Manchester Terrorism Attack

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Jim Allister

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

Yes, I can. My colleagues in the Cabinet have written to the different regulators that report directly to them, and they will all come before this House to set out further measures and how we will hold people accountable for their powers.

[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

Does the Home Secretary agree that the murderous attack on the Jewish community in Manchester was the product of the rampant Islamic radicalisation that we have seen across our country—something which chimes with the antisemitism that has been evidenced in the bitter hate marches in our capital city? In that context, is enough being done to deal with the radicalisers? Do we not need to strike the axe at the root of this problem? Much of that root is those who are radicalising young people to carry out awful acts such as this.

[Shabana Mahmood]

I repeat to the hon. and learned Gentleman my earlier comments on dealing with the domestic threats we face, the largest of which is Islamist extremism. We will know more about the specific journey that this attacker took before he carried out his attack when more of the facts are in, but I assure the hon. and learned Gentleman that whatever wider lessons are to be drawn from this attack, I will make sure that they are understood and learned from and that we have the measures in place to be effective in dealing with radicalisation wherever it takes place, including with Islamist extremism.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Jim Allister

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

May I associate myself with your remarks, Mr Speaker, at the outset of these proceedings about the passing of Lord Tebbit? Lord Tebbit was a great friend of Northern Ireland, particularly of the many fellow victims of IRA terrorism.

May I return the Lord Chancellor to the subject of the backlogs in our Crown courts? In Northern Ireland, we have the worst of all records; it takes an average of 551 days to conclude a Crown court case. Murder trials have been stalled since last September with no new start date. We have a Minister of Justice locally who talks the talk but never walks the walk, and particularly does not walk the walk in settling the ongoing remuneration issue that is holding things up. Would the Lord Chancellor bring some pressure to bear on the local Justice Minister to sort this matter out?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The hon. and learned Member will know that for devolved matters it would of course be deeply inappropriate for me to try to influence or put pressure on the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland. On a cross-UK basis, we regularly meet our fellow Justice Ministers in the devolved Administrations, and I will happily pick up those conversations in a constructive way.

Sentencing Council Guidelines

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Jim Allister

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

My hon. Friend is exactly right. At no point has anybody on the Conservative Benches shown any humility or tried to answer the question of why they did nothing about it. As I say, the case of amnesia from which the shadow Justice Secretary is suffering seems to be as bad as ever.

[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

I certainly welcome the fact that the Sentencing Council has been forced to back down on its woke proposal. As the new legislation progresses, can the Lord Chancellor assure the House that there will be no dilution of the robust principles of the separation of powers and the independence of our judiciary; and that the right approach will continue to be that Parliament sets the maximum sentence for any criminal offence, and our judges decide on a case-by-case basis what the sentence should be?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The hon. and learned Gentleman is absolutely right. It is for Parliament to set the overall sentencing framework, but every single judge has to see the case in front of them and make their own decisions. As I made very clear in my statement, I will always defend the independence of our judiciary; they do vital work and are a crucial part of the separation of powers. Everything that I have sought to do, given this recent episode, has been to respect that separation of powers and assert what we properly consider to be the realm of policy, politicians and Parliament, and what is the realm of the judges.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Jim Allister

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

The law on joint enterprise has already developed somewhat since the previous Court of Appeal decision. I know that the Director of Public Prosecutions is keeping under review how prosecuting decisions are made. At this point we have no plans to go further, but I am happy to ensure that my hon. Friend can meet the relevant Minister.

[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

Across the United Kingdom, inquests are defined as being for the purpose of finding out who the deceased was, and how, when and where they died; they are not trials and they are not about assigning blame, even when they are extended into article 2 investigations. Yet in Northern Ireland we have had findings of blame in respect of SAS soldiers killing active terrorists. Does the Minister agree that the Crime and Policing Bill affords an opportunity, through suitable amendment, to bring uniformity to the operation of inquests across the United Kingdom?