represent hundreds of people who have been affected by cladding-related issues, including those in the Islington Gates development and at Brindley House in my constituency. Islington Gates is a 144-unit development, and Brindley House is a 182-unit development. Both have flammable cladding, which has rendered the buildings unsafe. In my view, the Government have not moved quickly enough in dealing with cladding that is not of the ACM type that we saw in the Grenfell fire. I welcome the new £1 billion fund, but it took far too long for us to get to that point. It was the result of sustained campaigning from Members across the House, the Labour Front Bench and campaign groups such as the UK Cladding Action Group, the Birmingham Leaseholder Action Group and Manchester Cladiators, alongside many others, who kept up the pressure on the Government ahead of the Budget, that the announcement of the remediation fund was eventually made.

Some big questions remain unanswered about that fund, on the speed with which the fund will be paying out for remediation works and on whether there is enough money to cover the cost of all the works that will be required in buildings such as Islington Gates and Brindley House. If the money is not enough, the Government need to make it clear that they will meet any and all of those costs, and that the £1 billion fund does not represent the limit of the support that the Government are prepared to make available.

These issues are difficult enough for the people who live in these properties, but many, such as those I represent, have now been overtaken by another even more pressing matter: the insurance cover for their buildings. On this issue, there has been a depressing lack of understanding and engagement from Government. If we are not to preside over an even bigger social disaster, that has to change.

At Islington Gates, residents were already paying very large sums for interim fire safety measures before they were hit with a fivefold increase in the cost of insuring their building from £36,000 to £190,000. They had to find a consortium of five insurers to provide cover for their building. When those sums are added to the money that leaseholders already have to find for interim fire safety measures, they are looking at bills of many tens of thousands of pounds—more than some of them will earn in a whole year. For residents of Brindley House, the new quote for their insurance costs is 1,000% higher, having soared to £530,000; the commission and taxes alone on their premium are more than the whole of their premium for the previous year. Last year, they spent £150,000 on internal compartmentation and fire door works; they are paying over £180,000 for their 24/7 waking watch; and on top of all that, they have had to pay £100,000 to replace their fire alarm system.

Can Ministers on the Treasury Bench imagine the stress of receiving a bill for a sum that is much more than they earn in a year? On top of that is the tightening of everyone’s financial circumstances as a result of the covid crisis. My constituents are enduring a level of stress that has left them at breaking point. Their situation is unconscionable, given that they have done nothing wrong. They are facing the consequences of national regulatory failure, and they should not simply be left to it. I have asked the Government repeatedly to take action on insurance for buildings affected in this way. In other parts of the sector, where insurance companies have been unwilling to provide affordable cover for natural disasters such as flooding, the Government have stepped forward with measures such as the Flood Re scheme. I urge them to consider stepping forward in a similar way on cladding insurance cover. It offends every part of our British values, our sense of fair play and decency, that people face ruin through no fault of their own. It is a national failure and it requires a national response.

Oral Answers to Questions

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster]

I share my right hon. Friend’s concerns, and we have been clear that people should make their asylum claim in the first safe country they reach. We work under the Dublin regulations and we will continue to discuss our future participation in that regard, post-Brexit, but we will be tackling this because we want to end the scourge of trafficking that puts so many lives at risk.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

T7. In the west midlands, violent crime is up 27%, the homicide rate is rising and, in Birmingham, drug crime is at a six-year high. The Home Secretary admitted last week that some communities had been “neglected and left behind”. Given the rises in violent and drug crime in Birmingham, will she accept that her comments include my city, and will her Department finally step up to the plate and do something about this?

[Priti Patel]

I had the privilege of visiting the west midlands two weeks ago and participating in an early-morning drugs raid. The scourge of serious and violent crime is absolutely one that we have to deal with, and this Government are fully committed to that. We are providing all the necessary resources—the money, the equipment and the powers—to the police to enable them to get on top of this.

