Tag: Sajid Javid

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 4 July 2019.

The Government deeply regret what has happened to some members of the Windrush generation and when I became Home Secretary I made clear that responding to this was a priority. The compensation scheme I launched in April is a key part of this response.

The compensation scheme has been open to receive claims since April 2019 and the Home Office is now in a position to start making payments.

Specific legislation to give direct financial authority for payments made under the scheme will be brought forward to Parliament when parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, it is lawful for the Home Office to make payments for compensation scheme claims, without specific legislative authority for this new expenditure. As Home Secretary I am able to consider other factors, including the sound policy objectives behind the scheme and the importance of righting the wrongs suffered by the Windrush generation.

I have therefore written to the permanent secretary today formally directing him, as accounting officer for the Home Office, to implement the compensation scheme for the Windrush generation and to ensure that compensation payments can be made pending the passage of the legislation. The exchange of letters relating to this direction can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/correspondence-on-the-work-of-the-home-office-windrush. This direction has been issued on the basis of regularity.

I am committed to providing members of the Windrush generation with assurance that they will be appropriately and promptly compensated where it is shown that they have been disadvantaged by historical Government policy. A direction to proceed is therefore optimal to ensure the Government are acting in the best interests of affected members of the Windrush generation.

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 17 June 2019.

The UK is today reaffirming its ongoing commitment to supporting refugees, and to working with partners to find a longer-term approach to refugee protection, an approach that restores dignity and offers refugees a viable future.

The UK has a long history of supporting refugees in need of protection. Our schemes have provided safe and legal routes for tens of thousands of people to start new lives in the UK. In every year since 2016 the UK resettled ​more refugees from outside Europe than any other EU member state. These remarkable achievements have been made possible through the tireless commitment of individuals, community and faith groups, local authorities, the devolved administrations, NGOs and our international partners. I am grateful to them for their ongoing support.

The global humanitarian need continues to grow with over 68.5 million people around the world forced from their homes and nearly 25.4 million refugees fleeing persecution; whether due to conflict, religious belief, sexuality or any reason under the refugee convention. Over half of those refugees are children and for some, resettlement to places like the UK is the only durable solution.

With our commitments under the vulnerable persons’ resettlement scheme, vulnerable children’s resettlement scheme and gateway protection programme coming to an end during 2020, it is right to provide certainty to our partners on the future of the UK’s refugee resettlement offer. That is why today I want to confirm the UK’s ongoing commitment to resettlement and set out our plans for after 2020.

Once we have delivered our current commitments we will consolidate our biggest resettlement schemes into a new global resettlement scheme. Our priority will be to continue to identify and resettle the most vulnerable refugees, identified and referred by UNHCR. Under the global resettlement scheme, we will broaden our geographical focus beyond the middle east and north Africa region and be better placed to swiftly respond to international crises in co-ordination with global partners.

In the first year of operation of the new scheme, the UK will aim to resettle in the region of 5,000 of the world’s most vulnerable refugees. We will continue to purposefully target those most in need of assistance, including people requiring urgent medical treatment, survivors of violence and torture, and women and children at risk. A new process for emergency resettlement will also be developed, allowing the UK to respond quickly to instances of heightened protection need, providing a faster route to protection where lives are at risk. Building on the experience of delivering the current schemes and the significant contribution of our community sponsors a key part of our resettlement offer will be that those resettled through our community sponsorship and Mandate routes will be in addition to our yearly, global commitment.

We will continue to work in partnership with local authorities. Recognising that their continued support will be fundamental to achieving our ambitions, we will ensure that they continue to be well-funded, supporting them to provide resettled refugees with the best possible support upon arrival.

We will also continue our strong engagement with civil society as we move forward.

We will continue to support the long-term integration of refugees, empowering them to fulfil their potential and contribute positively to their new communities.

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 22 May 2019.

Today I am laying before the House the final report of the independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (CP 100). Copies of the report will be available from the Vote Office and it will also be published at: www.gov.uk.

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), the UK has transformed its response to modern slavery over the last five years. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was the first legislation of its kind in the world. The Act provided law enforcement with new tools and powers to apprehend perpetrators, new duties on businesses to publish transparency in supply chains statements, enhanced protections for victims and created the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner role. The impact of the Act is evident: more victims than ever before are being identified and supported, more offenders are being prosecuted and convicted and thousands of companies have published transparency statements and are taking action to prevent slavery and trafficking in their supply chains.

Alongside the Act, this Government are delivering a comprehensive programme of policy measures to tackle modern slavery. We are reforming the national referral mechanism (NRM) to improve the support available to ​victims and to streamline the decision-making process. We are continuing to hold businesses to account on their obligations to publish transparency statements and central Government Departments will publish a transparency in supply chains statement this year, to set out the steps we are taking through public procurement to prevent the risks of modern slavery in our supply chains. We are also working with international partners to drive action to address modem slavery risks in supply chains and public procurement.

We continue to play a leadership role internationally, pushing for co-ordinated action to deliver the sustainable development goals on modern slavery, supported by a commitment of £200 million of UK aid, as well as building partnerships with countries from where the UK receives high numbers of victims. To build on this work, the Government recently awarded a further £5 million in grants to seven organisations through the modern slavery innovation fund to trial new and innovative approaches to tackle this heinous crime.

However, this Government are not complacent, and we are determined to lead global efforts to eradicate modern slavery, particularly as the methods used by criminals to exploit vulnerable people and our under- standing of the crime evolves. That is why in July 2018 I commissioned right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Frank Field), right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) and the noble Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE to conduct an independent review of the Modern Slavery Act. The review considered four themes relating to provisions in the Act: the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, transparency in supply chains, legal application and the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. The final report has made a total of 80 recommendations.

