Policing and Prevention of Violence against Women
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Priti Patel(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Priti Patel
The right hon. Gentleman is right in the sense that those scenes were distressing and upsetting. There is no question about that at all, and I have already spoken about the measures that are now in place for getting assurance about the way in which the Metropolitan police conducted its operations. It is rightly operationally independent, and the independent lessons learned review is obviously now taking place.
I had been in touch with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner on Friday and throughout the weekend, and we have had extensive discussions on planning and preparation for the vigil. I should, however, emphasise that on Friday there was legal action under way, so until that legal action had been determined—and of course the commissioner and the Met police themselves were engaging with the organisers of the vigil—there were various plans that the police were working on. I will be very clear, though: on Friday my views were known, and they were based on the fact that people obviously wanted to pay tribute within the locality.
We need to bear in mind that we are in a pandemic—we cannot forget that; we are in a health pandemic—but for people who live locally and out on a daily basis or passing through, laying flowers is absolutely the right thing to do, and we saw many people doing that. Of course, as I have said, those scenes on Saturday evening were upsetting. That is the reason why I asked the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to provide a report on the event itself and what happened, and now why we have a lessons learned review into the operational effect and the impact of what happened.
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con) [V]
Like colleagues across the House, my condolences are with Sarah Everard’s family and friends.
All women should feel safe, and no offender should think they can abuse women on the streets or anywhere else. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that all reports of allegations of abuse must be seriously and more rigorously investigated, and that there must be confidence in the justice system that it will do this and that it will support victims? Will she confirm that she intends that there will be such confidence in the justice system after the consultation on the violence against women and girls strategy?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Priti Patel(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Priti Patel
My hon. Friend is right—and yes, the Government are more than supportive of police plans to increase the number of PCSOs and their presence across towns and villages, in her constituency in Sussex and across the country. This is all about how, through our new police recruitment drive, we can do more to keep the public safe and increase police visibility.
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Ind)
The Economy
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Priti Patel(9 years, 5 months ago)
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Priti Patel
I am looking forward to coming to the hon. Lady’s constituency tomorrow.
I have made it perfectly clear that we have made a good start but the job is not yet finished. The UK currently has the highest rate of growth in the G7; it is over twice that of Germany.
Stephen Hammond
My hon. Friend is right that we have made a good start. The Opposition spokesman talked about opinion polls, but, interestingly, he did not talk about the opinion poll showing that the public saw we had done a good job, and that we have an economic competence lead of 26% over the Opposition and their plans.
Priti Patel
My hon. Friend is absolutely right and this brings us back to the heart of this debate. It is about having a long-term economic plan that is tackling the challenges for our economy left by the former Government, while also looking ahead to the future and making sure we have a plan in place.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Priti Patel(11 years, 3 months ago)
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Stephen Hammond
I can confirm that the test is offered in more languages in this country than it is in any other in Europe. I am, however, consulting on whether to reduce the number, because it is clear that a key aspect of road safety is involved: if people cannot understand the test in English, they might not be able to understand the road signs.
Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)
T5. Will my right hon. Friend continue to champion Essex commuters and ensure that the recommendations of “Once in a generation—A rail prospectus for East Anglia” are considered by his Department and implemented, so that our commuters can have outstanding rail infrastructure, bringing us into the 21st century?
UK-India Trade
Debate between Stephen Hammond and Priti Patel(12 years, 3 months ago)
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Stephen Hammond
My hon. Friend is, of course, correct. We can only hope that the Indian high commission in London will make that point to its Government. I know that my right hon. Friend the Minister has already made the point.
I return to the issues surrounding Dr Singh’s visit and the matters that we must reiterate to the Indian Government for doubling bilateral trade. We all accept the need to rebalance our economy, but we must exploit those areas of competitive advantage, and clearly a major one is and will remain financial services. The City of London corporation has been working actively in India for some time to build the City as the partner of first choice for the provision of financial services and to highlight the UK as a location of choice for overseas investment. The opening of the Mumbai office, and the lord mayor’s regular visits allow a continuing dialogue on the issuance of capital, insurance, asset management, infrastructure finance, consultancy, London exchanges, and legal matters. I could go on.
Our ability to expand trade in financial services would benefit from the removal of some of the restrictions that are in place on foreign institutions. There has been some liberalisation of the rules for foreign banks, which are now allowed to open 12 new branches a year, but there is a huge appetite among many international banks and particularly UK banks for a much greater allowance for branches in India. There is also countervailing pressure on UK banks that want to become established in India, not to open branches, but to form wholly owned subsidiaries, thereby receiving national treatment. They receive only partial national treatment, and that does not equate to the same treatment received by Indian banks that are trying to set up. I hope that the Indian Government will listen to the need for further liberalisation.
The same is true for both legal services and the accountancy profession. Broadly speaking, restrictions are such that internationally respected firms of lawyers and accountants are unable to practise on the Indian subcontinent.
Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)
India’s economic liberalisation has been taking place over the past 20 years, and things are moving fast. Does my hon. Friend agree that India must concentrate on sorting out business practices and ethics to ensure that all businesses in India and those in the UK that choose to go to India are not affected reputationally, as SIS has been?
Stephen Hammond
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. One of the greatest encouragements to international trade is certainty in the business environment, whether political, legal, accountancy or business ethics. She makes an outstanding point, which is absolutely correct.
I have touched on the financial services industry, and I hope that the Minister will outline what the Government are doing to ensure that pressure is maintained for further liberalisation of the area. There are other industries in which the relationship between the United Kingdom and India is growing and could be pivotal to us if we accept the opportunities. In the telecoms world, the UK has traditionally enjoyed, and still does, a competitive advantage over many countries in Europe and the world. It has been a leader in the development of mobile and tele-optic fibre technology and policy.
India suffers from a highly fragmented mobile technology market and might benefit if it were slightly less fragmented, but it is undeniably true that the market is dynamic. In one of the past six months, 18 million new mobile connections were made, and there is significant demand from the Government for the enhancement and expansion of broadband and some machine solutions to manage logistics. There is an opportunity for the UK telecoms industry, and it could become pivotal to our future.
The same is true of the higher education sector. One of the last high commissioners, His Excellency Nalin Surie, expressed disappointment that the UK had failed to grasp the opportunities that India thought that it was opening up to UK academic institutions and at its inability to open faculties in India. At last, over the past two or three years, there has been reversal of that. There are immense opportunities for new faculties and collaboration on high tech and pharmaceuticals, particularly in some areas of post-doctoral research. The UK higher education sector would do well to grab them.