Deportation Flight to Jamaica

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster]

In the criminal process, there would have been opportunities to access legal aid. We have met our legal duties, and we have met the appropriate assessment around whether any of the individuals meet any of the exemptions. Ultimately, these are serious or persistent criminal offenders who, in some cases, present an ongoing threat to people in this country. We will put our legal duties first and protect the public, despite the calls from the Labour party.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

I deeply regret the wilfully obtuse attitude taken by the Minister and others on the Government Benches regarding this issue. He should not hide behind the 2007 law on deportation when he knows full well that our concerns relate to our expectation that the independent review will say, when it is published, that those who came to this country as children should not be deported. This flight should not go ahead before that review and its recommendations are officially published in full. Surely he can see that that is the only way we will know that we have not deported our own citizens.

[Kevin Foster]

I repeat that there is no British citizen on that flight, and the potential eligibility for Windrush protections has been checked. As a Minister I remember that not so many months ago we were getting lectures from the Opposition about following the law and the rule of law, but now we are hearing the argument that we should not. We are not hiding behind the 2007 law; it is our duty to implement the 2007 law. It is really quite extraordinary to see the reactions from the party that brought it in.

Oral Answers to Questions

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 3rd December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

7. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for police forces.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

8. Whether he plans to increase the level of funding for West Midlands police.

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

14. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of police funding.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hurd]

I was in Bristol last week talking to the police and crime commissioner and the chief constable, as well as visiting the Home Secretary’s former manor. I hope the hon. Lady will welcome, although she voted against it, the additional £8 million that has gone into Avon and Somerset policing, and I am sure she will look forward to the police funding settlement shortly.

[Shabana Mahmood]

West Midlands police have had the second highest funding cut in the country. Our chief constable has said:

“I think criminals are well aware now how stretched we are.”

And we have the rising levels of violent crime to prove it. Will the Minister now confirm that he will give our police the funding they need from our national Budget and spending settlement and not push the pressure downstream to local budgets, which will hit the poorest hardest and will not provide all the money that is needed?

[Mr Hurd]

With respect to the hon. Lady, I am not going to take any lessons on progressive taxation from the party that doubled council tax when it was in power. I am sure that, even though she voted against it, she will welcome the almost £10 million of additional investment in west midlands policing this year and will look forward to the funding settlement, which is imminent.

Windrush

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this incredibly important debate. A lot has been said today and over the past week or so about this scandal, but I still feel that there are not words strong enough to describe how awful, appalling, heartbreaking and profoundly un-British this whole scandal has been. I associate myself with all the remarks made by my right hon. Friend the shadow Home Secretary in her opening speech. I also congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), the chair of the Home Affairs Committee, and, in particular, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) on the tremendous work they have done on bringing this issue to light.

This is a horrendous, horrible moment, not just for the Windrush generation and their children but for all of us in our collective national life, and it will have an enduring legacy. If we choose, and if the Government listen, it could be a positive legacy that helps us to move forward in a way that is in the best of our British traditions of fairness, decency and a desire to do the right thing. In that context, I say to Home Office Ministers that they should take heed of our motion and simply release the paperwork. If there is an issue as to how extensive the wording of the motion is, they should work with either the shadow Front-Bench team or the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee to come to a wording that is acceptable and to bring forward the disinfectant that is sunlight.

[Jeremy Quin]

I do not think the hon. Lady understands the import of the motion. If the motion is passed, the papers are required to be given; it is a resolution of the House. Then the Government would have to comply, I presume, with the orders of the Humble Address. It is not an invitation to treat or to discuss.

[Shabana Mahmood]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that point, but as we all know in this place, there are always the usual channels for discussions to be had, and if there was ever a moment for the usual channels and for discussions to be had, I would say that in resolving this most important national matter, this would be the time. It is open to the Government at any point to work with those of us who want the paperwork released, so that we can get to the bottom of what happened and truly learn lessons, and move forward in a way that would honour the Windrush generation and put right what they have suffered. That is what needs to happen.

I welcome the move today to provide legal certainty about how the Windrush generation will be treated in their future applications, but I ask Home Office Ministers to consider giving those citizens access to legal aid and good-quality legal advice as they try to regularise their status. I say that because the absence of legal aid has pushed people towards rapacious and terrible solicitors who give bad advice, and because simply saying, “We have put this on a legal footing and now you can trust the Home Office,” is not enough for people who are still too scared to come forward. The Government have lost the trust of a generation. I know people who, despite my personal assurances, are still too afraid to come forward. A simple legal and legislative change will not be enough. They need access to independent legal advice, and they need financial help for the purpose.

