Injury in Service Award
Tom Morrison Excerpts(5 days, 16 hours ago)
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Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
I beg to move,
That this House acknowledges the extreme risks faced by police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency service personnel in the line of duty; further acknowledges that many suffer catastrophic, career-ending injuries while protecting the public; regrets that these sacrifices are too often met with inadequate formal recognition; notes that existing honours are limited in scope and rarely conferred in such circumstances; believes this failure to properly acknowledge those who have sustained life-altering injuries in public service is a serious oversight; welcomes the growing cross-party consensus that urgent action is needed; and calls on the Cabinet Office to rectify this injustice by establishing a dedicated injury in service award to formally recognise and honour the extraordinary sacrifice of emergency service workers injured in the line of duty.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for its support in securing the debate. In May this year, a police sergeant’s legs were crushed when a car reversed into him repeatedly in a hit-and-run incident in Rusholme, Manchester. Greater Manchester police described it as a “stark reminder” of the risks that our frontline officers face daily as they work to keep our communities safe. The officer suffered tissue and muscle damage, but thankfully he is expected to make a full recovery. However, not every brave officer, paramedic and firefighter does recover, and not everyone can continue with the job that they chose and love. When injuries are so severe that they force someone to give up their work in public service, there is no recognition, no award and no medal.
I first found out about the “999 Injured and Forgotten” campaign when my constituent Jane Notley came to my surgery last year. Jane told me her story. She had always wanted to be a police officer, and when that happened and she joined the force, it was one of the proudest days of her life. Sadly, her career ended far too prematurely.
While on duty in Manchester in 1989, Jane attempted to stop a criminal stealing cars in the area. During the incident, her legs were crushed between two cars by the criminal, who Jane said laughed while he did it. That horrific attack left Jane completely unable to walk, and she was medically discharged from the force. The offender was never caught.
I want to make this clear: Jane Notley is one of the most inspirational and wonderful people I have ever met. After years of surgery and treatment, she can now walk, and does so with the aid of her now infamous pink walking sticks. She is now self-employed as a therapist, selflessly continuing to help others, albeit in a different position. Jane lost the job she loved but has continued to serve her community—that is the kind of person she is—but if someone met her on the street, they would have no idea of the ordeal she has been through. They would have no idea that she bravely put herself in harm’s way to protect her community and no idea of the sacrifice she made so that we could be safe.
Jane is not alone; many other ex-emergency service responders are injured every year and face the same awful loss of career. It is estimated that 800 injured ex-Greater Manchester police officers are still alive today. Please, let that sink in: that is 800 people who lost a career they loved after putting themselves in harm’s way to ensure that we, and our families and friends, were protected and safe. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.
I was honoured to meet many of those people in July, when they came to a cross-party roundtable in Parliament to describe their individual experiences. I put on record my thanks to the hon. Members for Blackpool South (Chris Webb), for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) and for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) who joined us on that day. I met some incredible people that day, including Robert Barlow, John O’Rourke, Gary Pearson, Andy Walker, Robert Hindley, Shahid Mahmood, Simon Bywater and Kerry Snuggs, who has now set up the intrepid games: a sports event for service workers who have been injured or disabled while on duty. I know that a number of them are in the Gallery watching the debate; I hope that we can all do them proud. They deserve their moment. They deserve recognition for all they put on the line and sacrificed. It is a national shame that no Government have acknowledged them and thanked them for their service. That has to change now.
While I am talking of people who deserve their moment, I have to mention Tom Curry. May I make it clear that this is Tom’s debate? Tom started the campaign and has fought tirelessly to get support across the House. He is truly a force of nature, and I can honestly say that it has been a pleasure to work with him this year to ensure that the injury in service award becomes a reality.
Tom Curry has built the campaign from the ground up. A former Sussex police officer, he was cruelly injured just weeks before reaching 22 years of service and so was denied any recognition for his work in the community. He is a former detective, which really does show as nothing gets past him—especially Governments dragging their feet. I can attest to hon. Members in the Chamber that Tom is relentless. Our phones will not stop ringing and our inboxes will never be cleared until the medal of recognition is delivered—Tom has personally promised me that.
