Tag: Yvette Cooper

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, in London on 26 March 2025.

Thank you, Sir Lloyd for those kind words, good evening everyone.

And let me start by thanking everyone involved in CST for the remarkable, tireless and crucial work you have done not just this year, but day-in, day-out for the past 3 decades to keep our Jewish communities safe and secure. The work CST does makes the difference every single day between confidence and fear, between safety and danger, between life and death, and we owe you all a huge debt of thanks.

For the research and analysis they undertake to expose the scourge of antisemitism. The critical security they provide for hundreds of Jewish communal buildings and events every year. The fact that every week, thousands of British Jews go to school, or to synagogue, more confident in the knowledge that CST are providing protection and support.

And I particularly want to thank all the volunteers keeping us safe here tonight.

It is a real honour for me to be here as Home Secretary and I want to talk tonight about why CST plays such a remarkable and important role not just in the security of Jewish families and communities across Britain, but also in the security of our entire nation. And why defending our national security – the first and foremost task of any government – means defending the security and safety of Britain’s Jews.

But there is no way to pay tribute to this extraordinary organisation, without first paying tribute to its extraordinary founder and chairman, Sir Gerald Ronson. Gerald you have been the most formidable champion for CST and for the wider Jewish community, but also whose philanthropic work on causes from protecting children to older care has had such a profoundly positive impact on society.

Since I came to Parliament in 1997, I have watched Gerald build CST into the pioneering and world-leading organisation that it is today. So Gerald thank you for being such an astonishing advocate – because without your determination and dedication, CST would not be what it is today.

And on a personal note, Gerald and Gail, let me thank you for being such good friends to Ed and I over these last 25 years.

Ed and I have come many times to CST dinners through the years in different roles. I think the first time we came was before 2010 government ministers, as shadow ministers. More recently for me as Home Affairs Select Committee Chair and for Ed as co-chair of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation. But we come not because of our jobs but because of what tonight is about – strongly supporting Britain’s Jewish communities and strongly supporting the remarkable work of CST.

Many of you have asked where Ed is tonight. He does send his apologies tonight – and this is a sentence I never thought I would hear myself say, certainly not 10 years ago – he is in Hong Kong with George Osborne recording a special edition of their podcast. Such is the life of the former politician turned dancer turned glamorous media star.

Although I did have a moment at a recent reception like this, when I introduced myself to a table of guests and started talking about my husband co-chairing the work on the memorial. Only for one of the older guests to nod wisely and tell her friends: “I knew I recognised her from somewhere – she’s married to Eric Pickles!”.

But I do want to commend the work that the Holocaust Memorial Foundation is doing – chaired by Ed and Eric and backed by so many of you – to ensure that the Memorial and Learning Centre are built according to plan, next to the Palace of Westminster and the seat of our democracy, to ensure that future generations of young people in our country will learn about the evil of antisemitism and the horror of where it leads.

This government will continue the work of our predecessors ensuring that the Holocaust Memorial is built for future generations. Just as we will continue our steadfast support for the CST and for the security of Jewish communities across the UK.

And just as the Prime Minister was unrelenting in his mission to root out the stain of antisemitism from the Labour Party after that truly shameful period in our party’s history. Now in government, we will be equally unrelenting in our crackdown on those who spread the poison of antisemitism on our streets or online.

We may have disagreed with the previous government on many things. And we may have inherited difficult decisions on the economy and spending. But when it comes to our support for CST and keeping our communities safe, there will be absolute continuity and certainty.

I have spoken to 2 of my predecessors here tonight, Grant Schapps and James Cleverly here tonight and we have committed to maintaining the multi-year funding for CST that Rishi Sunak announced here last year. And why we will always seek to build the broadest cross-party consensus on public protection, so that no matter who has the keys to number 10 Downing Street, our Jewish communities know that the government is on their side.

And I know that for the community this has been another extremely difficult year. In the short months I have been in the Home Office, I and other ministers in my department have met with many of you – just as we did many times when we were on the opposition benches.

With the CST, the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, the Union of Jewish Students and many more. We’ve talked about the 3,500 incidents of anti-Jewish hate that were recorded by CST last year.

The second highest total ever reported in a single calendar year. Threats to kill sent to synagogues. Individuals spat on or assaulted in the street. Graffiti daubed on religious sites. Antisemitic bullying in schools.

And we’ve talked not just about the disgraceful crimes and the action needed, but about the real impact they have – for you and your families.

I have heard some of your personal experiences of what recent years have felt like. Holding your child’s hand that bit more tightly on the way to school, the extra worry about your teenagers away at university. And the sickening jolt in the stomach from the antisemitic hatred posted online, waved on placards, worn on t-shirts, or shouted openly in the streets.

It is those painful, personal experiences that lie behind the figures.

And make no mistake – these horrific incidents are a stain on our society that simply will not be tolerated. Not now and not ever. Because there is no place for antisemitism in Britain.

We all know that fear has grown since the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. And the past 16 months have seen intense anguish. The living nightmare of hostages and their families. The appalling devastation and destruction we have seen in Gaza.

The ceasefire deal agreed in January provided a glimmer of hope. I know the joy every one of us in this room will have felt seeing Emily Damari reunited with her mother Mandy, and the relief of so many hostage families, as well as the desperately needed aid flowed back into Gaza.

