Protest Policing

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

The Charity Commission has powers to launch its own inquiries and enforce compliance. It has a full suite of powers to take action if it thinks someone has fallen outside of our rules. There is an ongoing Charity Commission investigation into the overall body relating to the IHRC—the trust, rather than the organisation we are discussing here today. I am sure that once the Charity Commission has completed that work it will take appropriate action, and I know that that will be the subject of further discussion in this House. Let me assure the right hon. Gentleman that we recognise the desire by some to use our charities legislation and to find gaps to pursue ends that are not charitable and for which the law was not intended. We will not hesitate to take further action in that area if we need to do so.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Will the Home Secretary care to explain a contradiction? She has taken to ban a peaceful march that has been happening for over 40 years, citing serious public disorder, while the Government continue to permit the far right, who call for serious public disorder outside hotels housing asylum seekers, to protest outside those hotels. In September 2025 at the Tommy Robinson “Unite the Kingdom” march—the Home Secretary might like to know that he is a big fan of hers—violence was sighted, in particular against Muslims. Will that march be banned in future as well?

[Shabana Mahmood]

Each case has to be dealt with on its own facts. The “Unite the Kingdom” march was very large. The police did not seek this power because, based on their own risk assessment, they assessed that it was possible for that march to take place safely and that they could police it safely, as well as the counter march that took place, which was smaller in nature. If they had made such a request, I would obviously have had to consider that request based on the full facts disclosed to me in the risk assessment.

The hon. Gentleman should not conflate multiple different things. There is a very specific risk that is being posed by the march on this occasion, given the international context and given that there will actually be five marches; there is the main march by those behind the al-Quds Day rally and then there are the four counter-protesting marches. He must recognise the unique challenge posed by five marches taking place at the same time in this international context. That is different from every other kind of protest and march that has taken place. I would hope that he does not conflate the two, because that could cause a loss of confidence across our communities.

Marches take place every day on a whole range of issues—international and domestic in nature—but the police almost never ask for those to be banned. In fact, such a request has never been made of me. I think the last time this power was used was in something like 2010 or 2012—many, many years ago. This is a unique situation, given the current context and the unique policing challenge of five different marches at the same time. I hope that the hon. Gentleman can focus a little more on the facts, rather than the hyperbole with which he began his question.

Immigration Policy

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

As I have said to other colleagues, I can confirm that the income threshold, and particularly how it is resolved at a family unit level, was part of the consultation. We have had more than 200,000 replies, and we are looking at them closely.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Over 330,000 people have signed a petition urging the Government to scrap the plan to increase the ILR period from five years to 10 years, especially the retrospective nature of it. This will have a detrimental effect on the core of our society, especially the NHS, and will exploit workers, who will be vulnerable to exploitative bosses. Does the Minister agree with many of his Back Benchers that the Government must stop this cruel proposal taking effect?

[Alex Norris]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, and as I have said previously, the governing criteria for settlement have always applied at the point of application, rather than at the point of entry. He will also have heard from me that one in 30 people in this country came during the last three or four years, so a significant problem must be resolved in terms of pressure on public services and fairness to the British taxpayer. That is why we are looking at this issue so closely.

Oral Answers to Questions

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand if I do not get into the specifics—we do not comment on individual cases—but I can tell him that the Home Secretary will use all the tools at her disposal to ensure that we keep the public safe.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

I would like to pass on my heartfelt sympathies to the family of Khaleed Oladipo, who was tragically killed in a knife crime incident last week in the city of Leicester. I am sure that no Member of this House wants to see another life cut short and another mother’s heart broken, so will the Minister back my calls for the Government to appoint a dedicated Minister to tackle knife crime?

[Sarah Jones]

I am that dedicated Minister. It is my job to tackle knife crime; it is what I have campaigned on for many years. I am glad to say that we are having some success, but every knife attack and every knife murder is an absolute tragedy, and we will continue to do all we can.

