Illegal Waste: Organised Crime

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

I am so sorry to hear about the issue my hon. Friend raises. It is shocking that his constituents were unable to access the treatment they needed because of the appalling waste criminals. I assure him that we will go after the waste criminals with every power we have to ensure that they are brought to justice for all their crimes.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

We all agree that fly-tipping is a national scourge. In addition to causing dismay, it causes a lot of disunity between communities. Furthermore, according to a 2018 report, it costs us £392 million to clear up. Will the Minister agree to give more resources to our local councils to fund enforcement measures such as cameras and to implement a zero-tolerance policy, prosecuting offenders and imposing custodial sentences on those who break the law?

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Gentleman is right to mention the issue he is having in his constituency and, of course, the need for more powers. He also requests more funding, which is why I am sure he will be supporting our Budget next week.

Oral Answers to Questions

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

I set out some of the measures that this Government are taking to tackle rural crime, but I am happy to take up that issue with the Secretary of State for Scotland to see what more cross-border work can be done.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

3. What steps she has taken with the Crown Prosecution Service to support victims of crime.

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

7. What steps she is taking with the Crown Prosecution Service to support the experience of victims in the criminal justice system.

[The Solicitor General]

This Government place the experience of victims at the very heart of the justice system and are determined to restore their faith in the system. I want to acknowledge the sad passing of Baroness Newlove, who worked tirelessly for victims. Through its victim transformation programme, the CPS is reshaping its service to victims. I recently visited a rape and serious sexual offences—RASSO—unit in the west midlands and heard first hand about the work that victim liaison officers do to offer crucial support. I am pleased that the service is now being piloted to victims of domestic abuse as well.

[Shockat Adam]

A constituent contacted me in a severe state of distress, understandably, because she is a victim of sexual abuse. Unfortunately, her distress is compounded by the fact that her criminal trial date has been postponed not once but twice, while her perpetrator is walking free in her neighbourhood. This is causing her immense anxiety and impacting her mental health. Will the Solicitor General outline what support the justice system can give to my constituent and other victims of severe sexual violence, especially given long court delays, and what steps she will take to ensure that no victim is left to feel abandoned by the system again?

[The Solicitor General]

I am very sorry to hear about the experience of the hon. Gentleman’s constituent, and I am sure our thoughts are with them. This Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising Crown court caseload. Next year, we will fund the Crown courts to run at record levels to tackle the outstanding caseload, by funding 110,000 sitting days. The independent review of the criminal courts considered how to improve overall criminal court efficiency to provide swifter justice for victims, including victims of sexual offences. The CPS has introduced victim liaison officers in RASSO units to offer extra support to victims, particularly when they are facing delays to their trials.

Non-stun Slaughter of Animals

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

It is a real honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. Let me take this opportunity to thank Mr Osborne for bringing this petition to the House, allowing us to debate it in the respectful manner that it has been. I also thank the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for the compassionate manner in which he set out the petition. I hope to follow suit.

As has been articulated, we are a nation of animal lovers. In the words of Immanuel Kant:

“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”

But to truly protect animals, we must look at their entire lives, not just their final moments. Many animals endure terrible suffering in the food system from the farm to the fork: chickens in battery cages, pigs exposed to CO₂ and cattle transported for hours in cramped conditions. Yet debates such as this often focus narrowly on the method of death, and occasionally even more narrowly on religious slaughter.

Let us look at the facts. Scientific studies, including those from the European Food Safety Authority and Massey University in New Zealand, suggest that methods such as kosher and non-stun halal slaughter may cause more pain than pre-stunning. But even scientists concede that pain can only be inferred, not definitively measured, through behaviour and EEG data. Meanwhile, pre-stunning methods are far from perfect—everyone would agree with that. As has been mentioned, in the commonly used penetrative captive bolt method, a 7 cm to 11 cm bolt is fired into the animal’s brain. Yet the EFSA found that 4% of cattle are not rendered unconscious after the first attempt of that bolt of electricity. The non-penetrative method, where the bolt strikes but does not penetrate the skull, has a failure rate of up to 30% of animals, causing skull fractures and distress. Electrical stunning, often used in poultry, involves passing a high voltage current through the brain, but if done incorrectly, the animal remains fully conscious.

Let us be honest: no method is entirely pain-free. The idea that one is humane and the other is completely barbaric does not hold up to scrutiny. While we are on the subject of fairness, we must talk about human rights, as has been mentioned by hon. Members. Article 9 of the Human Rights Act 1998 protects freedom of thought, freedom of belief and freedom of religion, including the right to eat in accordance with those beliefs. UK laws reflect that. Religious slaughter is legal as long as it is regulated by licensed slaughterhouses and under the oversight of the Food Standards Agency.

Furthermore, as has been mentioned, 88% of halal meat in the UK is already pre-stunned. In fact, just 2.5% of the 1 billion animals that are slaughtered annually are processed using non-stun halal methods. I may not be able to speak about the Jewish communities, but I am of the firm conviction that many Muslim communities support clear, accurate labelling. Those who do not wish to eat religiously slaughtered meat have the freedom to choose. This is not about hiding anything but about respect and choice for all.

Why does this issue keep returning to the political spotlight? Frankly, we must ask if it is being used as a dog whistle—I exclude the people who may have brought this petition today—by stirring suspicion and division under the guise of concerns for animals. When MPs table 12 questions about halal, only one about kosher and absolutely none about CO₂ gassing of pigs or factory farming, that does send a message—either consciously or not—that this may be about faith, not welfare.

If we are genuinely committed to animal welfare, let us raise standards across the board for how animals are raised, transported and treated, and not just how they die. Let us tackle intensive factory farming and support improved enforcement, CCTV in slaughterhouses and transparency in all meat production, including for the food we import such as foie gras, which is the diseased liver of force-fed ducks and geese—how inhumane is that? Let us build a system rooted in science, compassion and dignity for all animals and for the people of this country.

Flooding

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 6th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

That is a horrific experience, and I am so sorry that those people have had to deal with that. I will meet the hon. Gentleman. It is so important we have that £88 billion of investment to improve infrastructure and to upgrade the water system, so that we do not keep having horrific incidents, such as the one he mentions.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

As Members from all parts of the House have already mentioned, one of the major causes of flooding is the blockage of our drainage systems and gulleys. Unfortunately, many councils nationally have reduced the frequency of cleaning gulleys due to budgetary pressures. Areas such as my landlocked constituency are seeing flooding like never before; my local Victoria Park health centre is flooded as we speak. Will the Minister commit to providing more funding for councils to assist our larger agencies, such as the Environment Agency?

[Emma Hardy]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for highlighting the impact that flooding has, not just on homes but on medical facilities. It is important, but we need to look in the round at what makes the most difference in improving flood resilience within a community. One of the things I have mentioned to many other Members is the build back better scheme, under which there can be an extra £10,000 to make properties more flood resilient. It might be good to have a conversation about that in terms of other houses in the local area, so that we can improve property flood resilience. Flooding will not be solved by one thing; we need to look at as many different things as we can and accumulate them to make the biggest impact.