I am grateful to the reviewers and all those who contributed to the review for their commitment and comprehensive analysis. The Government intend to consider all recommendations in depth, before making a formal response in summer 2019.

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 15 May 2019.

In the 2017 drug strategy the Government committed to appointing a national recovery champion. The recovery champion will play a key role in delivering the Government’s ambitions by helping improve the prospects of individuals seeking to recover from substance misuse.

I am pleased to announce today that I have appointed Dr Edward Day to the role of recovery champion. This appointment is for three years, with Dr Day’s appointment commencing on 15 May 2019 and ending on 14 May 2022. The recovery champion role will extend to England only.

Dr Day has a wealth of experience in the substance misuse field, dealing directly with those who are dependent on drugs as well as informing national guidance and debate. He was one of the first within the field to champion the recovery agenda and to embed it successfully in local services. I am confident that he will make effective use of his considerable experience and extensive knowledge in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery in this role.

It is clear that substance misuse has a hugely damaging impact on individuals, families and communities. To support effective recovery outcomes across the country, Dr Day will work towards galvanising partners at national and local levels, offering advice to local partners on how evidence-based practice can be most effectively applied, and supporting collaboration at a national level through the Drug Strategy Board.

Below is the text of the speech made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in London on 20 May 2019.

It’s a pleasure to be here in New Scotland Yard, the home of Counterterrorism Policing, with such a distinguished audience.

And to be introduced by our outstanding head of CT Policing.

Now, if anyone here is watching ‘The Looming Tower’, a TV drama about siloed US security agencies not talking to each other about potential threats, you might worry that’s how it works here.

But if that was ever true there and then, it’s certainly not true here and now in the UK.

Every week Neil and I sit down with the Director General of MI5 and we go through all of the high-priority investigations.

Making sure the top threats are prioritised and coordinated.

Since becoming Home Secretary a year ago, it’s been a huge privilege to be trusted with daily decisions that directly affect the security of our citizens.

Some of them can mean the difference between life and death.

So, it’s a responsibility I take very seriously.

Being ultimately responsible for the security of more than 65 million people has meant me personally signing several thousand warrants, day and night.

Giving the green light to operational decisions.

All the while proactively reforming many policies across the board.

It puts a lot of other Westminster issues in perspective.

Most of my previous jobs were focused on unleashing what you might call the positive parts of human nature – such as enterprise, creativity, charity…

But for those virtues to flourish, we also need to constrain the darker side – violence, exploitation, injustice.

Tough decisions must be made to maintain our security.

And nobody in government knows that better than the Prime Minister.

Someone who has done more than anyone – both as our leader and as Home Secretary – to keep this country safe.

Someone who has remained resolute in the face of terror attacks, cyber onslaughts and the use of a nerve agent on British soil.

And I’d like to pay tribute to her today for her tireless commitment to our national security.

The first duty of government is of course to protect its citizens

That is why I want to talk today about how we are doing just that – protecting our citizens from individuals, organisations and even states that wish to do us harm.

Security underpins everything – our liberty, and our prosperity.

That spectrum of security goes all the way from Stop and Search on our streets, to supporting our soldiers on operations.

From intervening early to stop a young person from carrying a knife or to prevent the risk of radicalisation.

Fundamentally, security underpins the unity of our society and our values.

And that, of course, is what motivates our enemies.

Those that challenge us – whether it’s the twisted ideology of religious or political extremism, or the cold calculation of state actors, they do so because they detest our values.

They seek to sow division between us because they see our strength in unity.

They fear that strength, and that drives their hatred.

For some, this can be very close to home.

For Muslims, it is painful to see how the religion of our parents and grandparents is so often misunderstood and misrepresented… twisted by extremists on all sides so that they can sow the seeds of division and violence.

But we are better and bigger than that.

We are, and will always remain, an open, fair, and tolerant society.

Those are our values.

And we will not allow hatred, intolerance, and violence to destroy them.

This country is under the protection of the finest police, security, intelligence, and armed forces in the world, many of them working right here in New Scotland Yard.

Your excellent work, hand-in-glove with MI5, does more to keep us safe than most of the public will ever know.

That’s the way it should be.

Each and every day, our security services fight against terror – from large international terrorist groups, to radicalised individuals.

In the past two years, they have foiled 19 major terrorist attacks – 14 of them Islamist, and 5 of them motivated by extreme right-wing ideologies.

But those are just the headline figures.

For each attack prevented, there are dozens more that never have the chance to begin in the first place.

And despite this impressive work, the tempo of terrorist activity is increasing.

The London Bridge inquest is a chance to reflect on the 2017 attacks in the UK.

To remember the victims of terrorism, and the loved ones that they leave behind.

And to examine publicly the systems we have put in place to protect the UK.

To help us do just that, I can announce that I’ve appointed Jonathan Hall QC as the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and I’m delighted he’s joined us here today.

It’s clear that the threat from beyond our shores is also increasing.

More than 250 dead in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

Worshipers slaughtered in mosques in Christchurch.

A journalist shot dead by dissident republicans in Northern Ireland.

And Al-Qaeda are regaining their strength.

Old threats return as new ones emerge.

In our ever more interconnected world, these threats are not constrained by national borders.

Globalisation and the indiscriminate nature of terror means that we are all potential victims.

Although the London Bridge attacks took place in the heart of our capital, more of the victims were foreign nationals than UK citizens.

In fact, more UK citizens were murdered in the recent bombings in Sri Lanka.