Indefinite Leave to Remain

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I have much to say in this debate, hence it is very difficult for me to know where to begin. However, I will begin by thanking the petitioners.

For this MP—indeed, this is also the case for many of the MPs in this room, and for Cabinet Ministers and shadow Ministers, and even for a Prime Minister—I am what I am because of the manner in which this country treated me when I came here. I had two parents who could not speak a word of English, yet the support that we received means that now we have a dynasty of academics, entrepreneurs, professionals and even a parliamentarian—although I know, for some people, that might be enough to create a policy to make sure that it never happens again. [Laughter.]

We have a sense of belonging to this land, even though we are far away from our ancestral land. That does not happen by chance. It happens by design, and it can only happen in a country that promotes integration based on the values of decency, respect and contribution, rather than contempt, impatience and transactional values. It works when a society respects values that should be woven into its fabric—when we value our care workers, our frontline health workers, our teachers and our transport workers, not because of how much money they earn but because they are the foundation of our society.

[Iqbal Mohamed]

A lot of people who have come here have been branded “the Boris wave”, but one of my Nigerian constituents told me they came here under “the covid wave”, to care for people in this country.

[Shockat Adam]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman.

Having a policy like the current one also flies in the face of the Prime Minister’s pre-election pledge. It is a betrayal of his sixth pledge, which we were told was:

“an immigration system rooted in compassion and dignity.”

I, and I am sure many others, feel the betrayal most sharply when it comes from an Asian Home Secretary—someone whose own journey reflects the promise of migration, but who now advances policies that punish people who are just like her own family and mine once were.

Apart from the policy being morally bankrupt, it also flies in the face of fiscal responsibility. We are told that this issue is all about cost, and that migration is a burden. Yet those claims collapse under scrutiny. The widely cited £234 billion “ILR emergency figure” has been discredited even by its own authors. Correct the errors and migration delivers a net fiscal gain of £100 billion.

[Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Shockat Adam]

I am sorry, but I cannot do so, in the interest of time.

Security results in integration. Insecurity results in chaos, not to mention the serious possibility of exploitation of people by employers; colleagues have already made the point about indentured labour.

When did modern Britain become such a transactional country? If we truly want an integrated Britain, the last thing we want is longer waiting times, uncertainty and a broken promise. What we need is certainty—five years’ maximum for the process, with fast decisions—and a real acknowledgement that migration, when it is organised with respect and fairness, strengthens a country rather than weakening it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

First, let me say that I recognise the challenges posed by serious and organised crime, and I thank Bedfordshire police for their tireless work to tackle the issue. Applications for special grants in 2026-27 will be considered shortly, and details will be confirmed with police and crime commissioners in due course.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker.

In addition to police officers, our police staff play a vital role in fighting crime. However, a freeze in recruitment of those staff has led to police officers being taken off the beat to fill support staff roles, meaning fewer officers on our streets. Can the Secretary of State shed some light on the situation and commit to relaxing the rules on recruiting more support staff?

[Shabana Mahmood]

That is why we have our neighbourhood policing guarantee: to get those police officers back on the beat and in neighbourhoods, providing reassurance and dealing with the types of crimes that we know are going up, which have a huge and deleterious effect on our communities. Of course, total funding for territorial police forces and counter-terrorism policing will be up to £19.5 billion, which is an increase on 2025-26.

Violence against Women and Girls: London

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

It is a real honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer, and I thank and salute the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for her bravery and determination in bringing this debate to this Chamber. That we are discussing violence against women and girls in 2025 is a sad indictment of our society, but, simultaneously, it is really encouraging to see so many people determined to take the scourge head on.

I have four points to address. The first concerns the cultural stigma and cultural sensitivity that some societies still hold on to. Violence against women has never been acceptable, is unacceptable and will never be acceptable, and we must engage with communities to address and tackle the issue head on. Many eastern cultures—I am going to demarcate them by religion—revere women to the utmost level. Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world, has millions and millions of men bowing down to goddesses every single day. Sikhism was founded on the principle of parity between the souls of both males and females. In Islam, women are revered to such a degree that the way of salvation and paradise is that, in such a strong monotheistic religion, if prostration was allowed to anybody but God, it would be to a woman—their mother.

