Contributions
2,140 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsMay I again set out the Government’s apology to those who have suffered through this terrible incident and reflect on the fact that this was not just one Government who got it…07 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersMy hon. Friend knows that the illegal drugs market is considered to be the major driver of serious violence. These gangs deal in drugs for nothing more than money—money is their…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI am grateful to my right hon. Friend who, with his expertise from the Select Committee on Education, hits the nail on the head when it comes to the role that exclusions and…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI thank my hon. Friend, who absolutely sums up the situation. This is but one part of the Offensive Weapons Bill, which is but one part of our overall strategy. We have never…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersWe have the vote tomorrow, and I assume the hon. Gentleman will vote in support of the police settlement grant, which will give £970 million to policing. I hope he will put his…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersWhether there will be more police officers on the beat in my hon. Friend’s constabulary is a matter for his police and crime commissioner. We have quite rightly devolved decisions…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI am grateful to the hon. Lady for all the work she does on this issue. She knows how important intervention is in the Government’s approach to tackling this serious violence. In…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI am grateful to the right hon. Lady, who has questioned me assiduously through parliamentary questions on the prevalence of county lines. In relation to the mandatory minimum…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersIn relation to online sales, it will be a combination of the police and trading standards. Retailers are not supposed to be selling knives to under-18s; that is the law at the…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersSome gangs use drill music and certain forms of social media to incite violence. Just this week, I have heard examples whereby orders to assassinate were put out on social media.…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI know that the hon. Gentleman will have welcomed the news announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government that there would…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersA total of 65% of those who are caught under the minimum mandatory sentence legislation receive terms of immediate imprisonment, but that is always at the discretion of the court.…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersIt was a pleasure to address the hon. Lady at the all-party group on knife crime last week, when we were providing a little more detail on what we are doing to tackle serious…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI am always happy to meet my hon. Friend, and that sounds like a great charity. Through our various funds we are supporting large and small charities. The knife-crime community…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersMy hon. Friend makes the point that it is the responsibility of retailers to check the age of the people to whom they sell these knives. That is precisely why we structured the…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI am sure the hon. Lady knows that I was not in this place in 2010, when those very difficult decisions had to be made in the light of Labour’s leaving us with “no money”—I think…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI thank the hon. Gentleman for his impassioned question. He will know, from the discussions we have constantly on this topic, that the Home Office is a team. Colleagues will have…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI am bound to say that I agree with my right hon. Friend, if he is congratulating himself. I thank him for his contribution and of course recognise the work that he did as Mayor…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersI thank my right hon. Friend for his question, partly because, in highlighting the work of his charity, he gives me an opportunity to correct a misreport in The Sunday Times this…04 Feb 2019HANSARDKnife Crime Prevention OrdersThat is exactly the point of the Bill. We are very conscious that, while most retailers do what they should by obeying the law that has been in place for more than 30 years to…04 Feb 2019