When it comes to security, no country is truly an island.

We have seen how quickly dangerous ideologies, from Islamism to extreme populism and nationalism, can sweep across countries and continents.

Daesh’s so-called Caliphate has now been defeated on the ground, but the poisonous ideology remains.

In fact, of all the terrorist plots thwarted by the UK and our Western allies last year, 80% were planned by people inspired by the ideology of Daesh, but who had never actually been in contact with the so-called Caliphate.

And just as its fighters were drawn from every corner of the world, including too many Brits, we have taken an international response to this menace.

Now, many of these fighters have been captured but some may wish to return home.

It is a challenge that dozens of our allies face.

The police and security services have worked tirelessly to identify those intending to travel overseas to join Daesh.

They have seized passports at the border and prevented them from leaving the country.

And – along with concerned friends, families and public-sector colleagues, the police have directed hundreds of at-risk individuals to support from our Prevent programmes to move them away from terrorism.

We did not stop everyone, as the case of Shamima Begum shows.

But the systems we have put in place, they starved Daesh of many more British recruits.

Of course, our action against Daesh does not stop at the border.

We have been a leading member of a coalition of nations that has taken action to strike against Daesh, eroding their strength in the region, their threat to the region, and their threat to the wider world.

That included the targeting of Mohammed Emwazi, the figurehead of their evil execution squad.

And we are working with our international partners on efforts to prosecute fighters where they are captured.

It is only right that those nations that have suffered most under Daesh have the chance to bring them to justice.

But the difficulty in prosecuting Emwazi’s alleged collaborators – El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey – shows just how hard this can be.

And it shows how I must remain single-minded in using all the powers at my disposal to protect this country.

When we assess that someone poses a real threat, we will work to stop them from returning.

Sometimes to do that I have to deprive people of their British nationality.

I continue to do so, to keep this country safe.

But I understand these decisions raise questions and they raise concerns.

I first learned of the full parameters of the power in my previous role, when the then Home Secretary – she explained it to me.

It was at that moment that I had the worrying realisation that, given my heritage, that power in theory could be applied to me.

But I want to reassure anyone with the same thoughts that they have nothing to fear.

Deprivation is never a step that is taken lightly.

Those that say otherwise are only seeking to divide our society.

Decisions are made following incredibly careful consideration of advice from the security services, counterterrorism policing and specialist legal and security officials at the Home Office.

There is a statutory right of appeal.

And the power can only be applied when depriving an individual would be conducive to the public good.

Deprivation should never be the first choice of action.

But when some of the world’s most dangerous people have the right to return to these shores…

I will do everything I can to prevent that.

Of those who have returned, we have already prosecuted over 40 returnees for offences committed overseas, or as a result of counter-terrorism investigations.

But we do have to remember that young British children traumatised by their experiences in Daesh-held territories are victims too.

So, we offer support to those who do return to the UK, and we are considering what more we can do to help them.

I want to make sure this challenging situation can’t be repeated.

So, under the new Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act, we introduced a power where, if necessary to protect the public from terrorism, I can designate a region anywhere in the world and make it an offence for British nationals to be there.

Today I can announce that I’ve asked my officials to work closely with CT policing and intelligence agencies to urgently review the case for exercising this power in relation to Syria, with a particular focus on Idlib and the North East.

So, anyone who is in these areas without a legitimate reason should be on notice.

I can also see that there may be a case in the future for considering designating parts of West Africa.

But wherever this power is applied, I am determined it will not inhibit the delivery of essential humanitarian aid.

From terrorism, to crime, to hostile state activity, we are facing international problems, that require an international response.

My job title might be Home Secretary.

But much of the threat we face at home comes from abroad.

So, since taking this job I’ve travelled to Europe, Asia, the US and beyond to discuss global security issues with my counterparts.

Wherever I have travelled, I have been welcomed with open arms and proposals of cooperation.

It’s not just my winning personality.

We are fortunate to be citizens of a country that is an intelligence and security superpower.

After the United States, we are probably the largest contributor to the international system of defence and intelligence that keeps the world safe.

There are other nations of similar size and similar resources. But what sets us apart is teamwork.

More than any other country on Earth, the UK has a coherent, connected approach to intelligence and security.

And when threats do appear, the world turns to the UK for leadership, support, and action.

As these threats become more global we rely on an international system of defence, policing, security and intelligence.

A safety net that is based upon cooperation, and unity.

These structures rely upon free, democratic nations to pool information, coordinate law enforcement, and surrender suspected criminals across borders.

Our European partners are, of course, key to this.

They share the same values. They encounter the same challenges. They face the same enemies.

There is no doubt that Europol, the European Arrest Warrant, the Schengen Information System and other channels of cooperation have helped to keep our citizens – and those of other EU countries – safe.

We have kept track of dangerous individuals. We’ve prevented crime. We’ve frozen assets. And we have protected our citizens.

Whatever the outcome of Brexit, we want this collaboration to continue.

To that end, we are joined today by the Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Interior Ministry, Professor Gunter Krings.

Welcome Gunter and I look forward to our meeting later today.

Following my recent discussions with Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, we have reaffirmed our shared commitment to working together to protect citizens.

Specifically, in the event of a no-deal Brexit we have agreed to intensify cooperation and swiftly conclude any necessary bilateral security arrangements.

You see, whatever the outcome of EU Exit, the UK will still have the capacity and the capability to protect itself.

Yes, a comprehensive and legally binding partnership on security is still our preferred option.

But we have also worked hard to prepare for a no-deal scenario.