We must overcome cultural insensitivities, and I commend the work done in my constituency of Leicester South by Sharma Women’s Centre, Wesley Hall and Zinthiya Trust, which all provide education and a support network for all women but particularly for those from minority communities. I am really concerned about this year’s cuts to the victims core grant, which may leave victims of rape, domestic violence or stalking with even fewer resources. Will the Minister ensure that private charity organisations on the frontline are funded appropriately by the Government?

Secondly, there is education. We are breeding a generation for whom sexual violence—consensual or not—is the norm. In a 2025 YouGov poll of teachers, almost 80% of respondents said that that was a huge problem across British schools. Nearly two in every five secondary school teachers who responded said they hear misogynistic remarks every day. Staff are not immune either. A Unison and UK Feminista survey found that 10% of female support staff in secondary schools have experienced sexual harassment, mostly from male pupils. More than half of teachers say that misogyny in school has worsened. What is the Minister’s Department doing to ensure that classrooms are safe for both women and girls—both staff and pupils?

Thirdly, there is the criminal justice system. Sexual abuse trials in London have an average waiting time of 18 months, but in my city of Leicester it is three whole years. Recently I met a constituent who, after years of being a victim of sexual abuse, finally summoned up the courage to leave her partner and bring forward a case against him, only to find that her case was postponed not once, not twice, but three times, while her abuser walks freely in her neighbourhood. Such long delays exacerbate anxiety and trauma, so much so that Jasmine House in my constituency, a Rape Crisis centre, tells me that many victims simply drop their cases. They want to get on with their lives—they want to get married, they want to have children; they cannot wait for five or six years to explain to their family members that they have to go to court for a case. In the past year alone, over 280 rape prosecutions collapsed because the victim withdrew.

Finally, in the real world misogyny does not just stop at schools; it is invading our digital spaces. According to Amnesty, 85% of women who spend time online have witnessed online violence and 38% have been the target of such violence. Reports from Ofcom show that black women and girls are more likely to be targeted with toxic, dehumanising and misogynistic content.

With the Online Safety Act 2023 taking effect, social media platforms have now signed up to voluntary guidelines to ensure that they combat misogynistic abuse, coercive control and the sharing of intimate images without consent on their services. Ofcom has been tasked with enforcing those new rules, but without any mechanism for enforcement. Given the voluntary nature of the guidelines, the companies might just ignore the key mechanisms to tackle violence against women and girls. Will the Minister’s Department work closely with Ofcom and other Government Departments to ensure that digital space can be better protected for all our women and girls?

Oral Answers to Questions

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

The hon. Gentleman and I have had this conversation about Stanwell before, and he has pressed the matter with characteristic vigour. I can say to him and his community that we have committed to closing these hotels in this Parliament; they will not be open for a day longer than they have to be. When we close hotels, there will be clear criteria for choosing them for closure, and he has made many very good suggestions of grounds that might be used.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

In recent years, there has been a real increase in racist attacks in this country, including on our NHS staff; they have seen a rise of 55% in such attacks. Recently, two Sikh women were not just racially but sexually abused. Does the Home Secretary fear that implementing asylum policies like those in Denmark would exacerbate the problem, and embolden those who would create hate on our streets?

[Alex Norris]

The Minister for Policing and Crime recently met a delegation of Sikh colleagues to discuss that very important case. As for the hon. Gentleman’s broader point about Denmark, it is right that, given the challenges we face in this country, our policies seek to draw on best practice from around Europe and the world, and he will not have to wait much longer to see the fruits of that.

