Policing of Marches and Demonstrations

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

I agree with the noble Lord. It is, as he knows, governed by a pretty rigorous protocol. I went into the details of that protocol last week, and I can do it again if anybody wants to hear it—I suspect they do not.

The previous Home Secretary is no longer in post, so debating what she did or did not say seems moot. As regards the new Home Secretary, I have not spoken to him and I do not know what he is thinking.

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, it is no surprise that we are seeing Nazi-level propaganda and incitement of terrorism on the streets of London when some of the organisations behind these marches have had connections with a Hamas leader who lives in the UK. What is being done to investigate the links between those organisations and proscribed terrorist groups?

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

I cannot answer that question, but I certainly hope the police are investigating.

Children Seeking Asylum: Safeguarding

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hamwee (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, I think it is the turn of the Liberal Democrat Benches, then we will be delighted to hear from the noble Lord.

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. An important feature of the hotel accommodation specifically provided for UASCs is the security for each hotel facility. Clearly, that security then matches the layout of each hotel and, as I say, residents are asked to sign in and out. Any suspicious activity identified by the security contractors is reported to the police and should be investigated by them if they think that there are grounds to do so.

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the Minister has just told us that, on his own figures, hundreds of children have gone missing. Has he asked his officials what investigations that department has made to find out where they have gone, who they are with and what risks they face?

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

I hope that, as I have already set out, as with children’s homes more generally, when there is a missing person episode, the missing person protocol is followed, which involves investigation by the police. The Home Office is obviously not in a position to replace the police in that investigatory task and, accordingly, that is how the children are identified when they can be.

Violent Crime, Gang Activity and Burglaries

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Snape, for securing this important debate. He commented on the fact that the former Home Secretary received a standing ovation for announcing that the police would in future visit every home that had been burgled. It was amazing that she thought it was something to boast about or something that should be applauded. It is a complete disgrace that the police have not had the resources to visit homes that have been burgled. In the majority of cases, people who have been burgled have not even had the police visit them at all. It amazes me that you expect to be applauded for presiding over a situation such as that and announcing that it is going to be changed.

I want to raise two issues, both shocking instances of gang violence. The victims in both cases were children. I draw your Lordships’ and the Government’s attention to the shocking murder of Dea-John Reid. He was a 14-year-old black lad from Birmingham, killed by a gang in the city last year. What more can the Government do to secure justice for him and for his family? I have spoken about this case in the House before and I shall do so again and again until justice is secured for his family.

One evening in May last year, after an altercation between two groups of teenagers—the sort of thing that happens routinely—Dea-John was chased down a busy street by a group of five males, including two grown men, shouting racist abuse. One of them, who was 14 years old at the time, killed him with a knife. A 14-year-old black boy was chased by a gang and stabbed to death. His mum, Joan Reid, said he was

“hunted by a lynch mob reminiscent of ‘Mississippi Burning’”.

Following an earlier altercation, the boy who killed Dea-John had phoned George Khan, aged 38, who was drinking in a pub with his friend, 35-year-old Michael Shields. They collected the three boys in Khan’s car and, the court was told,

“set off to hunt down the Dea-John group”.

According to the prosecuting barrister:

“Khan carried the plan to seek retribution forwards and actively encouraged the attack.”


A witness said that Khan pointed and shouted, “Oi, you …”, using the N-word. Dea-John and his friends ran but he went in a different direction from the group to get away. Khan and the other defendants ran after him. A witness said that the men had their tops off, using them to cover their faces. They were carrying weapons. Khan allegedly shouted “Bang him out” and “Eff him up” to one of the teenagers. These were grown men. If that is not incitement, tell me what is.

The 14-year-old lad had asthma, ran out of breath, was caught, stabbed and killed. Imagine it: on the streets of Birmingham last year, a boy chased by a racist mob, cornered, stabbed and killed. This is incredible. No one doubts that those five people were responsible, but four of the five defendants who chased him, including the two adults, were found not guilty by an all-white jury. The fifth, aged 15, was convicted of just manslaughter. He will be free in less than three years. Someone in Birmingham asked me what lessons have been learned from this—a gang shouting racist abuse and the stabbing of a black boy?

The noble Lord, Lord Snape, will remember Birmingham in the 1980s, as I do. Failings of the police and the criminal justice system resulted in riots on the streets. Handsworth, Lozells—on fire. There is never any justification for such behaviour.

Dea-John Reid’s mum called for calm in the black community. It listened, because it trusted the authorities, but it has clearly been let down. Why are those men walking free? Was there a problem with the evidence? Did the CPS not prosecute it properly? Did someone get to the jury? What happened? Why has there not been an immediate public outcry about this?