And I have directed my department to make full use of the extra time we now have until October to do even more. Contingency plans are already in place to move police and judicial cooperation onto tried and tested non-EU mechanisms, such as Interpol.

And we are building up other international capabilities.

Last year I attended the Five Eyes summit in Australia.

And in two months’ time I am pleased to say that we will host the next summit in Manchester.

There we will take forward an agenda with our allies on emerging threats – from drones to cyber, and many of the issues that I’ve talked about today.

As the only European member of the world’s foremost intelligence alliance, the UK is the hub of a truly global intelligence and security network.

Nothing will change this.

We have developed an overseas strand to our world-leading counter terrorism strategy CONTEST.

We can ban terror organisations in the UK if they pose a threat anywhere in the world, which is why I recently proscribed Hizballah.

And with 50 UK liaison officers providing expertise around the world, CT police are a great example of what we can offer the rest of the world.

For example, in January, they were doing crucial work in Nairobi within hours of that horrific hotel attack.

So, one certainty of Brexit is that it will not change the fact that we are one of the key global players in keeping people safe.

But we know not all countries are as constructive in their approach.

The conclusion of the Cold War was not the end of state-on-state threats that many had actually predicted.

Salisbury was a sharp reminder of that.

We continue to face direct threats from a range of state actors who wish to challenge our status, undermine our democracy, and divide our society.

These range from espionage, to subversion, and sabotage, to disinformation, coercion and even attempted assassination.

The risks posed to the UK from hostile states have both grown and diversified.

Our country and our allies face a range of new and distinct threats, especially as foreign companies become increasingly engaged in our telecommunications infrastructure.

We’ve already seen some of our closest intelligence partners – such as the US and Australia – set out their decisions on access to their networks.

These are countries we must continue to co-ordinate closely with.

I share some of their concerns and am certainly taking them into account as this government makes a final decision on 5G.

Not all hostile state activity in this space is at the cutting edge of technology. Not all our work.

In February we created a new power allowing police to stop people at UK ports and borders to determine if they are involved in hostile state activity.

We also used existing immigration powers in dozens of cases and continue to do so to harden our defences against this activity and I will not hesitate to do so in the future.

My message is clear – the UK is open to the world, but if you seek to do us harm, you are not welcome.

But we do need to go further.

Since the Salisbury attack, the Home Office has been reviewing the laws we have around hostile state activity.

I believe that there are some real gaps in our current legislation.

We have to ensure that we have the necessary powers to meet current and evolving threats to the UK, both domestically and overseas.

Getting this right and having the right powers and resources in place for countering hostile states must be a post-Brexit priority.

So, I can announce today that we are preparing the way for an Espionage Bill.

This will bring together new and modernised powers, giving our security services the legal authority they need to tackle this threat.

The areas this work will consider includes whether we follow allies in adopting a form of foreign agent registration and how we update our Official Secrets Acts for the 21st century.

I have also asked my officials to consider the case for updating treason laws.

Our definition of terrorism is probably broad enough to cover those who betray our country by supporting terror abroad.

But if updating the old offence of treason would help us to counter hostile state activity, then there is merit in considering that too.

The threats against us are many and varied.

But that is no reason to be fearful.

We are citizens of one of the safest countries in the world and a genuine intelligence and security superpower.

We have robust legislation.

We have international reach.

World-class police and intelligence services.

We take what we have, and we build on it – constantly improving our systems, our processes, and our capabilities.

It is one of the things I think makes us exceptional.

The United Kingdom has a combination of strength and unity that sets us apart from our friends and enemies alike.

Those enemies range from entire states, to lone individuals.

They seek to humiliate us.

To destroy our democracy and to undermine our values.

To sow the seeds of division.

But they all have one thing in common.

They know, deep down, that they cannot beat us.

Because from every challenge we have emerged stronger.

Determined.

Unafraid.

And, most importantly of all, united.

Thank you very much.

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 2 May 2019.

Last year, we published a public consultation on the initial findings of a review of the legislation, guidance and practice surrounding police driving in England, Wales and Scotland. As we said last May, this Government are determined to get ahead of and tackle emerging threats like motorcycle-related crimes, including those involving mopeds and scooters. People must be able to go about their daily lives without fear of harassment or attack and criminals must not think they can get away with a crime by riding or driving in a certain way or on a certain type of vehicle.

Since this work commenced, we have already seen an impact on offending behaviour through operational responses, such as ensuring that merely removing a crash helmet will not result in the police discontinuing a pursuit. The Government will continue to work closely with the police in England, Wales and Scotland, the ​College of Policing and other organisations to clarify driver training standards, including the requirements for refresher training.

I am grateful to the 383 individuals and organisations that responded to the consultation, including 222 police officers, forces and other related organisations. We will be publishing a full response later today on gov.uk. I am pleased to confirm that the overwhelming majority of responses were supportive of the proposals set out in the consultation, either in full or in principle. In addition, during and since the consultation period, we have also continued to work with the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Police Federation, the National Police Chiefs Council and others in order to refine our proposals.

The Government will seek to introduce a new test to assess the standard of driving of a police officer when parliamentary time allows. This new test will compare the standard of driving against that of a careful, competent and suitably trained police driver in the same role rather than use the existing test which compares driving against a standard qualified driver who would not normally be involved in police action.

As a result of the responses to the consultation and the related work, the Government have also decided to examine how we can best:

Make clear that police officers should not be regarded as being accountable for the driving of a suspected criminal who is attempting to avoid arrest by driving in a dangerous manner, providing the pursuit is justified and proportionate.

Review the various emergency service exemptions to traffic law to ensure they remain fit for purpose.