I shall make a couple of general remarks on illegal immigration. Some Conservative Members attempted to ask the Opposition, “What would you do about illegal immigration?” We dishonour the Windrush generation if we make this a debate about illegal immigration, and if we miss the point about the culture of disbelief that fuels the hostile environment, which, as the scandal has shown, sits at the heart of what has happened. It is that culture of disbelief that renders British citizens and British nationals as if they were not just immigrants but illegal too. It visits upon them the ignominy and humiliation of being deemed illegal in their own land. That assumption, which is made at the heart of our system, does not simply go after illegal immigrants; as we have said, it goes after those of us who look like we could be immigrants. We have talked a lot about illegal immigration sitting at the heart of this debate, but what we are not talking about so much is race.

I say to hon. Members who do not quite understand how these policies impact on their fellow citizens and their fellow British nationals: try making an application to the Home Office while having a name that is demonstrably African in origin. Try making an application, as a British national, to the Home Office with a name that is demonstrably south Asian in origin. I promise that the protection of a British passport will not help one little bit. People will have visited upon them casual humiliation upon humiliation. The system will treat them as if they were dirt on the bottom of its shoe, and that is not good enough.

That happens to British nationals on a daily basis when they apply for visitor visas or spousal visas. If they can get past the income threshold and prove the legitimacy of their love for somebody they fallen in love with and married, the system still makes them take a DNA test to prove that a child who might have been born while they visited their foreign-based spouse is in fact their child. That is not acceptable in 21st-century Britain. I say to Government Members: do not be complacent about what your system is doing on a daily basis to people who have the protection of a British passport. If you are in any doubt, come to see me in my constituency, which is 70% non-white. I have one of the highest immigration caseloads in this country and I see this daily. If you have illusions about this, I suggest that you disabuse yourselves of them straightaway.

This is a moment of national truth—of clarity. It is a moment when we can make a choice to have a better debate about immigration. It is a moment that we must not allow to be missed. We will honour the Windrush generation if we move forward in a way that is humane, that is compassionate, and that acknowledges the truth of the failures at the heart of our system and seeks to put them right.

Oral Answers to Questions

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 16th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I can reassure the hon. Lady that, where appropriate, those papers are being released. Some papers are held for national security reasons, and she would not want me to persuade the security services to release those. However, I am encouraged to hear her positive approach to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse for perhaps the first time.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

In the Newtown area of my constituency there have been seven shootings in the past three months. Local people tell me that they simply do not feel safe, and cuts to police funding and neighbourhood policing are having a devastating impact. Why cannot the Home Secretary see that she is failing in her responsibility to resource the services that are required to keep us safe? How much more will my constituents have to suffer before she changes course?

[Mr Wallace]

The hon. Lady makes the valid point that a number of shooting crimes are being committed at the moment. That is why the Government have increased funding to police and specialist policing by £32 million for armed uplift to ensure that we have trained officers on the ground to deal with such threats, and that when we go after criminals who are armed, the police are protected and have the right equipment to do the job and make sure that those people are put in prison.

Immigration Queues (UK Airports)

Shabana Mahmood Excerpts

Monday 30th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

On my hon. Friend’s second point, I think that that is taken as read. On the strike set for next week, I simply say that, as on previous strike days, we will make contingency arrangements to ensure our borders are open and Britain is open for business, and if any members of the immigration service are planning to go on strike, I urge them to think again. It will do them no good, and it may do some damage to this country. I very much hope this strike does not take place.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

This morning, the Prime Minister’s spokesman sought to blame the bad weather for the meltdown at Heathrow last week, but bad weather cannot be blamed for machines that are not working properly, or—worse—a lack of adequate staff training. What is the Minister going to do to make sure, in particular in advance of the Olympics, not only that all the machines will work, but that all relevant staff will know how to use them?

[Damian Green]

As I have already explained, we are ensuring that more staff will be available at peak times during the Olympics. We are proceeding on the assumption that every flight landing at Heathrow for a seven-week period will be 100% full. That assumption is likely to be wrong, but it seems a prudent assumption to make. We are making all our plans about technology and people with regard to that overall plan. I hope that that will reassure the hon. Lady that we are fully aware of the importance of the Olympics period for this country’s reputation and we are doing absolutely everything that we can to make sure that our reputation is preserved.