Immigration and Home Affairs
Debate between Zarah Sultana and Bob Blackman(4 days, 17 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Bob Blackman
I will answer the hon. Gentleman’s point before I give way to those on the other side.
The reality is that on 7 October, the Jewish people suffered the worst atrocity since the Holocaust. We must remember that that is what happened, but we must also recognise the deprivation that the Palestinians in Gaza are suffering at this point in time. I am sure that the new Government will seek to ensure that justice is brought to all, and that the terrorists are not allowed to thrive or gain.
I will move on to one or two other areas.
Bob Blackman
I will not. The hon. Lady has had a chance to speak already.
I will mention some other aspects of Government legislation. Clearly, we have to combat the abuse of women and children, and I will work with colleagues from across the House on that issue. In the last Parliament, I championed women going into refuges so that they can be helped by people outside, rather than having intrusion from public services when they are in desperate circumstances. Of course, we must make sure that the police are properly trained, properly skilled and able to deliver the services provided. Equally, we must get the message to our police and crime commissioners, and particularly to the Labour Mayor of London, that more work must be done to combat crime, but also to recruit police officers and make sure that they are properly trained to do the job that they should be doing.
I have already discussed the abolition of the Vagrancy Act 1824 with the Home Secretary. As many colleagues will know, I have championed the plight of homeless people in this place. The fact that homeless people still face being criminalised on our streets is a disgrace and an affront to our society. We have tried on several occasions to get the Act removed from the statute book. It should be consigned to the history books as fast as possible, and people should be given the right to have a proper home of their own—one that they can be proud of living in. Equally, we have to recognise that having a secure job that brings in an income is the best route out of poverty. Despite the rhetoric we have heard, the reality is that the last Government created an economic miracle, given the number of jobs created. We created more jobs in this country than the whole of the European Union combined, and the reality is that that is the route we should be pursuing.
Finally, when the Prime Minister spoke in the debate on the Gracious Speech, he recognised the late Jo Cox and the late David Amess, both of whom suffered the ultimate problem of being an MP: death in service. We must combat that and make sure that all MPs, regardless of their political position, are safe, secure and able to do their jobs. I say gently to colleagues on the Government Front Bench that we agreed, on a cross-party basis, that the pre-recess Adjournment debate in the summer would be forever known as the Sir David Amess pre-recess Adjournment debate. I am disappointed that the Government have chosen not to have a pre-recess Adjournment debate, but they still have time to adjust the timetable accordingly.