We have been clear from the beginning of this review that we must ensure that the outcome of these changes enables the police to do their job effectively and keep us safe while ensuring that we continue to keep our roads among the safest in the world. I believe that the action we intend to take will do just that, while giving police officers greater confidence that they will be appropriately protected by the law if they drive in accordance with their training with a view to protecting the public.

We would like to develop a uniform approach across Great Britain and will engage with the devolved Administrations in recognition of devolved interests.

Below is the text of the speech made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, on 15 April 2019.

Today, we’re standing here on the site of a disused pickle factory, next to a very attractive gasworks. In 2013 after a brief spell as a medical storage facility, new life was given to this old unloved warehouse now converted to a trendy events venue.

What we see here today is a thriving business, a cultural asset and a pillar of the local community.

A testament to the Olympic legacy of London 2012, this building speaks to the optimism of those games and the story of regeneration across East London.

We have seen the undoubted benefits of this legacy. Investment, jobs, prosperity – all necessary to changing people’s life chances.

But the story doesn’t end here. In a way, I wish it did.

Economic prosperity can create the building blocks to stronger communities but that alone is not enough.

A closer look at those streets that are surrounding us will show you that our job is not yet done.

There are still too many places where that longed for prosperity has not reached, streets like the ones surrounding us, up and down the country that are instead dangerous and sometimes deadly.

On an almost weekly basis, we wake up to the news that another person has been stabbed, that robbery is on the rise, that serious violent crime is on the up.

This is not just a concern for those communities who are directly affected by that crime. It rightly causes national alarm.

A recent YouGov poll showed that for the first time, crime was a more important issue to the public than health. Last year saw a 14% increase in homicides a 15% increase in hospital admissions for assaults involving a sharp instrument, a 17% increase in recorded robberies.

This does not make for easy reading and that is exactly why it cannot be ignored. In my job as Home Secretary it is my duty to protect the public. And at the Home Office we work tirelessly to find the right policy solutions to tackle all types of crime. But what affects me more is my job as a father.

Take knife crime. Like everyone else I see the reports on young people feeling the need to carry weapons it makes me worry about my teenage children.

Will they be hurt if they’re out in the wrong place at the wrong time on a night out? What if they get into an argument that then escalates?

I may be the Home Secretary but I’m not ashamed to confess; I have stayed up late at night waiting to hear the key turning in the door. And only then going to bed knowing that they have come home safe and sound. And like any other dad, when I watch the news and see the faces of all those young victims of knife crime I despair at the waste of those lives.

Many of those lost were of similar ages to my own children. So sometimes I cannot help but see the faces of my own children in the pictures of those victims.

I find it hard to detach the personal from the policy.

So I know that if we don’t feel safe on our own streets, If I don’t think they are safe enough for my children, or if we see our communities being torn apart by crime then something has gone terribly wrong.

Dealing with this scourge is not a simple question of turning around the statistics. The reasons for this rise in violent crime are many. Changes in illicit drugs market and the drive for profit has made criminal gangs take bigger risks and exploit even more vulnerable people. Alcohol abuse and the escalation of violence through social media are other factors that contribute to this picture.

The serious violence strategy the Government set out a year ago, has been a major focus of mine, especially trying to understand how we got to this point, and focusing on the immediate that are steps required to bring the situation under control.

The police told me that more powers, more tools and, yes, resources were needed to make a difference. That’s why I secured nearly a billion pounds more funding, including council tax, for police forces, in this year’s Police Financial Settlement.

That means more money to stamp out drug dealing for tackling serious and organised crime and for local police forces. It means that Police and Crime Commissioners are already planning to recruit 3,500 extra police officers and police staff. And that’s not all.

We are supporting the police by changing the law through the Offensive Weapons Bill, making it more difficult for young people to buy bladed weapons and corrosive substances. We know that acid is becoming a new weapon of choice for violent criminals. Now, if you are going to buy or carry acid, you’re having to have a very good reason.

We are changing the law in other ways too.I am trialling reforms that return authority to the police and give them the discretion that they need to effectively carry out stop-and-search. I know this is not universally welcome. I know that.

There is concern that in enforcing these powers, BAME communities will be affected disproportionately, but we must acknowledge that violence disproportionately impacts BAME communities too. And if stop and search rates drop too low, it does perhaps create a culture of immunity amongst those who carry knives. Stop-and-search saves lives. There are people alive today because of stop and search. I can’t say that clearly enough.

The Funding settlement and powers went a long way to supporting our forces, but senior officers told me that they needed more. More support and more funding.

They asked for £50 million to be immediately released to tackle the rise in serious violence. I doubled it. There is now £100 million extra. – £20 million from the Home Office, and £80 million in new funding from the Treasury. The forces facing the highest levels of serious violent crime will receive this additional funding for surge capacity so they can tackle knife crime in real-time, and not at half-speed.

And while all these efforts will make a big difference to our immediate efforts, the lasting solutions are not short-term. We know that crime doesn’t just appear. It has taken several years for the rise in violent crime to take hold, so we know that the answers cannot be a quick fix.

Before a young person ever picks up a knife, they have been the victim of a string of lost opportunities and missed chances. Any youth worker can tell you that gangs recruit the most vulnerable young people.That drug runners who travel over county lines coerce them into committing crimes.

These children are at risk, and we can detect early on who they are. We can do that. The kid that plays truant. The ones that get into fights. The pupils who struggle at school. And even though we can see the path to criminality, somehow, we still expect these children to make good life choices all on their own.