But the breakdown of the ceasefire and resumption of airstrikes has devastating consequences – both for the remaining hostage families and for innocent civilians in Gaza, as this cycle of suffering continues.

That’s why the Foreign Secretary has been clear that all parties must re-engage with negotiations, because diplomacy, not more bloodshed, is how we will achieve security for Israelis and for Palestinians. And that’s why the UK government will continue to strive for a return to a path of peace and the goal of a two-state solution.

But as Home Secretary, I am clear that we must never allow conflict happening elsewhere to lead to greater tension or hatred here on our streets, and we will never allow antisemites to use this or any conflict as an opportunity or as an excuse to spread poisonous hatred against our Jewish community here at home.

But let me be clear what zero tolerance means, because I know how wary you are of warm words that mean nothing in practice. Zero tolerance means that we cannot and will not accept people being abused, attacked or threatened because of who they are or what they believe.

It means where antisemitic hate crimes are committed – whether in a local community, on a national protest or on the internet – we will back the police in the action they need to take. Arrests, charges and convictions. Whenever and wherever it takes place. But zero-tolerance also means ensuring that Jewish people in this country can take part in communal life free from intimidation and fear.

Just as all communities are entitled to that right, but particularly when they attend their place of worship. Whether it’s going to synagogue for a Shabbat service; for a bar or bat mitzvah; for a wedding; to celebrate a festival or for any other community event. We know how sacred and special those moments are in the week, in the month and in the year for the family.

And there is no shying away from the fact that over the last 18 months – for congregants of Central Synagogue, Western Marble Arch and Westminster – those sacred and special moments have been hugely disrupted by protest activity.

On too many occasions, Shabbat services have been cancelled and people have stayed at home – worried to travel and attend shul as they normally would. We always say, and I say it again, so nobody is in any doubt. Protest and freedom of expression are cornerstones of our democracy, and of course that must always be protected.

People have made use of that right to peaceful protest through generations, and they will do so for many more to come. But the right to protest is not the right to intimidate.

And the right to protest must always be balanced against the freedom for everybody else to go about their daily lives. The police already have powers to place conditions on protests. And just as we supported officers last summer taking every possible action to defend mosques from appalling attacks violent disorder on Britain’s streets.

I have strongly supported action taken by the Metropolitan Police in recent weeks and months to divert protest routes away from synagogues on Saturday mornings. But I know how hard the community has had to fight for those conditions – each and every time. And I have listened to your calls for change.

So tonight I can announce that we will legislate in the Crime and Policing Bill currently going through Parliament to strengthen the law. And to give the police an explicit new power to prevent intimidating protests outside places of worship. To give the police total clarity – that where a protest has an intimidating effect, such that it prevents people from accessing or attending their place of worship – the full range of public order conditions will be available for the police to use.

Because the right to protest must not undermine a person’s right to worship. And everybody has a right to live in freedom from fear.

We will also never stand for the desecration of memorials and gravestones, or the vandalism and graffiti inflicted on synagogues, schools, shops and community centres. These are not minor acts of criminal damage, they are hateful acts of antisemitism and they will continue to be punished as such.

And we will make a further amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.

We have carried over from the previous government an important new proposal to make it a criminal offence to climb the most significant memorials in our country, such as the Cenotaph, with a maximum penalty of 3 months’ imprisonment and a £1,000 fine. So I can tell you tonight that I plan to extend the proposed list of protected memorials to include the new Holocaust Memorial in Westminster, to demonstrate our commitment to ensure it is valued as a place of reflection and respect.

And I don’t need to tell this audience why that matters so much. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

And I had the enormous privilege of attending the special service at the Guildhall on Holocaust Memorial Day, to hear first-hand from those who witnessed those unimaginable horrors and still tell their stories.

When you hear the testimony of survivors – they so often start with a description of a happy childhood. Going to the park, enjoying school, playing with friends. The joy of being children – free from worry and from fear.

And they describe how quickly things changed. How almost overnight – peace became war; communities became ghettos; life became death.

There are only a couple of generations separating those brave survivors from our children today. So when students feel compelled to remove their kippahs or their star of David necklaces, when organisations like CST say their workload has doubled, I understand why – for this community – freedom feels so fragile and safety does not feel guaranteed.

But that is why understanding the history of antisemitism and where it can lead is so important. Not just for us to talk about tonight, but right across government and public services, and right across society.

And certainly, for us in the Home Office where our core responsibility is to keep the country and communities safe.

So I have agreed with the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, that we will roll out antisemitism awareness training across the Home Office, and when Home Office staff seek to visit Auschwitz or other concentration camps with the Holocaust Educational Trust, March of the Living, and other organisations, that will not count towards their annual leave, because we will treat that experience as a crucial part and asset for their employment.

I want to thank the Holocaust Educational Trust, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the Anne Frank Trust and other brilliant organisations for the work they do to educate new generations about the horrors of the past, just as we thank the CST for its work to challenge antisemitism and keep our communities safe today.

But there must be no doubt. CST’s work and the work of the police and the government is not just about public safety, it is about our national security.

Because in the last few years we have seen the threats to UK national security change and become more complex.

Not just here, but across the world, we face a series of rapidly evolving and overlapping threats, from terrorism to malign state actors.

Just as we are updating our counter terrorism response to deal with the greatest threat from Islamist extremism, followed by far right extremism, including reforming Prevent and our counter terror laws.