If this had been in London, it would have been a national scandal. It was a racist attack—an issue about knife crime, community safety, policing and the failure of the criminal justice system. The Opposition should be all over this, holding the Government to account. Why am I the only person who has raised this in a detailed way in either Chamber of Parliament? I want Ministers to look at it. I think the Attorney-General should refer it to the Court of Appeal. I know that we cannot have political direction of the police and the courts, but this cannot be allowed to stand. Will Ministers call in the chief constable and the CPS of the West Midlands to find out what has gone on. Could other charges be brought, such as affray or racially motivated assault? Something has to be done to secure justice for this family and for the black community in Birmingham.

The second case I want to raise is the racist attack on a group of Jewish children celebrating Hanukkah in Oxford Street last December. They were attacked by a mob of anti-Semites who made Nazi salutes, yelled, “Eff Jews; eff Israel”, spat at the children and threatened to smash the windows of their bus. The whole terrifying incident was caught on camera yet, despite clear CCTV evidence, mobile phone footage and multiple witnesses, investigators concluded their investigation, and the attackers remain at large.

The noble Lord, Lord Carlile, who is a former government reviewer of anti-terror legislation, said:

“The police must start to prioritise violent and explicitly racist attacks, especially where there is photographic evidence of a kind which would enable the perpetrator to be identified.”


Referring to this, and to another attack in London last year, he said:

“Both of these cases are examples of institutional failure to prioritise significant cases involving serious danger to members of the public. Letting this slide makes other incidents and even possible terrorist incidents more likely.”


The Board of Deputies has demanded an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary. Dave Rich, the director of policy at the Community Security Trust, said:

“This comes in the same week that the Home Office revealed only eight % of all racist and religious hate crime lead to a charge or summons.”


The Campaign Against Antisemitism said:

“If even high-profile hate crimes such as this are not solved and the perpetrators brought to justice, what hope do the many other crimes against Jewish people have of being satisfactorily investigated?”


That campaign, the Jewish News and the Jewish Chronicle have jointly offered a reward of £30,000 leading to the conviction of any of the perpetrators. I draw attention to my declaration in the register as a columnist for the Jewish Chronicle. Will the Minister or his colleagues speak to the Met and find out what else can be done to bring those responsible to justice?

Queen’s Speech

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure and privilege to follow the excellent speech of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, and to be speaking in this debate. I start by saying that of course it is possible to be concerned about the impact of immigration without being racist, but the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Green, was not about pressures on schools and hospitals in poorer parts of the country. It was mainly—and let us be honest about this—about the colour of people’s skin. It could have been made by people opposed to Jewish immigration to Britain before the war; by Enoch Powell and his supporters in the 1960s and 1970s; or by anyone, throughout the years, who wants to pretend that they are not a racist but are speaking up for the concerns of ordinary people in poor areas—a group he knows very little about. He is on completely the wrong side of history. People in Dudley, where I live, and places like it are not bothered about the colour of people’s skin any more and do not share this miserable obsession with what people look like.

I welcome the measures the Government set out in the Queen’s Speech to tackle crime and improve law and order. We live in a democracy—of course people have the right to protest, and I have been on plenty of protests over the years—but there is a huge difference between a properly organised march against a war or a protest against racism and bringing motorways or city centres to a standstill. People do not have a right to prevent hard-working people getting to work or patients getting to hospital. The freedom of the press is one of the pillars on which a free society and democracy depend, so people do not have the right to blockade printing presses either.

The Government also say they will bring forward measures to tackle economic crime, which are very much needed. When I was contacted by people in Dudley as a Member of Parliament, I was shocked by the terrible response that victims of fraud received. Recent figures show that just one in 500 frauds is prosecuted by police, despite an increase in this crime of 20%. Overall, the number of arrests and prosecutions are down; just one in 16 crime suspects was taken to court last year. The rate of offences that lead to a charge is at a record low, so the Government need to deliver on their promise in the Queen’s Speech to make the streets safer.

Given this commitment, there is one issue I want to raise. I want to speak about Dea-John Reid, a 14 year- old lad from Birmingham who was killed by a gang in the city last year. What can the Government do to secure justice for him and his family? It is a shocking story. One evening in May last year, after an altercation between two groups of teenagers, Dea-John was chased down a busy street by five males, including two grown men—adults—shouting racist abuse. One of them, who was 14 years old at the time, killed him with a knife. A 14 year-old black boy was chased by a gang and stabbed to death. His mum, Joan Reid, said he was

“hunted by a lynch mob reminiscent of … Mississippi Burning”.