The sad fact is that many feel that they can’t lose the opportunities that they never had in the first place. What they and their families need is our help. It is exactly why I have launched a £200 million Youth Endowment Fund, to invest in the futures of this country’s most vulnerable youngsters. This fund helps steer them away from violence and offers them a better future.

This is not a one-off pot of money, the funding is spread over ten years, enabling long-term planning and interventions through a child’s most important years. But to address the root causes of serious violence we do need to go much further. We need to tackle adverse childhood experiences in the round, and better identify those children who are most at risk.

Children who grow up with substance abuse, with parental criminality, with perhaps domestic violence. I was lucky enough to realise the dream of every parent – to give your children a better start in life than the one you had yourself, but it could have been very different.

I grew up on what was dubbed by one tabloid as ‘the most dangerous street in Britain’. It’s not so difficult to see how instead of being Cabinet, I could have been taken in to a life of crime. There were the pupils at school that shoplifted, and asked if I wanted to help. The drug addicts who stood near the school gates and told you by joining in you could make easy money.But I was lucky. I had loving and supporting parents, who despite their own circumstances gave me security. I had some brilliant teachers who motivated me to go further than what was expected of me. I even had a girlfriend who believed in me and supported me despite my lack of prospects and went onto to become my wife. Thanks to them all I have built a better life for myself and my family. With their help, I suppose, I made it.

But I do not look back at my upbringing and see it as something in the distant past. The lessons of my childhood help shape the decisions I make every day. Shaping what I want to see for other kids who are just like me. That’s why I know the problems we face are not within the remit of any one government department. By the time a person becomes a problem for the police, it is often too late.

If we are to deliver meaningful change, and stop the violence before it begins, then the mind-set of government needs to shift. We need to instigate a sense of shared responsibility.

Take the frontline professionals, the teachers and nurses, the social and youth workers, all of them already working tirelessly to protect vulnerable young people and enhance the life chances of young people.

I have met teachers who have watched helplessly as one of their students falls under the influence of a gang. Nurses who, night after night, have seen teenagers brought into hospital with knife wounds. So I asked myself, what more can I do to help the people who work on the frontline?

That is why we have planned a public health approach to tackle violent crime. In practice, this means bringing together education, health, social services, housing, youth and social workers, to work them together coherently. It will enable those agencies to collaborate and share information. They will be able to jointly plan and target their support to help young people at risk, to prevent and stop violence altogether.

It is not about blaming those frontline staff for the violence, or asking them to do more. Far from it. It is about giving them the confidence to report their concerns, safe in the knowledge that everyone will close ranks to protect that child. A public health approach doesn’t mean passing the problem onto the NHS or a teacher. Rather, it means that serious violence is treated like the outbreak of some virulent disease. A national emergency.

Our legislation will place a legal duty on all parts of the government to work together not to apportion blame but to ensure there is no let up, until the violence itself is eradicated. We have already announced a new Serious Violence Implementation Task Force, the work of which will be driven by research and evidence starting with the review of drugs misuse led by Dame Carol Black. We already know that the drugs trade is a major catalyst of serious violence. That’s why we launched the National County Lines Coordination Centre in September. But the review will also bring home to middle-class drug users that they are part of the problem. They may never set foot in a deprived area. They may never see an act of serious violence, but their illicit habits are adding fuel to the fire that is engulfing our communities.

If we are to understand violence, we must also understand all its drivers and we in government are at the start of understanding how data can help us do that. Creating and understanding the causes and pathways to crime. Recent analysis by my own department found that the top 5% of crime ‘hotspots’ accounted for some 17% of the total volume of ‘acquisitive crime’. In plain English, crime such as burglaries and car thefts.

That is why the Home Office will be developing new proposals for a Crime Prevention Data Lab. We will be exploring how we can bring together information from the police and other agencies, to enhance our ability to make targeted and effective interventions.

And just as technology can help us prevent crimes, so too can it help criminals. Identities can be stolen online. Credit cards cloned from fake machines. Keyless entry systems tricked to gain access to your car. Criminals are smart, so businesses need to get smarter. I ask myself, if we can do this, what more can business do to help us?

Products and services must be designed to make crime harder to commit. The tech might be new, but the principle is not. In the 1980s, vehicle manufacturers and government came to the conclusion that you could design products to make it more difficult to commit a crime.

It is the reason a modern car comes with central locking, an alarm, steering locks and an immobiliser in all cars as standard. So I will be chairing a meeting with industry leaders, and asking them how they will help us in the fight against acquisitive crime.

Preventing crime can be as simple as fitting locks, alarm systems, and proper street lighting. This may seem like common sense, and in some ways it is, but it works. One trial in Nottingham saw the windows in council houses replaced with more secure versions. Their evaluation showed this intervention yielded a remarkable 42% reduction in burglary from those properties. We have applied the same ideas to moped-enabled crime including a new standard of anti-theft devices on the mopeds themselves. And working with the Metropolitan Police to target hotspot areas, and design more secure two-wheeled vehicle parking.

This work led to a decrease of over 40% of moped crime in a single year. So, we are now looking to apply this similar approach to a wider set of crimes. Just as we can design products to prevent crime, we can also design policy to shape the lives of young people to prevent criminality.

Changing the lives of young people will not be an easy task. Crime has a way of drawing in those who feel a little bit worthless. But when you belong to something greater than yourself, when you have something to lose, it’s not as easy to throw your life away.

Undoubtedly, of course there must be strong ramifications for those who commit crime- there must be. I do not shirk from my responsibility, as Home Secretary, to keep the public safe, whatever that takes.

I want us to be able to come back to this venue and know that, for these communities, something has changed. But to do that, we need to change how we see our young people.

