Public Order

Luke Evans Excerpts

Monday 15th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to my comments earlier on Windrush. He will have to wait patiently. Also, Members need to recognise how casework for Windrush compensation schemes is undertaken. These are complicated cases. He is welcome to come to the Department to learn more about the actual work that we do. I invite all colleagues who would like to come in to see the work of our Windrush team.

When it comes to the type of thuggery, racism and abuse to which the hon. Gentleman referred, a great deal of work is taking place, not just in the Home Office but across Government. That is because, as I said in my statement and several times in response to questions, we are a tolerant country and society, and there is no place in it for any of that activity, racism, intolerance or hatred.

[Dr Luke Evans (Bosworth) (Con) [V]]

I associate myself with the comments of both the Secretary of State and the shadow Secretary of State regarding peaceful protests and the police. Since the tragic death of George Floyd in the US, we have heard lots of personal testimonies and experiences in the media, from the public and even in this House about racism in the UK. How does my right hon. Friend respond to the accusations from some on the Opposition Benches of her “gaslighting” when she shares her personal experiences of racism?

Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Evans Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

The right hon. Lady will be well aware, from the statement I made in the House earlier this year, that I am looking at all the recommendations in the Windrush lessons learned review and have committed to returning to the House to outline those recommendations and their implementation. It is important for me to say categorically again, on the record, that the review was distressing and many strands in terms of institutional thoughtlessness were applied to the Home Office. Last week—Wednesday, I think—I met again and had a substantive discussion with the Windrush advisory taskforce to look at various facets of the review and to discuss the issues around compensation but also to discuss the measures that do need to continue to be pursued by the Home Office in terms of ways of working. That work is absolutely ongoing. There are cultural changes that need to be brought to the Home Office as well to understand and resolve many of the issues that she as Chair of the Select Committee will be familiar with and which her Select Committee covered two years ago. It is important that we give not just the Department but myself the time to work with Wendy Williams to bring forward those measures so that we can right the wrongs of the past.

[Dr Luke Evans (Bosworth) (Con)]

Just a couple of weeks after I gained the nomination to stand for election as the Member of Parliament for Bosworth, a young man was stabbed to death at the end of my road in Hinckley. What has the Home Secretary’s Department been doing to rid us of the horrible scourge of knife crime both before and during the covid-19 outbreak?