Following the earlier altercation, the boy who killed Dea-John had phoned 38 year-old George Khan, who was drinking in a pub with 35 year-old Michael Shields. They collected the three boys in Khan’s car and “set off”, the court was told,

“to hunt down the Dea-John group … Khan carried the plan to seek retribution forwards and actively encouraged the attack”,

the prosecuting barrister said. According to witnesses, Khan pointed and shouted “Oi, you n-word”. Dea-John and his friends ran, but he went a different way to get away. Khan and the defendants ran after him. A witness said that the men had their tops off, used them to cover their faces and were carrying weapons. One was carrying what looked like a screwdriver. Khan allegedly shouted, “Bang him out” and—I apologise for this—“f- him up” to one of the teenagers. They were grown men. If that is not incitement, what is? This 14 year-old boy had asthma, ran out of breath, was caught, stabbed and killed. Imagine it: he was chased by a racist mob, cornered, stabbed and killed on the streets of Birmingham last year.

This is incredible. Four of the five defendants, all of whom chased him, were found not guilty by an all-white jury. The fifth, now aged 15, was convicted of manslaughter and will be free in less than three years. The judge said that, if he had been an adult, he would have been on trial for murder.

Someone in Birmingham said to me, “A gang shouting racist abuse—a black boy stabbed. What lessons have we learnt?” I remember Birmingham in the 1980s and how failings in the criminal justice system resulted in riots on the streets. There can never be any justification for that. His Mum, Joan Reid, called for calm in the black community in Birmingham—and they listened because they trusted the authorities. But the deal is justice for Dea-John and his family, so why are those men walking free?

I want the Government to look at what measures in the Queen’s Speech can secure justice for this boy and his family. Will Ministers look at this and will the Attorney-General refer it to the Court of Appeal? I know that obviously we cannot have political direction of the police and courts, but this cannot be allowed to stand—not in Britain in this century. So will Ministers call in the chief constable and the CPS in the West Midlands to find out what has gone on here? Are there other charges that could be brought, such as affray or racially motivated assault? I want to know what the Government can do to secure justice for that little lad and his mum. I want Her Majesty’s Government to address the concern that I have raised in the legislation they propose to bring forward in delivering on the gracious Speech.

Intelligence: Russia

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

I agree with the noble Lord’s point. Ongoing work is being done to implement the recommendations in the report, many of which do not need legislation. However, the noble Lord makes an absolutely valid point.

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the weekend papers were full of reports saying that the Government were threatening to sanction members of Putin’s inner circle if he went ahead and invaded Ukraine. However, given that he has invaded Crimea, assassinated his opponents here in the UK and looted Russia’s economy, thereby impoverishing the poor Russian citizens, why have the Government not considered doing this anyway?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right. I am not party to some of the discussions going on in the FCDO and elsewhere, but he highlights the point that we have a major problem with regard to the influence here.

Knife Crime

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. One of the most successful parts of Operation Sceptre, the national weeks of action to which police forces throughout the country sign up, is exactly what he mentions: amnesties and knife bins. As I said, in the most recent week of Operation Sceptre, more than 9,000 knives were taken off our streets.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Ind)]

This is now a national crisis, with young people losing their lives not only on the streets of major cities but even in towns like Dudley. In the west midlands we have lost 2,000 police over the past few years. The police urgently need more resources so that we can get more police on the streets to deal with this problem. We have also lost youth services, sports clubs and all the other projects that keep young people off the streets and out of trouble. Will the Minister support the police and crime commissioner’s bid for more funding for the West Midlands Violence Prevention Alliance? Finally, when people are caught with knives they should be locked up. That is what the Conservatives promised in their 2010 manifesto, but that promise has never been upheld.

[Victoria Atkins]

The hon. Gentleman knows that I have often raised on the Floor of the House the use of reserves, because police reserves are made up of money that the taxpayer has given to police forces to spend on policing. In March last year, West Midlands police’s reserves were £85 million. I am sure the police and crime commissioner would be able to explain why that money is sitting in reserves and, indeed, he may have spent some of it in the past year, but the issue with funding is how it is spent as much as how much is given. On the hon. Gentleman’s point about sentences, we have put the legislation in place, and although it is open to any judge or magistrate to imprison someone who is found in possession of a knife once, it is then mandatory on the second occasion of their being caught. If that is not being followed by judges, it is a decision of the judiciary.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 25th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

rose—

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

No, no, no: as I have just been advised, it would require a cross-country train to make the journey from Northumbria, about which the hon. Member for Jarrow (Mr Hepburn) asked, to either Coventry or Dudley, which doubtless have many merits, and which can be reached subsequently in other circumstances.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 4th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady is right that much more can be done that does not require legislation, meaning it can be done more quickly. She talked about criminal behaviour orders. We are looking at that very issue and seeing whether their use can be expanded.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

Will the Home Secretary match the £2 million that the West Midlands police and crime commissioner has managed to scrape together to tackle gangs and knife and violent crime with early intervention schemes, mediation programmes and other initiatives? Will he meet me and a cross-party delegation of MPs from the region to discuss how we can work together to tackle the issue?