No life is less important than another.

No future should be pre-determined by where you’re born, or how you’re brought up.

We cannot afford to leave anyone behind.

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 11 April 2019.

With permission, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the arrest of Julian Assange.

This morning, after nearly seven years inside the Ecuadorean embassy, Mr Assange was arrested for failing to surrender in relation to his extradition proceedings. He was later also served with a warrant for provisional arrest, pending receipt of a request for extradition to stand trial in the United States on charges relating to computer offences. His arrest follows a decision by the Ecuadorean Government to bring to an end his presence inside its embassy in London. I am pleased that President Moreno has taken this decision and I extend the UK’s thanks to him for resolving the situation. Ecuador’s actions recognise that the UK’s criminal justice system is one in which rights are protected and in which, contrary to what Mr. Assange and his supporters may claim, he and his legitimate interests will be protected. This also reflects the improvements to the UK’s relationship with Ecuador under the Government of President Moreno. These are a credit to the leadership of the Minister for Europe and the Americas, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan), and to the ongoing hard work of Foreign Office officials in London and Quito.

Mr Assange was informed of the decision to bring his presence in the embassy to an end by the Ecuadorean ambassador this morning shortly before 10 am. The Metropolitan police entered the embassy for the purpose of arresting and removing him. All the police’s activities were carried out pursuant to a formal written invitation signed by the Ecuadorean ambassador and in accordance with the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Metropolitan police for the professionalism they have shown in their management of the immediate situation, and during the past seven years.

Both the UK Government and the Ecuadorean Government have become increasingly concerned about the state of Mr Assange’s health. The first action of the police following his arrest was to have him medically assessed and deemed fit to detain. The Ecuadoreans have made their best efforts to ensure that doctors, chosen by him, have had access inside the embassy. While he remains in custody in the UK, we are now in a position to ensure access to all necessary medical care and facilities.

Proceedings will now begin according to the courts’ timetable. Under UK law, following a provisional arrest, the full extradition papers must be received by the judge within 65 days. A full extradition request would have to be certified by the Home Office before being submitted to the court, after which extradition proceedings would begin. At that point, the decision as to whether any statutory bars to extradition apply would be for the UK’s courts to determine.

I will go no further in discussing the details of the accusations against Mr. Assange either in the UK’s criminal justice system or in the US, but I am pleased that the situation in the Ecuadorean embassy has finally been brought to an end. Mr Assange will now have the opportunity to contest the charge against him in open court and to have any extradition request considered by ​the judiciary. It is right that we implement the judicial process fairly and consistently, with due respect for equality before the law. I commend this statement to the House.

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 8 April 2019.

The Government are deeply concerned about the recent rise in serious violence, particularly knife crime, which is robbing too many children and young people of their futures. This is a challenge that affects all of society, and agencies must come together in a co-ordinated, wide-reaching and long-term effort.

In order to ensure the strongest possible response, the Prime Minister hosted a serious youth violence summit at 10 Downing Street, with the support of the Home Secretary, from 1 to 4 April. The central aim of the summit was to ensure a shared understanding and commitment to a multiagency, “public health” approach to tackling knife crime and serious violence more generally.

This approach involves partners across different sectors—such as education, health, social services, offender management services, housing, youth and victim services, working closely with community and faith leaders, and the voluntary and charitable sectors—taking joint action ​to address the underlying risk factors that increase the likelihood that an individual will become a victim or a perpetrator of violence.

The Prime Minister opened the summit by chairing a roundtable meeting with a range of experts, representatives and practitioners from key sectors, community leaders, young people, and cross-party politicians. Alongside the Prime Minister, both I and other senior Ministers discussed with these experts what more can be done to tackle recent rises in serious violence. This was followed by a series of themed sessions chaired by Secretaries of State and Ministers during the week, aimed at harnessing expert knowledge and creating the conditions to boost joint working across sectors and organisations. I will place a full list of the attendees—of whom there were well over 100 over the course of the week—in the Libraries of both Houses.

The full programme of thematic sessions, which took place over the course of the summit, included:

Best practice in law enforcement, chaired by the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service;

The role of education, chaired by the Secretary of State for Education;

Investing in communities, chaired by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government;

Positive activities for young people, chaired by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport;

Creating opportunities for young people, chaired by the Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability;

The role of the health sector, chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care;

Effectiveness of the criminal justice system, chaired by the Secretary of State for Justice.

The following coincided with this summit:

I announced that Impetus, in partnership with the Early Intervention Foundation and Social Investment Business, will run the new youth endowment fund, which will support interventions with children and young people at risk of involvement in crime and violence, based on £200 million of new Government funding.

The Government announced £100 million additional funding in 2019-20 to tackle serious violence, including £80 million of new funding from the Treasury. This will allow police to swiftly crackdown on knife crime on the areas of the country most affected by knife crime and will also allow for investment in violence reduction units.

That I will be making it simpler for the police in the seven forces particularly affected by violent crime, to use section 60 (area-wide) stop and search powers where they reasonably believe that an incident involving serious violence may occur. This pilot will be for up to a year, with a review after six months—after which we will make decisions on next steps. The College of Policing will also work alongside forces to create new guidelines on how best the police can engage with communities on the use of stop and search.

I launched a public consultation on a new legal duty to ensure that public bodies work together to protect young people at risk of becoming involved in knife crime. This would underpin the multiagency approach already being driven by the serious violence strategy, which stresses the importance of early intervention to tackle the root causes of violent crime. Similar approaches have been used in Scotland and Wales, and are designed to ensure that every part of the system is supporting young people with targeted interventions before they commit violence or are groomed by gangs.

