Child Sexual Abuse Cases: Metropolitan Police Debate

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Department: Home Office

Child Sexual Abuse Cases: Metropolitan Police

Sheryll Murray Excerpts
Friday 25th November 2016

(7 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Brandon Lewis Portrait Brandon Lewis
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My hon. Friend makes a very good point and is absolutely right. That was why the Prime Minister, when she was Home Secretary, set up the College of Policing—to make sure that we professionalise the police force and we share best practice across the country. That, along with the leads provided by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Chief Constables’ Council, is exactly how we should make sure that police forces are well equipped to deal with all issues.

Sheryll Murray Portrait Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
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My constituents will be very concerned about this issue. Will the Minister tell me what steps the Government have taken to protect vulnerable and young people from abuse across the country?

Brandon Lewis Portrait Brandon Lewis
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My hon. Friend makes a very good point. We should remember that the independent inquiry is looking at all the issues historically and up to the present. It is important to let it have the space and support to do its job, so we can make sure we learn the lessons of the past and show that there will be justice for anybody who has been through the kind of horrendous ordeal that some people have been through. We have to be very clear that this type of behaviour simply cannot be tolerated. It is right to make sure that police forces are training officers, as my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Seema Kennedy) said, and it is shocking to think that the Metropolitan police simply did not put that training in place.