And we are also upgrading our response to state threats here on our shores. As our Security Minister, Dan Jarvis set out in the House of Commons earlier this month, it is no secret that there is a long-standing pattern of the Iranian intelligence services targeting Jewish and Israeli people across the world.

And we are not prepared to stand for the increasingly brazen Iranian activity on British shores in recent years, with our security services thwarting an increasing number of direct plots.

This month we have announced that the whole of the Iranian State – including Iran’s intelligence services, like the IRGC – will be placed on to the enhanced tier of our new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. This is a critical disruptive tool that will mean those who are being directed by Iran to conduct activities in the UK must register that activity, whatever it is, or face 5 years in prison.

And we will not hesitate to go further when we need to – to protect our communities and protect our communities and democracy from the malign influence of the Iranian state.

And this government will continue to work in lockstep with the police, the security services, our partners overseas, we work too with partners in this country. And I speak on behalf of both the government and law enforcement when I say how important a partner CST is in that work.

Be it the response to different extremist ideologies or the interaction with state threats, CST’s work identifies how antisemitism is the poison that pollutes so many of our wider national security challenges.

And no one should be in any doubt about the unparalleled professionalism and extraordinary expertise with which Mark Gardner and all the teams and volunteers carry it out. The information and intelligence-sharing with police forces and government, which has contributed to the arrests and convictions of the removal of so many individuals intent on causing harm.

And the SAFE programme, through which CST shares expertise with other minority groups who want to keep their communities safe and secure – building the bonds and bridges across different faiths that help to keep our society as a whole cohesive and strong.

Through all of this work, CST play a pivotal role not just in securing the safety of the Jewish community but our country as a whole.

And for that, again, to Sir Gerald, to Mark, to Sir Lloyd and everyone at CST, I want to say a heartfelt and enduring thank you. In a few short weeks, I know many people here will be gathering with family and friends to mark Passover. Gathering around the Seder (say-der) table to recount the story of the Jews’ liberation from Egypt.

A story of hardship, of resilience and ultimately one of freedom. These are undoubtedly difficult and unstable times, we keep sight of the light in the darkness. And the light of the Jewish community continues to shine so brightly in our country.

Just look at the thousands of volunteers who work with CST every day.

The synagogues who, throughout the winter, have hosted homeless shelters or drop-in centres for refugees.

The life-saving humanitarian work of World Jewish Relief in Ukraine and across the world.  The brilliance of Mitzvah Day, inspiring thousands of people to contribute to their communities. The fantastic and essential work of Jewish Women’s Aid, who support survivors of domestic abuse.

And all of the other countless ways that our Jewish communities enrich and enhance communal life here in Britain.

As Home Secretary, I know that security and safety are the bedrock on which all of these other opportunities in our lives are built.

A Jewish community that feels secure means a Jewish community that can flourish. And a successful, vibrant, confident Jewish community means a better future for Britain.

Thank you very much.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, on 24 September 2024.

Pooja, thank you. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your courage.

It is just two years since Ronan was killed, but Pooja has not stopped fighting for him since.

Fighting for Ronan. Fighting for other children, for other mums and dads.

Because no parent should have to go through this unimaginable pain.

So Pooja, we salute you, we support you, and now we are in government we will back you in your fight to save young lives.

Ronan’s teenage killers ordered the ninja sword online.

No checks. No questions asked.

Lethal weapons put straight in the hands of children.

So this Labour Government will bring in new laws to crackdown on dangerous online sales and the gangs who draw children in, alongside new youth hubs to steer young people away from violence – a teenage Sure Start to build hope in the future.

And we will make it a mission for our whole country to halve knife crime in a decade.

And yes, this Labour Government will pass Ronan’s law – a ban on ninja swords.

This Labour Government will.

It’s fifteen years since I’ve been able to say those words at a Labour Party conference.

All those years we said things but couldn’t do them.

So don’t let anyone tell you politics doesn’t matter.

Because six months ago, our party tried to ban ninja swords, but we didn’t have enough MPs to win that vote.

Because of the election – because of the change you campaigned for – now we do.

Ten years ago, I called for buffer zones around abortion clinics, but we weren’t in government. We couldn’t make it happen. Now we can and yes we have.

Because no woman should be harassed on the way to a healthcare appointment that is her legal right.

It can be hard to trust in change when things have felt so tough for so long.

And a year ago at this conference, I warned about the depth of the damage the Tories had done in 14 years.

How they’d taken a wrecking ball to the criminal justice system so criminals laugh at the law.

How they left communities to fracture so criminals and extremists step in.

Conference, eight weeks ago, when the unbearable news broke about a horrendous attack in Southport on little children at a summer dance club, from all across the country our hearts went out to the loved ones of little Alice, Bebe and Elsie. And that’s where all of our thoughts should have stayed.

The following day I met the police officers, paramedics and firefighters who were first on the scene that day, and whose bravery in the face of such trauma saved many young lives.

But within hours the same Southport police were under attack, facing missiles, bottles, and bricks.

The most shocking, violent insult to a grieving community and the police officers protecting them.

A total, total disgrace.

In copycat violence over the following days, stirred up from a safe distance by the grifters and the agitators online, we saw looting of shops, attacks on mosques, a Citizens Advice bureau torched, an asylum hotel set alight, and people targeted on the streets of Britain because of the colour of their skin.

And here in Liverpool, on County Road, the burning of Spellow Library.

A place where children go to read left in ashes.

