Terrorism: Domestic Extremism

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Wednesday 26th April 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to refine the definition of domestic extremism, in order to enable the police to focus on those involved in terrorism and serious crime.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, the definition of domestic extremism used by the police is not statutory. Questions about the police definition and their work on domestic extremism are matters for the police.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

I thank the Minister for that evasive Answer. Quite honestly, of course it is a matter for the Home Office whether the police misuse their time. There is now a huge amount of incontrovertible evidence showing that the police watch peaceful, non-violent environmental campaigners. They are utterly wasting their time and not concentrating on people who can actually cause terrorism—terrorism, not tourism—in this country or commit violent crime. Will the Home Office take its responsibilities seriously about preventing such crime and make sure that the police follow some reasonable guidelines on what a domestic extremist is?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I do not agree with the point on the police misusing their time. On whether the Answer was misleading, the Question read:

“To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to refine the definition of domestic extremism”.


It is not our definition.

Brexit: Crime Prevention

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Thursday 30th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

Perhaps the right reverend Prelate would like to comment.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, perhaps I can bring us back to the Question. Will the Minister clarify whether, if sensitive information is going to be passed to the EU, that will exclude information that is held by the security services and by the police on environmental campaigners, journalists, photographers and even politicians who have committed no crime?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The information that is shared is for the purposes of investigating crime, so someone who had not committed a crime would be unlikely to have their information shared with other countries.

Illegal Imports: Dangerous Materials

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Monday 13th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I can assure the noble Lord that I am not going to shoot him. The NMIC brings together 14 maritime security stakeholders to provide the UK with a unified picture of maritime threat around the UK and globally. As I think I pointed out in previous Questions, a multi-agency, multi-effort approach to intelligence and security and control of our borders is the way forward.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

I am sure that the Minister is aware that wildlife crime is another international illegal activity that feeds into all sorts of crimes here in the UK. The wildlife crime unit is always under pressure. Interpol takes it incredibly seriously: it has 30 officers. Are the British Government going to take it seriously as well, and not cut its budget?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The British Government do take it very seriously; in fact, I was watching last night, as I am sure that the noble Baroness was, the programme that is on at teatime on Sunday, which I think is called “Countryfile”. It was about the death of wildlife and some of the wildlife crime that goes on. Yes, the Government do take it very seriously indeed.

Police National Database: Facial Images

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Thursday 2nd March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

Generally, the presumption is that anyone concerned with crime, and fighting crime, will have access to the PND. As to which countries will have that access, clearly there are international arrangements for the sharing of data, and I am sure that that includes America.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, I still do not understand how an innocent member of the public will know that their image is on the database. Surely it would be easier for the police just to delete those innocent people without putting them to the trouble of applying. It would be more work for the police that way.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Baroness has a point, but in fact it is a manual process and would be incredibly resource-intensive. There will be people who do not mind their image being there. If my image were on the PND, although I do not think that it is—[Interruption.] If the noble Baroness’s is, I would expect her to request deletion immediately.

Pitchford Inquiry

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Monday 9th January 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether a person may be designated as a core participant in the Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing if they are currently under surveillance, or subject to data access requests, for activities unrelated to any investigation of a serious criminal offence.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, the designation of core participants is a matter for the chairman of the undercover policing inquiry. The chairman will consider the inquiry’s terms of reference and the requirements of the Inquiry Rules 2006 when making his decisions.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

I thank the Minister for her response. It does not answer my Question, obviously. The problem is whether or not the police are still spying on people they have spied on before, who are now subject to an inquiry. Has the Minister asked for assurance from the police that they do not still have those core participants under surveillance? If she has, has she told the inquiry chair, Lord Justice Pitchford, who really ought to know?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I have not told the police. Obviously, I will not ask from the Dispatch Box whether the noble Baroness has asked the police but perhaps we could have a conversation about it afterwards.

Local Authorities: Fossil Fuel Holdings

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Wednesday 24th February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, this is subject to consultation. The Government are not directing local authorities to do anything other than maximise the returns on investments and provide best value from procurement.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that, in the past five years, the value of four of the biggest coal companies in the United States has fallen by 99.6% and that many firms have gone out of business? Is it perhaps time for the Government to give local authorities constructive advice on how to divest themselves of fossil fuel holdings that could well crash in the next few years?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, at the risk of repeating myself—I have said this several times over the last couple of days—if a local authority invests in a company whose share price is dropping significantly, it might be wise, in order to maximise the return for its investors, to invest in another company whose share price is increasing. That is a decision for it to make about its pension funds.

Flooding: Relief Effort

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Monday 25th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, they will be on the basis of need, but areas that have experienced higher than usual disruption because of flooding will also need to be considered.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness mentions unprecedented floods, but in Cumbria this is the third once-in-a-lifetime flood event in the past 10 years. Is it perhaps time that the Government improved their attitude towards climate change and introduced some policies that would help people to prevent such floods in future, which can be done?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I think that the noble Baroness has a valid point, in the sense that we are seeing a lot of unprecedented flooding. Has it been a blip in the past, or is it becoming a more frequent trend for the future? That is informing the Government’s thinking in the review and on how we manage flows of water.

Rough Sleeping

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Monday 11th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I am very happy to endorse what the right reverend Prelate does and the work of organisations like the church. It is absolutely vital, particularly in the cold winter months, in taking rough sleepers off the streets and giving them warmth and shelter.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, can the Minister explain why the Prime Minister has actually chosen to deal with some of the symptoms of problems in our society but not the causes? He has suggested that he is going to knock down sink estates, whereas in fact what we need is poverty alleviation.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I think that this Government and the coalition Government before them focus quite heavily on the causes of poverty and alleviating it. Certainly the troubled families programme has been extremely effective in taking either a whole-family or whole-community approach in dealing with these complex, long-term problems.

Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Monday 13th July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb]

Does the Minister agree that, when you have this much power vested in one person, you also need a very good system of accountability and scrutiny? Here in London that has not happened enough. As a member of the London body, I know that we have not had enough powers. Is that something the Government are thinking about?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Baroness’s question is the subject of later amendments. Certainly, the London model is not being considered in Greater Manchester. However, during the Bill’s passage, there has been a lot of discussion on the need to strengthen scrutiny.