Earlier this year, with Tom and Jane’s help I tabled an early-day motion that has since gained 111 signatures, making it one of the most supported motions in this Parliament. The signatories are from every single party, right across the political divide—the Liberal Democrats, Labour, Conservatives, Reform, the Green party and independents. This issue transcends party politics. It is a cause that we can and should all rally around, and one with a simple and obvious answer.
From freedom of information requests to 44 police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we know that there are over 16,000 injured police officers across the country, but we do not know the total number of injured servicemen and women across all emergency services, as that figure is not available. This is an injustice we have to put right. There are many who are injured and are then deprived of the long service and good conduct medals that are awarded after a sustained period of service. Until 2010, emergency responders had to have served for at least 22 years—later cut to 20 years—to get the long service and good conduct medals. The gallantry award is also insufficient, as the vast majority of attacked personnel are deprived of the opportunity of gallantry because they are sprung upon and ambushed. That means that through no fault of their own, there are tens of thousands of people out there without recognition simply because their cowardly attackers jumped them from behind.
The “999 Injured and Forgotten” campaign believes that any new award for those injured in the line of duty should be similar to the Elizabeth Emblem, in that it should be awarded to all public servants. A constituent from Cheadle who works as a prison chaplain wrote to me this week and suggested involving prison officers, as they are essential workers who get little or no public recognition. They are another stark reminder of the way our public servants put their safety on the line for us.
In 2019, a Ministry of Justice report stated that there were over 10,000 attacks on prison officers a year, with many ending in career-altering injuries and severe psychological trauma. We must make sure that all public servants are involved. The award could be offered to all living survivors, and the criteria would be threefold: a public servant, injured on duty, and medically discharged from the service due to that injury. The medal would recognise the health and career sacrifice of those who are injured on duty. The medal would mean that those who have made significant sacrifices could wear their medal proudly, and the public would be able to recognise and understand the bravery and service that they have contributed to this country.
The medal would mean that brave emergency responders such as police constable Kris Aves, who is now paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, would rightly be recognised. Kris now lives a completely different life, unable to continue the job of protecting us because he was mown down in the terror attack on Westminster bridge in 2017. This impacts us all. Many colleagues will remember PC Keith Palmer, who sadly died in that attack. He was rightly awarded posthumous awards for gallantry and the Elizabeth Emblem. His bravery saved many lives that day, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Kris is also owed our thanks. He received no medal or recognition for his bravery. Instead, he lost his career and the job he loved.
The medal would mean that emergency service responders who survive the most awful situations are met with respect, acknowledgement and honour. The medal would mean that Pam White’s bravery and injuries during the IRA attacks on Harrods in 1983 would be recognised. Despite her injuries and the terrifying uncertainty of the situation, Pam guided members of the public to safety. The injuries sustained were so bad that she was forced to leave the force. Those killed in the IRA bombings have now been awarded the Elizabeth Emblem, but the officers injured on that day, including Pam who lost her job—the job she aspired to from a young age—are overlooked.
All those emergency service workers will tell us that they are lucky, as they survived while some of their colleagues lost their lives in the line of duty. That is certainly true, but we cannot allow this to become an awful game of comparison. The people I have mentioned have all suffered in the most appalling ways. They suffered gunshot wounds, paralysis and other life-changing injuries—and of course post-traumatic stress disorder, with many of these brave men and women reliving their trauma day in, day out.
I say to the Government that we cannot allow these people to wait any longer. They need the recognition now. Thanks to Tom Curry’s work, the proposal for the award reached the Cabinet Office before the general election. Multiple Members have brought it to light in both ministerial correspondence and on the Floor of the House, but the same line is trotted out time and again. With Elizabeth Emblems now being awarded as of December last year, it is yet another reminder to those overlooked and injured survivors that they are forgotten and have no recognition.
Many family members of the fallen who have received the Elizabeth Emblem support the introduction of this award and agree that it is wrong that the injured are forgotten. This has been delayed for too long, so I urge the Minister to do the right and honourable thing. Get this award off the ground, because those incredible people sat in the Gallery right now should not have to wait another day longer. Politically there is no resistance. This is a worthwhile investment that would increase national pride and community cohesion, and celebrate the incredible work of our emergency services.