And I spoke to some of those children who live around the library in Walton.

One told me how scared she was that night, how her mum switched off all the lights in the house, and told her to stay quiet and sit on the stairs as bins were set alight along her street.

Don’t anyone tell me that was protest.

Don’t tell me that was about immigration, or policing, or poverty.

Plenty of people have strong views on immigration, on crime, on the NHS and more, but they don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police.

They don’t set light to buildings with people inside.

It was arson.

It was racism.

It was thuggery.

It was crime.

And, you know, it happened because criminals thought they would get away with it.

They saw the cracks in the system, the impunity that built up through the Tory years.

And when they decided to run riot those early August days, they thought no one would stop them.

They were wrong.

With Keir Starmer’s leadership, this Labour Government made clear that we would back our police, not blame them.

We would stand up for our courts, not undermine them.

We would pull our communities together, not divide them.

We stood up for the rule of law, decent people stood up for their communities, and, together, we put the disorder down.

But I’ll be honest I’ve been shocked by the response from some of those in political parties on the right who once claimed to care about law and order.

After rioters attacked the police, they should have given full-throated backing to our brave officers.

Instead, too often we’ve seen them undermine the integrity and authority of the police, even making excuses for the mob.

If you remember, back in the run up to Armistice Day last year, disgraceful slurs made against the police which made it harder for them to do their job were treated as a sacking offence for a Tory Home Secretary.

A year on, those same slurs have become an article of faith for every Tory leadership contender.

It is shameful what that party has become.

The Tories, with their mates in Reform, are just becoming right wing wreckers.

Undermining respect for the law, trying to fracture the very bonds that keep communities safe.

They have nothing to offer but fear, division and anger.

But that’s not who we are.

That’s not what Britain is about.

Our country has always championed respect and the rule of law.

That’s what this Labour Party will always stand up for – the party of law and order, now a Government of law and order once more.

And nor will we let disorder and violence silence a serious debate on immigration.

Something that has been missing for too long amidst the chaos, the gimmicks and the damaging, ramped up rhetoric.

A serious government sees that net migration has trebled because overseas recruitment has soared while training has been cut right back, and says net migration must come down as we properly train young people here in the UK.

A serious government sees an asylum system in chaos and say we have to clear the backlog and end asylum hotels.

And a serious government looks at the criminal gangs who are profitting from undermining our border security while women and children are crushed to death in crowded, flimsy small boats and says they’ve got away with it for too long – we will not stand for this vile trade in human lives.

A serious government knows that immigration is important, and that is why it needs to be properly managed and controlled so the system is fair – so rules are properly respected and enforced but we never again see a shameful repeat of the Windrush scandal that let British citizens down.

So in three months, we’ve set up the Border Security Command, launched new investment in covert operations, high tech investigations to go after the gangs, with proper enforcement and returns.

And instead of spending £700 million and employing 1000 people to send four volunteers to Rwanda, we are boosting our border security instead.

Because the best way to do that is to work with countries on the other side of our borders, not to just stand on the shoreline shouting at the sea.

So from our border security to our national security – combatting changing terror, state and cyber threats  – to the security and safety of our local streets, we know that security is the bedrock on which communities can come together, and on which all the opportunities Labour has always fought for are built.

You don’t get social justice if you don’t have justice.

And respect is the very foundation of our democracy.

And those Labour values are at the heart of all we do.

And they are at the heart of our mission for safer streets.

Where across the country where for too long rising town centre and street crime have been driving people away from our high streets, corroding the fabric of our communities.

So this Labour Government will bring in new powers on antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road bikes and we will put neighbourhood police back in our communities and back on the beat.

And yes, after years of Co-op and USDAW campaigning, this Labour Government will introduce a new law on assaults on shopworkers, because everyone has the right to work in freedom from fear.

And you know Conference, it is long overdue.

At long last this government will treat violence against women and girls as the national emergency it really is.

When Raneem Oudeh called the police four times the night she was killed, no one came.

So in Raneem’s name, this Labour Government will put domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.

Overhaul protection orders and go after dangerous perpetrators who put lives at risk.

New laws on spiking and online image abuse.

A radical, ambitious Labour mission – for the whole of Government, for the whole country – to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

Because we cannot, and we will not, let the next generation of women and girls face the same violence as the last. Our daughters deserve better than this.

And why do we do all this?

For the same reason that communities came together here in Liverpool and across the country to clear up the damage that rioters had done.

To rebuild the broken mosque wall in Southport.

To find a new Citizens Advice centre in Sunderland.

To clean up the streets.

Because the simple belief that we all share is this: our streets do not belong to the gangs, yobs, and thieves. Our streets do not belong to the racists, extremists and thugs. And our streets will never belong to the stalkers, abusers or rapists.

These streets belong to us all. And it is time to take them back.

So Conference, of course the work is hard.

As a poet once said, ‘our sleeves will grow ragged from rolling them up’.

But if you need hope that together we can deliver, just look down the road again at Spellow Library.

After the fire, a young Mum from Netherton, here with us this morning, Alex McCormick, started a fundraiser.

Donations have poured in from all over the world, thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of pounds.

And already the Labour Council, Mayor and community are restoring and rebuilding Spellow Library, better than ever before.

So when Alex said: “Let’s show the world what community in Liverpool really means”.

She did her city proud, and she did our country proud.

Up from the ashes, a symbol of hope.

