Stephen Lawrence

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

In response to the right hon. Gentleman’s first question, what I can say is that the police have been very clear that investigations in relation to this matter continue, and it is right and proper that all appropriate lines of inquiry are followed through. I say in response to his second question that I think it is appropriate for the Metropolitan Police Service to be able to look at this matter and provide a response, and then for the Home Secretary to determine what the next steps should be.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

The vast majority of serving Metropolitan police officers abhor racism in all its forms, but clearly there are still pockets of concern. What discussions have taken place with the commissioner on protecting whistleblowers who bring such matters to the attention of senior police officers, because officers must be protected and feel confident about reporting misdeeds?

[James Brokenshire]

My hon. Friend makes an important point: police officers should be able to air their concerns and be confident that those matters will be dealt with appropriately. A number of recent cases have been brought as a direct consequence of reports being made by police officers. I hope that that will continue and give confidence that if matters of this kind are referred, appropriate action will be taken clearly and robustly.

Abu Qatada

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I assure my hon. Friend that the Government will be doing everything we can to take the action that we believe is necessary, which is the deportation of Abu Qatada.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

No one will be surprised that Abu Qatada is, once again, attempting to delay his deportation to face justice in Jordan. What estimate has my right hon. Friend been given of the time it will take before the European Court of Human Rights determines whether this case is to be heard? How long will it take before this case is taken, if the Court accepts it?

[Mrs May]

The only indication that has been given by the European Court is that it will meet in a matter of weeks to look at whether it accepts the referral—of course that is the first stage, and the Court may choose to reject it.

Abu Qatada

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 17th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I can assure my hon. Friend that we are working on the whole question of the deportation of foreign national offenders, the assurances we need from other countries and the need to ensure that we can do it more speedily and more efficiently than in the past. This is ongoing work and cannot be done at a drop of a hat, so it will take some time for us to put in place some of the arrangements we need to ensure that we can act with rather greater rigour.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

One of the great frustrations in this case is that foreign nationals who are suspected of terrorism in other countries gain admission to the UK and use our courts and the European courts to frustrate their removal. What action can my right hon. Friend take to ensure that those foreign nationals who are suspected of terrorism are not admitted in the first place?

[Mrs May]

Of course, we have been looking across the board at our policies on this subject. We have a far stronger policy on exclusions from the UK than the one adopted by the previous Labour Government. I believe that that is right. We have a duty to protect British citizens and it is right that we should consider every avenue to ensure that we can do that.

Border Control Scheme

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman has put his concerns on the record, but we must stick to the Minister’s responsibility.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend the Minister remind the House what lessons have been learned as a result of the pilot, and what changes he is making to the system to ensure that our borders are secure?

[Damian Green]

The pilot is still being evaluated, but my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has already said that the initial reported information suggests that it led to more interception of illegal immigrants, fraudulent documents, drugs and guns. The initial signs from the management information that we have suggest that the pilot was extremely positive, but there will be a full evaluation and then we will decide what is best to do for the future.

Gangs and Youth Violence

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

The hon. Lady seems to have failed to notice that this Act has actually passed and the police and crime commissioners will be introduced. They will be carrying out a very important task—that of being a directly elected local voice for local communities to determine policing in their area.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I welcome today’s statement and commend the work of the Met police in combating gang cultures across London. That work is very expensive. It is also time-consuming and takes many years to come to fruition, and once the police do it and break the gang, a vacuum is created into which another gang can move. What actions can be taken to prevent new gangs from being formed where an old gang has been eliminated?

[Mrs May]

This is why we are absolutely clear that this is merely the start of a process and that what we are doing is putting in place sustainable, long-term work. It is necessary not just to bring certain individuals out of gang membership, but, sadly, to ensure that we prevent other young people from becoming part of new gangs that would replace those existing gangs. That is why preventing people from getting into gang membership in the first place is a key element of what we want to do.