[Sajid Javid]

I commend the work that is being done locally by West Midlands police to fight violent crime, particularly knife crime, and I am sure that the funds that it has put to use will make a difference. I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and other local Members of Parliament to discuss the matter further.

Minors Entering the UK: 1948 to 1971

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 30th April 2018 Westminster Hall

[Lyn Brown]

It was your policy—2014.

[Ian Austin (in the Chair)]

Order.

[Simon Hoare]

The hon. Lady keeps saying an awful lot of stuff from a sedentary position. Does my hon. Friend accept that the rewriting of history on such a sensitive issue is unhelpful to both sides of the debate and to moving this thing forward? For perfectly legitimate reasons at the time, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Liam Byrne) referred not only to having a hostile environment but to seeking to flush out illegal migration. “Illegal” is the key word.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Lammy]

I will not; I am just going to finish. Indeed, during her statement last Thursday, the former Home Secretary said “illegal” 23 times but did not even once say “citizen”.

This is not about illegal immigration. This is about British citizens, and frankly it is deeply offensive to conflate the Windrush generation with illegal immigrants to try to distract from the Windrush crisis. This is about a hostile environment policy that blurs the line between illegal immigrants and people who are here legally, and are even British citizens. This is about a hostile environment not just for illegal immigrants but for anybody who looks like they could be an immigrant. This is about a hostile environment that has turned employers, doctors, landlords and social workers into border guards.

The hostile environment is not about illegal immigration. Increasing leave to remain fees by 238% in four years is not about illegal immigration. The Home Office making profits of 800% on standard applications is not about illegal immigration. The Home Office sending back documents unrecorded by second-class post, so that passports, birth certificates and education certificates get lost, is not about illegal immigration. Charging teenagers £2,033 every 30 months for limited leave to remain is not about illegal immigration. Charging someone £10,521 in limited leave to remain fees before they can even apply for indefinite leave to remain is not about illegal immigration.

Banning refugees and asylum seekers from working and preventing them from accessing public funds is not about illegal immigration. Sending nine immigration enforcement staff to arrest my constituent because the Home Office lost his documents is not about illegal immigration. Locking my constituent up in Yarl’s Wood, meaning she missed her midwifery exams, is not about illegal immigration. Denying legal aid to migrants who are here legally is not about illegal immigration. Changing the terms of young asylum seekers’ immigration bail so that they cannot study is not about illegal immigration. Sending immigration enforcement staff to a church in my constituency that was serving soup to refugees is not about illegal immigration.

The former Home Secretary and the Prime Minister promised compensation. They have promised that no enforcement action will be taken. They have promised that the burden of proof will be lowered when the taskforce assesses Windrush cases. The Windrush citizens do not trust the Home Office, and I do not blame them after so much injustice has been dealt out.

I quote Martin Luther King, who himself quoted St Augustine, when he said that

“an unjust law is no law at all.”

I say to the Minister, warm words mean nothing. Guarantee these rights and enshrine them in law as soon as possible, and review the hostile environment that turns everybody in this country who is different into someone who is potentially illegal. Some 230 years after those in the abolitionist movement wore their medallions around their necks, I stand here as a Caribbean, black, British citizen and I ask the Minister, on behalf of those Windrush citizens, am I not a man and a brother? [Applause.]

[Ian Austin (in the Chair)]

Order. I am sorry, but we are not supposed to have applause. I understand how strongly people feel about this issue, but that is the rule.

Money Laundering

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 19th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Wallace]

Is the hon. Gentleman asking about opening an investigation or prosecuting? As I said earlier, we are not commenting on what investigations we have live and open. That has been very clear: we cannot comment on whether or not an investigation is open into anyone. Whether it is a Russian oligarch, people who are alleged concerning Magnitsky, or someone under investigation in the hon. Gentleman’s local constituency, that is not how it operates in this country, because we protect the operational independence of the police.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

The best way to target Putin is to go after the people around him who enrich themselves to the tune of billions. It is estimated that people closely linked to Putin own property here in London worth more than £1 billion. The Minister could start by looking at the activities of Igor Shuvalov, who, as we have heard today, is reputed to own—just a few hundred yards from where we are standing now—flats worth £11.4 million, yet he earns just £112,000. That is clearly the result of corruption; what is the Minister going to do about it?

[Mr Wallace]

As the hon. Gentleman will have heard me say numerous times this afternoon, there are plenty of individuals who get pointed out to us and into whom we open investigations. What we cannot do is provide a running commentary on who is under investigation. As I have stated and as we have demonstrated in our legislation over the past few years, we on the Conservative Benches are determined to investigate and deal with overseas corruption and oligarchs putting money here. The best example I can give is the unexplained wealth order issued only a few weeks ago: it related to an overseas oligarch who was also a PEP and to £22 million of property in the south-east. We will continue to target such people because we think it is the right thing to do.