These announcements build on the significant progress we have made in delivering the commitments set out in the serious violence strategy published in April 2018. ​These include: the early intervention youth fund of £22 million, through which the Home Office is already supporting 29 projects in England and Wales; the new national county lines co-ordination centre; an antiknife crime community fund which provided £1.5 million in 2018-19 to support 68 local projects to tackle knife crime; and a national knife crime media campaign—#knifefree—to raise young people’s awareness of the consequences of knife crime; and the establishment of the serious violence taskforce, which I chair and which is attended by Members of Parliament, Ministers, senior police officers, representatives of agencies in the public and voluntary sectors and others, to drive action across a number of fronts.

The summit has reinforced my view, shared across Government, that there is not one single solution to rising levels of serious violence, and that co-ordinated action is needed across a number of fronts. Attendees agreed on the need to understand the causes and consequences of serious violence, focused on prevention and early intervention, and informed by evidence and rigorous evaluation of interventions. To do this, we must bring together information, data and intelligence and encourage organisations and individuals to work in concert rather than in isolation, focusing on those identified as being most vulnerable to involvement in serious violent crime. Attendees identified many examples of good practice taking place in local areas and communities, and there was consensus on the importance of a shared approach to preventing and tackling serious violence.

In particular, the summit has already enabled the following outcomes:

The creation of a new ministerial taskforce, chaired by the Prime Minister, to drive cross-Government action. This will be supported by a new, dedicated, serious violence team in the Cabinet Office to support cross-departmental co-ordination.

There is commitment to better data collection and sharing of appropriate data between the healthcare sector and other key organisations in order to protect children, and to make it easier for health professionals to play an enhanced role in reducing violence. This will be accompanied by the rollout of mental health support teams based in and around schools and education settings, to help vulnerable children within their community, some of which will be in areas most affected by knife crime. The teams will be available to support children directly or indirectly affected by knife crime as part of the school or college response.

There is an expansion of the partnership with the Premier League to increase one of its flagship community programmes, Premier League Kicks, which uses football to inspire young people to develop their potential and build stronger, safer communities. Sport England, which invests more than £10 million in projects that use sport to support crime reduction, has also pledged to increase investment in sport and physical activity for children in hot spot areas.

There is an extension of the support provided by the National Homicide Service to witnesses, as part of a raft of new measures, which will focus on supporting victims and witnesses of violent crime and directing youth offenders away from further violence. These include: extending emotional, practical, trauma and counselling support beyond victims to now include those who witness murder or manslaughter in London; specialist training for staff at youth offender institutions to spot signs of past abuse, exploitation or serious violence experienced by the youths in custody and help direct them to support services; and reviewing the victims’ code, which sets out what services victims are entitled to receive, to make it clearer what support witnesses of serious violent crime can access.​

These deliverables represent the first step of an increased programme of work across Government—and beyond—to tackle serious youth violence. Once the ministerial taskforce has been established, it will agree a plan of action and then oversee its implementation going forward. We will continue to keep Parliament updated. The summit demonstrates the commitment from the Prime Minister, myself and Ministers across Government, setting a clear direction and galvanising action to tackle serious violence. Working together, this new approach will ensure we meet the scourge of youth violence head on, so that more families are spared the unimaginable suffering that has already been endured by so many.

Below is the text of the statement made by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 3 April 2019.

I have today announced the details of the Windrush compensation scheme. The Government deeply regret what has happened to some members of the Windrush generation and when I became Home Secretary I made clear that responding to this was a priority. The compensation scheme being launched today is a key part of righting the wrongs experienced by some members of the Windrush generation, under successive Governments.

A public consultation opened on 19 July 2018 seeking views on proposals for a Windrush compensation scheme. Since the consultation closed on 16 November, careful consideration has been given to the 1,435 responses that were received from people and organisations, as well as the feedback from the focus groups. These views have been considered in addition to the 650 responses to the call for evidence which preceded the consultation. Martin Forde QC, who was appointed to give independent advice on the compensation scheme, has attended events across the country to hear the stories of those affected, and his findings have contributed to the final design. I would like to extend particular thanks to Martin: I have met him to discuss his views on the scheme and his advice has been invaluable.

The Government have listened carefully and I believe the proposals are in line with what the majority of respondents wanted to see in the scheme. I am pleased that Martin has concluded the scheme is accessible and ​fairly compensates those who have suffered. The scheme will ensure that those who have been affected are able to claim for the losses they faced and receive appropriate compensation. It is important that the scheme works well for those who have suffered a loss, so we are making it accessible and fair, with guidance available to help people understand what compensation they might be entitled to and how they submit a claim.

Detailed information about the compensation scheme, with the forms and guidance that people need to make a claim, are available from today online at: www.gov.uk/windrush-compensation. Our free phone helpline is also open now 0800 678 1925 for those wishing to receive printed copies of the claim form or for any other queries. Copies of the response to the consultation (CP 81) are available from the Vote Office and will also be online at: www.gov.uk.

The Home Office is committed to raising awareness of the scheme, and to encouraging eligible people of all nationalities to submit a claim. Eligibility for compensation goes beyond members of the Caribbean Commonwealth, and we are putting in place a programme of events with key stakeholders, faith and community organisations to communicate the detail of the scheme and give everyone who is potentially eligible, the opportunity to hear about the scheme and to apply.

I would again like to thank all those who responded to the consultation and who took part in the wider engagement during the development of the scheme. The views and experiences that have been shared have proved crucial in shaping the Government’s policy, ensuring it addresses the matters raised by those affected.