A model of what our country can do.

So leave the politics of fear, division and decline to others.

The politics of hope is ours.

The future belongs to us all.

Let change begin.

Thank you Conference.

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 22 July 2024.

May I thank you, Mr Speaker, for standing up for the Opposition Front Benchers, as I know you have often done for me in the past? I apologise to the shadow Home Secretary for the delay in the arrival of the statement.

Most people in the United Kingdom want to see strong border security, with a properly controlled and managed asylum system where our country does its bit, alongside others, to help those who have fled persecution, but where rules are properly respected and enforced so that those with no right to be here are swiftly removed. At the moment, we have none of those things. Border security is being undermined by criminal smuggler gangs, and the asylum system is in chaos. Tragically, 19 lives have been lost in the channel so far this year, including children. No one should be making these perilous small boat journeys.

Criminal gangs have been allowed to take hold along our border, and they are making huge profit from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. They should not be able to get away with it. Crossings in the first half of 2024 are up by 10% on last year—the number is going up, instead of coming down. At the same time, the asylum backlog is getting worse, as decision making in the Home Office has dropped. Home Office spending on asylum support has increased sevenfold in the space of just three years. This cannot go on. Since my appointment two weeks ago, I have reviewed the policies, programmes and legislation that we have inherited from our predecessors, and I have been shocked by what I have found. Not only are there already serious problems; on current policies, the chaos and costs are likely to get worse.

On our border security, it is clear that the security and enforcement arrangements we have inherited are too weak. Criminal gang networks are operating with impunity along our border, across the continent and beyond, and across the UK too. Action between Britain and France in the channel has improved, and is preventing some boat crossings. The work of the small boats operational command in the channel is important and will continue, but we need to go much further. We should be taking far more action upstream, long before the boats ever reach the French coast. Co-operation with Europol and other European police forces and prosecutors is far too limited, and enforcement against exploitation and trafficking in the UK is far too weak. Information sharing with our European neighbours has reduced, rather than increased. As a result of these weak arrangements, I am extremely concerned that the high levels of dangerous crossings that we have inherited are likely to persist throughout the summer.

Let me turn to the Rwanda migration and economic development partnership. Two and a half years after the previous Government launched it, I can report that it has already cost the British taxpayer £700 million—in order to send just four volunteers. That includes £290 million on payments to Rwanda and the costs of chartering flights that never took off, detaining hundreds of people and then releasing them, and paying for more than 1,000 civil servants to work on the scheme—for a scheme to send four people. It is the most shocking waste of taxpayers’ money I have ever seen.

Looking forward, the costs are set to get worse. Even if the scheme had ever got going, it is clear that it would have covered only a minority of arrivals, yet a substantial portion of future costs were fixed costs—for example, the annual direct payments to Rwanda, the contracts for escorts, the staffing in the Home Office, the detention and reception centres, and more. The taxpayer would have still had to pay out, no matter how few people were relocated. Most shockingly of all, over the six years of the migration and economic development partnership forecast, the previous Government had planned to spend over £10 billion of taxpayers’ money on the scheme. They did not tell Parliament that. I thank the Rwandan Government for working with the UK in good faith, because the failure of this policy lies with the previous UK Government. It has been a costly con, and the taxpayer has had to pay the price.

I turn to the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which has been in place for a year. We were told that it would stop the boats, but it has clearly failed. The legal contradictions in the Act are so great that they make it unworkable; indeed, 12 months on, the central duty has not even been enacted. It is also costing the taxpayer billions of pounds. Under section 9 of the Act, people who arrive in the UK can claim asylum and get asylum accommodation. However, under section 30, if they arrived after March 2023 and meet key conditions in the Act, no decision can be taken on their case; they just stay in the asylum system. Even if they have come here unlawfully for economic reasons and should be returned to their home country, they will not be, because the law does not work. Only a small minority might ever have been sent to Rwanda; everyone else stays indefinitely in taxpayer-funded accommodation and support.

The Home Office estimates that around 40% of asylum cases since March 2023 should be covered by those Illegal Migration Act conditions. The remaining 60%, under the previous Government’s policy, should still have been processed and cleared in the normal way. However, even though previous Ministers introduced this new law 12 months ago, they did not ever introduce an effective operational way for the Home Office to distinguish between the cases covered by the Illegal Migration Act and the other cases where decisions should continue—that is, between the 40% and the 60%. As a result, decisions cannot be taken on any of them.

I have been shocked to discover that the Home Office has effectively stopped making the majority of asylum decisions. Thousands of asylum caseworkers cannot do their proper job. As a result, the backlog of asylum cases is now going up. This is the most extraordinary policy I have ever seen. We have inherited asylum “Hotel California”—people arrive in the asylum system and they never leave. The previous Government’s policy was effectively an amnesty, and that is the wrong thing to do. It is not just bad policy, it is also completely unaffordable. The cost of this indefinitely rising asylum backlog in hotel and accommodation support bills is astronomical. The potential costs of asylum support over the next four years if we continue down this track could be an eye-watering £30 billion to £40 billion. That is double the annual police budget for England and Wales.

This newly elected Government are not prepared to let this chaos continue, so let me turn to the action we are urgently taking to restore some grip to the system, to tackle the chaos and to get costs down. First, I have informed the Rwandan Government that we will be ending the migration and economic development partnership. We will save £220 million on further direct payments to Rwanda over the next few years and we will immediately save up to £750 million that had been put aside by the previous Government to cover the MEDP this year.