I thank the Minister for being here today and look forward to his remarks. I hope he will listen carefully to the debate, take heed and note with urgency that establishing an injury in service award is the right thing to do. I also thank all my colleagues who have joined this important discussion. It has been a long time coming. I hope it is worth the wait, and I hope it will transform the lives of many injured ex-emergency service workers.
Thank you to Jane, Tom and everyone watching for driving this cause all the way to the Houses of Parliament—that is no small feat. I hope we can all do you proud. This is your moment—it is your time. I look forward to continuing this campaign with all of you, and I promise that I will not stop until injured emergency service workers get the recognition they deserve.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mr Morrison
I thank all Members across the House for engaging with this debate. We have heard so many stories of heroism, so many stories that have been inspirational and so many stories of heartbreak.
I thank the Minister for being present and for his remarks. I am obviously disappointed that we have not come to a firmer conclusion. To quote Tom Curry, “Patience is a young man’s game”, and many of the people we are talking about do not have patience. They have been waiting a long time for recognition. These people feel as though they have been discarded and forgotten. We need to do more.
I say to the Minister and the Government that the gauntlet has been laid down. There is clearly cross-party support for this scheme. We have one of the most signed early-day motions and a petition has been delivered to Parliament, and we can see that public support is behind the scheme. I say to the Government that we need to act now. There are people who deserve this recognition—they deserved it yesterday. Let us not wait another day. They need it now.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House acknowledges the extreme risks faced by police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency service personnel in the line of duty; further acknowledges that many suffer catastrophic, career-ending injuries while protecting the public; regrets that these sacrifices are too often met with inadequate formal recognition; notes that existing honours are limited in scope and rarely conferred in such circumstances; believes this failure to properly acknowledge those who have sustained life-altering injuries in public service is a serious oversight; welcomes the growing cross-party consensus that urgent action is needed; and calls on the Cabinet Office to rectify this injustice by establishing a dedicated injury in service award to formally recognise and honour the extraordinary sacrifice of emergency service workers injured in the line of duty.
Manchester Terrorism Attack
Tom Morrison Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Shabana Mahmood
My hon. Friend refers to the BBC “Panorama” exposé into the Met police, and this is the first time I have been able to place on the record my views on that matter. Like everybody else, I was horrified, particularly at the situation at Charing Cross police station, which had been the focus of previous exposés and promises of change. I have discussed these matters with both the Mayor of London and the chief of the Met police, and I am reassured that they are absolutely clear-eyed about the need to tackle the issues that were exposed in that programme. We are all united in our desire to root out from our police forces all individuals who hold horrible attitudes and we cannot trust to police our communities safely. They have no place in our police service and I am confident that, through the work of the Met police going forward and through the Mayor of London and other partners working together, we will get to a place where we can be confident in our police forces. I hope to work closely with Members from across the House on that issue as well.
Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
I join the Home Secretary in paying tribute to CST and Greater Manchester emergency services for their response on the day, and particularly to those brave members of the congregation who protected their fellow members. I thank the Home Secretary for her quick response in coming to Greater Manchester. As a Greater Manchester MP myself, I know it meant a great deal to our community.
I am proud to have the Yeshurun Hebrew congregation in my constituency, as well as North Cheshire Jewish primary school. I met the rabbi on the Monday before this horrendous attack and we talked about the genuine fear in our community about the rise in antisemitism, which was a horrendous foreshadowing of what would happen at Heaton Park. I completely agree with the Home Secretary that more security should not be the answer, but we are in a situation in which more security is currently needed. Will she assure the House and the Jewish community that greater resources will be given to CST, the police and local authorities to ensure greater visible protection around our synagogues and our local Jewish schools—not just in the immediate term but for as long as necessary, to reassure the community that they are safe?
Shabana Mahmood
Let me assure the hon. Gentleman and the whole House that we are discussing these matters closely with the Community Security Trust and other representatives of the Jewish community. The Prime Minister and I will have more to say in the coming days about the medium-term picture on security and funding for places of worship in our country. Let me assure the hon. Gentleman that we take this very seriously. I know he will agree that, in the long term, we need not only simply to provide protective security but to know with confidence that all our communities can go about their business without having to go through a security cordon before they do so.
