Crime and Neighbourhood Policing

Debate between Suella Braverman and Tahir Ali

Tuesday 31st January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Suella Braverman]

I will carry on and come back to the hon. Lady. From Greater Manchester to Kent, and from the Thames valley to the west midlands, on my visits around the country I have seen so many brave men and women join the police, coming forward in their droves to protect the public. On behalf of the British people, I thank them. Nineteen forces have already hit record levels, and the Met, Kent, Norfolk, South Wales, Suffolk, Warwickshire and West Yorkshire police all have the highest numbers of police officers in their history—higher than in 2019, higher than in 2015, higher than in 2010, and higher than the years when Labour was in charge.

[Tahir Ali (Birmingham, Hall Green) (Lab)]

Will the Home Secretary explain why in the west midlands we will still have 1,000 fewer police officers this year than we did in 2010?

[Suella Braverman]

The hon. Gentleman is just not right. As of 31 December, our police uplift programme has recruited an additional 16,000 new officers, bringing us to a total of over 145,000 nationwide, with more—in a welcome sense—female and ethnic minority officers than ever before. That is no accident. That all took planning and funding by this Government. What did Labour Members do? They voted against it.

Western Jet Foil and Manston Asylum Processing Centres

Debate between Suella Braverman and Tahir Ali

Monday 31st October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Suella Braverman]

As I have made clear, I am very willing to apologise for mistakes that I have made, but what I am not willing to do is apologise for things that I have not done. As I have said, it is not right that there has been a breach of national security. It is not right that there was a document about security matters, intelligence agencies or law enforcement. Those things are simply not true.

[Tahir Ali (Birmingham, Hall Green) (Lab)]

In the words of the Home Secretary, “The system is broken.” After 12 years of Tory Government, the asylum system is broken. If she is saying that we have no solutions, she can press on the Prime Minister the need to call a general election and let the electorate decide who they trust more. The recent revelations—

[Tahir Ali]

The recent revelations of conditions at Manston processing centre highlight the complete and utter failure of leadership at the Home Office. Will the Home Secretary do the decent thing once again, as she did on 19 October? Will she resign from her position because of the conditions at Manston?

[Suella Braverman]

I am very clear about what this Government’s priority is. It is about tackling the scourge of illegal migration, taking a firm line, changing the law where our laws are being abused, working collaboratively with the French, ensuring we are removing people who are not meant to be here and ensuring that the British people can have confidence in their borders.