Secondly, we will invest some of the saved money from the migration partnership into a new border security command instead. It will bring together the work of the Border Force, the National Crime Agency, the small boats operational command and intelligence and security officers. The recruitment has begun for a new commander and we will put in place additional cross-border officers, investigators, prosecutors, and intelligence and security officers with the new counter-terror-style powers against organised immigration crime announced in the King’s Speech last week. We are immediately increasing UK officers’ involvement in Europol and the European Migrant Smuggling Centre.

Thirdly, we will replace the Rwanda migration partnership with a serious returns and enforcement programme. We have immediately replaced the flight planning for Rwanda with actual flights to return people who have no right to stay to their home countries instead. We are immediately redeploying Home Office staff away from the failed Rwanda partnership and into returns and enforcement, to reverse the collapse in removals that has taken place since 2010. I have tasked the immigration enforcement team with intensifying enforcement activity this summer, targeting illegal working across high-risk sectors.

Fourthly, we will end the asylum chaos and start taking asylum decisions again so that we can clear the backlog and end asylum hotels. The new border security, asylum and immigration Bill announced in the King’s Speech will bring in new replacement arrangements, including fast-track decisions and returns to safe countries. In the meantime, I am laying a statutory instrument that ends the retrospective nature of the Illegal Migration Act provisions, so that the Home Office can immediately start clearing cases from after March 2023. Making this one simple change will save the taxpayer an estimated £7 billion over the next 10 years. Fifthly, as the Prime Minister has just set out, we will work closely with our European neighbours to tackle the upstream causes of migration, including through the Rome process.

This country will always do our bit alongside others to help those fleeing war and persecution, but we need a proper system where rules are enforced. There are no quick fixes to the chaos created over the last 14 years. It will take time to clear the asylum backlog, to bring costs down and to get new enforcement in place to strengthen our borders and prevent dangerous boat crossings, but there is no alternative to serious hard graft. We cannot waste any more time or money on gimmicks. The country voted for change, and that means it is time for a sensible, serious plan. I commend this statement to the House.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on 11 July 2024.

Thank you very much, and good evening everybody. It is such an enormous privilege to be here this evening.

As we all know, really the very best and bravest of British policing. Tiffany was saying this is the 29th annual Bravery Awards. Feel that means I’ve actually been here for half of them.

So this is my 14th annual Bravery Awards. So I want to thank the Police Federation, Police Mutual, and of course, the unstoppable Mark Durden-Smith who will be with us later on, who’s been coming probably even longer than I have.

There has been a huge amount of work to make this happen. This is going to be an evening of tributes to some incredible bravery, some incredible stories of heroism.

But can I also just start by saying thank you, to all of the partners, all of the relatives, all of the families who are also here this evening because the work that your partners do, that I know you will feel so proud of, is actually only possible because of your love and support. And I know sometimes that can be the hardest of thing to do and to deal with.

It was a pleasure to meet so many of you this morning in the reception that we had in Downing Street. One of the officers I was speaking to said “Oh, it’s really surreal being here in Downing Street. And I had to say “yeah, you and me both!”

I’m still getting used to the change in roles. Yesterday morning, so I wake up, I always have the radio on, the alarm on in the morning. I woke up with the voice on the radio saying “and the shadow Home Secretary has said major changes need to be made in the party after the election.” I leapt up thinking “oh my God, what have I said now?”

So it is a real honour to be able to come out of the shadows after such a long time and to be here to support you and to pay tribute to you as your Home Secretary this year.

This morning’s reception, I’m told it was actually the first Downing Street reception that the new government has held and I think that could not be more fitting. I could not think of a more fitting group of people to be there being honoured in Downing Street this morning. I bring you good wishes from the Prime Minister who’s obviously abroad today and pays tribute as well, because the reason I have attended so many Police Bravery Awards in so many different roles in the past is because I think it’s so important to respect and recognise the work you do, and because the stories are always so inspirational, often so difficult.

Incredibly difficult situations that you will have faced, the extreme violence that you will have had to walk towards, the dangerous rescues that many of you have undertaken. And, they are a reminder of the work that not just you, but this is right across the country during every single day to keep us safe. We will hear so many more of those stories during the course of this evening.

But I just want to reflect briefly on last year’s awards. And last year, I had the honour of presenting an award to officers from the West Midlands who had shown extraordinary courage wading into the icy waters at Babbs Mill Lake in an effort to save 4 children who had fallen through the ice.

Their overwhelming emotion as they collected their reward was actually deep distress, that those young lives had been lost despite their efforts, and their thoughts with the families who had been left bereft.

For me, that moment did capture what is so important about British policing because it was the selfless service that those officers have shown, in the most dangerous situations, and their determination to do everything that they could to try to help, and also their compassion for those who needed their help, and for those who have sought to protect, and their loved ones.

And it’s that combination that is so special about British policing. And Tiff has said already, we do hear it so often and I heard it again this morning from I think four different people that I spoke to “well I was just doing my job.” “Well it’s just the job, anybody would have done it.”

It’s not just a job. This isn’t a normal job. This really is a job like no other. And those of you who have been nominated tonight, have responded like no other and really gone above and beyond. To keep us safe. And that is why we all owe you so much thanks.

So I wanted to pay tribute to all of the officers and staff across the country, who are working this evening, who are working tonight and will be working through the night to keep our community safe.