Oral Answers to Questions
Tom Morrison Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)
Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
Lorraine Beavers (Blackpool North and Fleetwood) (Lab)
Shabana Mahmood
On the first part of my hon. Friend’s question, he is absolutely right about strengthening neighbourhood policing to deal with the concerns he raises. That is why we have brought forward new powers in the Crime and Policing Bill. I agree that it is important that the line between that which is perfectly legal fair comment, even if offensive, and that which is illegal is maintained as strongly as possible. I have already had conversations with senior police officers on this matter, and I am pleased to see statements from, for example, the chief of the Met police. I will be meeting them in more detail to make sure that that line is not crossed, so we can maintain confidence in our police.
Mr Morrison
The Prime Minister promised there would be a summer blitz on antisocial behaviour, with more funding and more community police officers promised for our constituencies, yet this summer in Cheadle village we have seen even more antisocial behaviour in the community. Throughout the summer I was contacted by residents about crime in the area, including police officers attacked, a local school broken into and neighbours threatened for simply asking gangs not to throw rocks at their houses. One of my constituents, Adam, told me it is the worst he has ever seen it. Why did the summer blitz on antisocial behaviour not include Cheadle?
Shabana Mahmood
More than 500 town centres across England and Wales have seen the benefits of that summer initiative. I will ask my officials questions about the hon. Gentleman’s area in particular, but it is an important model that we have trialled this year. We look forward to building on it as we ensure we have the local responses and neighbourhood policing to deal with local concerns, building confidence so that people can enjoy our town centres as they used to do.
Counter Terrorism Policing: Arrests
Tom Morrison Excerpts(6 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Dan Jarvis
I am grateful to my hon. Friend because he raises an important point about cyber-attacks, which we face, along with countries around the world. I hope he knows that the Home Office has recently concluded a consultation on new, world-leading measures against ransomware, which we believe will make a material difference to the nature of the threat we face. Essentially, we want to smash the business models of those cyber-criminals, many of whom operate out of Russia, targeting UK businesses. The measures would be good for both our national security and our economic prosperity. I assure my hon. Friend that we are progressing them at pace.
Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
I was alarmed to hear that one of the incidents took place in my constituency of Cheadle. It is chilling to think that a regime with such a shocking record of international aggression could have connections into our neighbourhoods.
It just so happens that I met the Jewish community in Cheadle this weekend to talk through their issues and concerns. At the meeting, I heard how fearful they are of the threat of violence and terrorism from the Iranian regime, so will the Minister commit to providing a timeline for producing the report on the IRGC and for when we will finally proscribe that organisation?
Dan Jarvis
The hon. Member is right about the chilling effect of these arrests, which also underline the nature of the threat not being specific to any one part of the country. He presses me on the point I made earlier about proscription. Jonathan Hall is, as I have said previously from the Dispatch Box, someone of great credibility and authority. He was asked by the Home Secretary to look carefully at our legislative framework and to assess whether we need stronger powers in order to proscribe state-backed threats. Mr Hall has worked at pace and has now submitted his report to the Home Secretary and me. The report will be published shortly and, as I have said, the Government will respond in due course. I know that the Home Secretary will update the House at the earliest available moment.
Oral Answers to Questions
Tom Morrison Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Yvette Cooper
I caution the right hon. Member against excluding one of the most common crimes in the country from his figures. Some of the crimes that impact town centres at the heart of local communities most heavily, such as shoplifting, street crime and street theft, have soared in recent years, but there was no response at all by the previous Government. We are making those crimes a priority as part of our plans to change some of the laws around shoplifting and assault on shop workers, as well as getting more police back on the beat.
Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)
One of the biggest problems faced by the neighbourhood police team in Cheadle is antisocial behaviour and the scourge of off-road bikes. What is the Secretary of State doing to help Greater Manchester police tackle off-road bikes in our communities?
Yvette Cooper
The hon. Member is right that off-road bikes are a total nightmare in some communities. I have talked to residents who have been driven mad by the scourge of dangerous off-road bikes that are used to harass and intimidate people. We are looking at ways to strengthen the law on off-road biking to give the police the powers they need to tackle that kind of damaging antisocial behaviour.