Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to instigate an inquiry into (1) the arrest of Miss Hatun Tash at Speakers' Corner on 26 June and her subsequent detention and questioning at 04.30 am on 27 June, and (2) the actions of the police towards other individuals present at Speakers' Corner before and during Miss Tash's arrest.

It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to demonstrate their views, provided they do so within the law.

The investigation of criminal offences where they are suspected of having occurred is an operational matter for the police. Ministers are unable to intervene in individual cases or in operational decisions made by the police. To do so would undermine the principle that the police are independent of Government.