Prevent Strategy

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I am happy to say to my hon. Friend that that was one of the issues that I discussed with the Pakistan Interior Minister when I visited that country last October.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

One problem with the Prevent scheme funding under the previous Administration was the lack of clarity on what the funding was for and which organisations would receive it, and ensuring appropriate outcomes. Will my right hon. Friend ensure not only that a broad range of organisations receive funds, but that those organisations are outcome-based, so that we can clearly evaluate the success or otherwise of the funding?

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It is not good enough for Governments simply to give money to organisations; we need to ensure that it is being effectively used for the purpose for which it was intended. That is why it is important that we establish much clearer evaluation and monitoring of the use of that money.

Sex Offenders Register

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Wednesday 16th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

We have not in fact absolutely adopted the Scottish model in relation to DNA, and we have gone further than it has. We have adopted protections for those who are innocent, and that is different from the situation that we are considering today, which is about people who have been found guilty and are at risk of reoffending. We must deal with public protection in that regard. The rules that we propose for the retention of DNA are about enabling the police to have the tools that they need, but at the same time not putting the DNA of a lot of innocent people on the database.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I, like many others, am appalled by the Court’s decision, but I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement, particularly the part about tightening the rules. One concern will be about potential inconsistency of approach between different police forces. Highly manipulative people moving around the country may find themselves on the sex offenders register in one part of the country, but a decision may be made to take them off it in another part. How will she ensure that consistency is applied to the whole country?

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend obviously makes an important point, but of course ACPO has been actively involved in putting the proposals together, as I said earlier, and it will be for ACPO to ensure that its guidance to forces across the country is appropriately strong and followed by all forces.

Proposed Directive (Information Systems)

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

As I have said, we keep the position on the human trafficking directive under review. I think that the directive that we are considering today has clear benefits and builds on the work of the Council of Europe’s convention on cybercrime, which, interestingly, the previous Government signed up to in 2001 but never got around to ratifying. That highlights the importance that this Government place on international co-operation when dealing with these important matters.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I welcome the statement, but cybercrime does not recognise international or EU boundaries, as my hon. Friend recognises, so will he confirm that there is nothing in the directive that will prevent us from seeking to co-operate with other Commonwealth countries, our friends in the United States and other like-minded countries to combat that menace?

[James Brokenshire]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the need for international co-operation. It is one of the reasons that we have ratified the European convention on cybercrime, which has in fact been signed up to by a number of countries outside Europe, including the United States. We take the important issue of international co-operation very seriously, and the directive we have decided to opt in to underlines and telegraphs that commitment, but clearly there is work to do with countries outside the EU as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May)]

At the end of last year, Parliament passed the Identity Documents Act 2010, which the Home Office introduced to scrap the previous Government’s regime of intrusive, ineffective and expensive ID cards. In 2011, we will take further steps towards restoring the rights of individuals, eliminating wasteful bureaucracy and making the police service more accountable to local people.

[Bob Blackman]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the steps she is taking to sort out the chaotic immigration system that she inherited. Issues of concern include students who come to this country on a temporary basis, but fail to leave; and people who come as visitors, who overstay their welcome and then attempt to transfer to permanent status. What moves is she making to break that link?

[Mrs May]

We are making a number of moves. As my hon. Friend the Minister for Immigration said in response to an earlier question, we are looking at the student visa route and ensuring that we can stop abuses pertaining to it. We are also looking at stopping people here on a temporary basis moving on to a permanent settlement basis. Last year, 62,000 people who came here to fill temporary skills gaps then moved into permanent settlement. That is not right.

Counter-terrorism

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. It is precisely because we live in dangerous times and need to consider carefully what powers we have to fight terrorism that we should be all the more careful not to erode the principles of criminal justice and civil liberties for which this House has always stood.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I strongly support the reduction of detention without charge from 28 days to 14 days. Would the Minister confirm that there is no one currently in custody who will have to be released by Wednesday because their detention period has gone beyond 14 days?