We all know policing has faced challenges in recent years and confidence has fallen. What I want to say is that I will be with you every step of the way as we work to restore confidence, as we work to raise standards, as we work to shine a light on the incredible bravery and the incredible heroism and the sense of duty, the selfless duty, that policing shows every single day, and I will be with you in that work.

And I will say one more thing, which is that putting the safety and well-being of others above your own out of duty can take its toll. And I have seen the tears sometimes in eyes of officers coming up to collect these awards, as they have to relive what happened and sometimes traumatic events. I know that being a police officer, it’s a great toll as a result of the things that you have to do, so that the rest of us don’t. And we owe you for that.

And that’s why I also want to work with the Police Federation and with all of you to support police officers and staff through every step of the way. It’s why we supported Bryn Hughes’ campaign, and why I’m so pleased that we will have the Elizabeth Emblems, the first ones been given out in the course of this year, but also why I will work with you to make sure that the Police Covenant is properly implemented and respected, so we can support police officers in everything that they do.

So 6 days into the job. The sun’s been shining. England are in the Euros. Someone told me they haven’t actually lost a match under a Labour Government.

We have optimism and determination so we know there’s going to be serious challenges ahead, we know there will be issues around resources, there will be issues around so many different things, but actually when we stand together, with pride in that tradition, that British policing tradition, policing by consent. I’m proud, I’m so proud of British policing. I’m so proud of the work that you do. And I’m so proud as we move now, to be able to give the Inspiration Award, to be able to celebrate and pay tribute to all of you tonight, to all of you for being inspirational.

Thank you very much.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.

On 22 May 2017, thousands of people, including children and their parents, went to watch a pop concert. Instead, they were faced with the most unimaginable horror, and 22 people lost their lives, including children, the youngest being just eight years old. Hundreds more were injured. Those families have endured the unimaginable. All our thoughts are with them today, and with the people of Manchester, who have stood and supported each other through the most difficult of times. I join the Home Secretary in thanking Sir John Saunders for his far-reaching inquiry, and for his vital work in seeking answers for the victims and their families.

The responsibility for this vile attack lies with the bomber and his brother, and with those who may have radicalised and enabled them, and we—all of us—condemn their actions in the strongest possible terms. It is right that the brother has been brought to justice. Rightly too, however, this report has looked at why it happened and at what might have prevented it, to seek the truth for families and their loved ones and to identify changes needed for the future. These are important and serious conclusions which are hard to hear: that there was, in Sir John’s words, a

“significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack”;

that there was a failure to act swiftly enough on information; that there were failures in the sharing of information; and that the bomber should have been referred to the Prevent programme in 2015 or 2016, although Sir John says it is unclear whether that would have led to action. These are hard conclusions to hear, especially for those who have lost loved ones.

The Home Secretary has rightly said that agencies and counter-terror police work immensely hard to keep us safe every day. Sir John also says in his report that they have disrupted 27 major Islamist extremist terror plots in recent years, in addition to five right-wing and left-wing terror plots. That is a result of their immense efforts night and day. It is because they are dedicated to keeping us safe that they also recognise the importance of facing up to things going wrong, and they too have expressed their profound sorrow and apologies.

Sir John has rightly made recommendations, and everyone is rightly seeking to take them forward. We should support them in doing so, but I want to press the Home Secretary on some of the details of those measures. First, all of us support the work of Figen Murray and many of the Manchester survivors to introduce Martyn’s law, but can the right hon. Lady tell me the timetable? Will the Bill have its Second Reading before the summer recess? On the closed recommendations, which are clearly important, will the entire report be shared with the Intelligence and Security Committee so that it can oversee the changes that need to be made?

On the issues around prisons and the Prevent programme, the bomber repeatedly visited someone who was in prison for terrorist offences, but that did not trigger a further assessment despite some of the wider things that were known about the bomber and his family. That raises serious concerns. Will the Home Secretary look again at the process for monitoring prison visits, and will she accept Sir John’s recommendations about the changes in approach to visits to terrorist and extremist prisoners that need to be taken and also his recommendations on changes to the law?

Sir John also concludes that it is highly likely that the bombers used a video online to help them to make the device in 2016. It is appalling that that video was not taken down. It is also troubling that, seven years on, we do not have the Online Safety Bill on the statute. This also raises concerns about the lack of a proper strategy on online radicalisation. Can I urge the Home Secretary to urgently revise the countering extremism strategy, which is now eight years out of date despite her predecessors having received recommendations from the countering extremism commissioner in 2018 that it was already out of date then? Will she urgently revise it to address online radicalisation?

Sir John also warns about a potential indicator of extremism being violent misogyny in this case. There are patterns here affecting different kinds of extremism—Islamist extremism, far right extremism and incel extremism —so will the Home Secretary commission a review to look at what role violent misogyny may be playing and how far it should be understood as a potential indicator of extremism and radicalisation? Sir John also raises workforce pressures, particularly in the north-west. Given the new threats from hostile states, can the Home Secretary comment on what her assessment is of resources?

Finally, concerns were raised that the security services did not understand the threats from Libya sufficiently, and that that was a wake-up call. Does the Home Secretary recognise that that shows the importance for them to continually reassess different threats and not to have a hierarchy of threats or extremism but to pursue the evidence wherever it takes them? The Home Secretary mentioned the survivors, and we think of them. However, many of them still feel that they lack the support and help they need, even many years after the truly terrible things that happened. Will she meet Survivors Against Terror and look again at what further support can be provided for those who lost loved ones and those who were hurt in that terrible event?