Huntingdon Train Attack

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 3rd November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

I can assure my hon. Friend that the Transport Secretary and I will be discussing all and any lessons to be drawn from this incident, and there will be a cross-Government response that meets the scale of the challenge that we face.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Does the Home Secretary share my deep concern that when incidents such as this occur, certain political commentators and, sadly, certain politicians race to set the narrative behind such attacks as ethnicity-based, faith-based or, ideally, both, rather than focusing on the key crime indicators, such as socioeconomic deprivation, the disintegration of youth services, addiction issues, lack of funding for our police forces and lack of mental health support facilities? Does she agree that those factors matter much more than ethnicity, faith or the migration status of the perpetrator?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The hon. Member is getting rather ahead of the facts that are currently known about what lay behind this particular attack, so he will understand if I refrain from making broader conclusions about the motivations. I think it is important, learning the lessons of what happened after the Southport attacks, that the Government and the police move quickly to make all shareable information available to prevent the spread of disinformation and potential public disorder.

Manchester Terrorism Attack

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

My hon. Friend is right: protest is a fundamental and precious freedom and should be protected, but it must be balanced against the need for all our communities to be able to live in safety and security. That is why I am carrying out a review of the wider legislation, particularly in relation to hate crimes and associated issues. I am doing that to ensure that we know exactly where the line is, and to ensure that that line and the careful balance that must be struck are policed properly and prosecutions follow when the line is crossed.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

I recently visited a synagogue in my constituency to celebrate Sukkot, but this year our celebration was drowned in sadness as we paid our respects following the terrorist attacks on two very brave men. We all condemn those attacks because, as the Home Secretary said, an attack on our Jewish community is an attack against us all and we are indeed stronger together. However, does she agree that acts of terrorism should not be used to pit communities against each other, and that by conflating the right to peaceful protest with the actions of a crazed terrorist we are in danger of doing just that? What steps is she taking to ensure that there is greater community cohesion which will build bridges and not wars?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I have to say that I disagree with the hon. Gentleman. I was very clear that the protests that took place immediately after this terror attack, especially in Manchester itself, were fundamentally un-British. I hope the hon. Gentleman would agree that sometimes imagining that it was ourselves who had suffered, and extending the hand of friendship, love and solidarity to a community that is suffering, is the kind thing to do, the right thing to do and the British thing to do. I would have liked to have seen the organisers of those protests in Manchester in the immediate aftermath of the attack, and across the country, show some of that very British solidarity. That does not mean that people are not allowed to protest—they are, they have been and I am sure they will continue to do so—but sometimes a little bit of solidarity and kindness can go an awfully long way.

Palestine Action: Proscription and Protests

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 8th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

As I have said previously, I understand the concerns that are being expressed. The hon. Gentleman refers to somebody holding a placard. They are holding a placard that expresses support for a proscribed organisation, and that is a criminal offence. In an answer I gave just a moment ago, I said that the Government are limited in terms of the detail they can provide about the activities of Palestine Action, for the reasons I have explained. If people are considering seeking to protest and provide their support for this proscribed organisation, I invite them to look very carefully at what that organisation has been engaged in. There has been significant reporting about some of those activities. That might focus the minds of those who seek to support them in future.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

The more than 1,000 people who have been arrested include blind veterans, elderly people, NHS workers and even the children of Holocaust survivors, yet the Government are intent on aiding and abetting Israeli firms—51 of them will be exhibiting in London this week at the arms fair—alongside rolling out the carpet, stained with the blood of the children of Gaza, for the President of Israel. Why are non-violent protesters being treated with greater punishment than a Government bombing and starving millions of children? Does the Minister agree that if there was real justice, the Government would arrest the Israeli leadership and send them to the International Criminal Court?

[Dan Jarvis]

I hope very much that there is consensus across the House about the desperate situation in Gaza and the middle east. I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand that the Government will do everything they can to work with partners and allies to seek to bring a resolution to that desperate situation. He referred to the age of the protesters. I just say to him that the law has to be applied fairly and universally. Therefore, if someone is of a particular age, that does not enable them to break the law, in the same way that it would not enable someone of a younger age to do so.