Suella Braverman

I thank the right hon. Lady for her questions, which I will address in due course. I agree entirely with her assessment that we must now all come together—the Government, the security services and the emergency services—to learn the lessons of this awful tragedy and work to reduce the likelihood of future attacks. It was a truly sad and terrible incident, but I want to reassure the public that our priority is to keep them safe. We must root out extremism wherever we find it, and we must give no quarter to political correctness as we do so. We must respond quickly to all criticisms, but we must also recognise the serious work that has taken place since the attack.

On Martyn’s law, the Government will publish draft legislation for scrutiny in the spring. After that, we will introduce a Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows. Its progress will depend on Parliament passing it and agreeing a date for commencement. There will be a lead-in time to allow for those captured by the Bill to prepare.

Martyn’s law is one part of our extensive efforts across Government, including by the police and security services, to combat the threat of terrorism. There remains an intensive programme of guidance, developed by security experts, counter-terrorism policing and other partners, to provide high-quality advice to stakeholders and others with responsibility for public places. I look forward to moving forward with the solution and to presenting the Bill on Martyn’s law.

We have published a new policy framework allowing for greater scrutiny of the contact between terrorist prisoners and the public. Our new approved contacts scheme, to be implemented this year, will allow greater checks on the visitors and phone contacts of those convicted of terrorism and terrorism-connected offences, regardless of the category of prison in which they are held.

A large amount of work has been done since 2017 to support and improve the consistency of local authority Prevent delivery, and to manage the risk posed by subjects of interest. This includes additional funding and support for the highest-priority areas, the publication of the Prevent duty toolkit and the development of the multi-agency centre programme. We are working across Government to mitigate the risk posed by those about whom we have concerns.

Finally, the right hon. Lady asked about support for families who are going through this unimaginable process, which is why I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement last week on the Government’s commitment to legislating, as soon as possible, to establish an independent public advocate to support victims following a major incident. The IPA will help victims to navigate the systems and processes that may follow a major incident, such as the police investigation, the inquests and inquiries. I hope it does not have to be used, but in the event of a tragedy, we will have the resources, expertise and structures in place to support families in this unimaginable situation.

I know the whole House will agree that we must now move forward with a solution to ensure our frameworks and processes are as robust as possible so that we never again see anything like this.

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary and Labour MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, in the House of Commons on 1 February 2023.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne), and all the other Merseyside MPs, for pursuing this matter, and I thank my hon. Friend for securing this urgent question.

Ninety-seven people lost their lives as a result of what happened at Hillsborough on that terrible day 34 years ago. We remember the football fans who never came home, and we must also never forget the shameful cover-up that followed. The Hillsborough families have fought for decades against obfuscation and lies to get to the truth. Everyone hoped that the report from the Right Rev. James Jones would be a turning point, and I welcome the work that the former Home Secretary did in commissioning that report, but it is five years on. The police have rightly said:

“Police failures were the main cause of the tragedy and have continued to blight the lives of family members ever since.”

Nevertheless, five years is too long, and what makes this even more shameful is the fact that there is still no Government response to what has happened. The Home Secretary said yesterday that it was because of active criminal proceedings, but those finished 18 months ago, and the work could have taken place even while those proceedings were ongoing.

In September 2021 the Government announced that the response would be published by the end of the year, and we are still waiting. The Home Secretary also said yesterday that the Government were engaging with families, but what engagement has taken place? Has the Home Secretary met the families? Has she met the bishop? And I have to ask, where is she today? Previous Home Secretaries have shown respect to the families and acknowledgement of the appalling ways in which they have been wronged by being here to respond, and it is a devastating failure of responsibility and respect to them for her not to be here to respond.

The key measures on which we need a Government response are well known: the duty of candour, the public advocate and the elements of the Hillsborough law. The Labour party stands ready to support that law and get it into statute. Will the Government now commit themselves to supporting it, and recognise what the bishop has said about its being “intolerable”, given the pain of those families, not to have a response? The report is entitled “The patronising disposition of unaccountable power”. Does the Minister accept that that is exactly what this continued delay will feel like to so many families and survivors now?

Chris Philp

I entirely agree with the shadow Home Secretary’s opening comments—and, indeed, with what has been said by other Members—about the appalling impact that this has had on the families of those who so tragically lost their lives. When I took my own son to a Crystal Palace football game a few weeks ago, I thought about how awful it must have been to be trapped in those circumstances, which is a terrible thing to contemplate.

As the shadow Home Secretary said, the police have apologised for the terrible failings that took place on the day and in the years subsequently. It is right that they have apologised to the families, and to the country as well. In relation to the timing, I have already said that there were legal proceedings ongoing. It has been 18 to 21 months since those concluded, which is why since I was appointed I have asked for the work to be sped up, and it will be concluded rapidly and it will respond to all the points in full.

I repeat the point I made earlier that a number of things have happened already. The right hon. Lady mentioned the independent public advocate. As she will know from her own time in government, where a public consultation has taken place, it is generally speaking a prelude to action. On the question of co-operating with inquiries, the 2020 statutory professional standards for policing did introduce that requirement, but the response needs to cover all the points, and that will happen soon.