Diana Johnson MP: speeches 2025

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Speeches

21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman is a relatively new Member of this House, but I have been in the House a while and certainly that did not happen under the previous Administration. There are always opportunities to improve and local Members of Parliament, local councils and the police are all engaged when people are moved into certain areas of the country. I know that happens, although I am sure it could be better, but I am happy to raise this again with the Immigration Minister because I have not had sight of the letter that she sent to the hon. Gentleman.
21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source
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That is a very important point and there are ongoing conversations with the Home Office and other Government Departments to ensure that it is addressed. That has been a problem particularly in the terrorist field, and action has been taken speedily to get such postings down.
21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source
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The hon. Lady raises an important point. Over the past few years, the online space in particular has been used for misinformation and downright lies. It is important that we all recognise that we should look carefully at social media sites. We should use critical thinking, as we teach our children in school. We should always ask why that piece of information has been put out and whether it is from a reliable source, and look for reliable media sources if we are seeking information about what is happening—that is important. We in this House have perhaps not been as quick as we should be to recognise how social media has moved things on in society in a way that we need to deal with. There is an enormous amount of work in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Home Office to consider what more we can do in relation to social media and the online space.
21 Jul 2025 · Asylum Hotels: Migrant Criminal Activity · Hansard source
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I am the Policing Minister, but I know that work is already under way on that issue. The Immigration Minister has had a number of conversations, particularly with employers, as I have just said, about where work should not be taking place because of individuals’ immigration status. There has been investment in the National Crime Agency—additional officers are working on this issue—and work is under way on smashing the gangs who were behind bringing people across in the small boats. There are also our international arrangements and treaties that we are signing with various countries, which the previous Government were unable to do.
7 Jul 2025 · Shoplifting · Hansard source
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This month, we have supported police and the retail industry to launch the new retail crime strategy, and the Home Secretary launched a safer streets blitz in town centres, with targeted action to tackle retail crime. Under the previous Government, shop theft soared to record levels and assaults against retail workers spiralled out of control. That is why, in addition to investing in neighbourhood policing, we are introducing in our Crime and Policing Bill a new stand-alone offence of assaulting a shop worker, because everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.
7 Jul 2025 · Shoplifting · Hansard source
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The right hon. Gentleman raises a really important point. We will continue to crack down on the organised gangs that target retailers. As we have set out, we will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the national police intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime, to share information and make sure that retailers are part of the conversation. We are doing everything we can to tackle organised gangs.
7 Jul 2025 · Shoplifting · Hansard source
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It is totally unacceptable that shop theft and violence and abuse towards retail workers have continued to rise, particularly over the last two years of the previous Government, when they went up by 60%. We are asking retail workers to perform a significant act of public service as they enforce restrictions on the sale of items including cigarettes, alcohol and knives. As I have set out, the bespoke offence in the Crime and Policing Bill will help to shine a spotlight on the problem and ensure that we bring perpetrators to book. The Bill will also ensure that the sanction of a criminal behaviour order can be attached to a conviction for assaulting a retail worker, which will help to protect retail workers.
7 Jul 2025 · Community Policing and Neighbourhood Health Teams · Hansard source
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With the recently launched 10-year health plan, we are moving away from those siloed services towards a more joined-up approach, including the preventive model of care. That aligns very much with policing and keeping people safe, and supporting wellbeing. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the national neighbourhood health implementation programme and to ensure that policing is part of the conversation from the outset. By working more closely with health and care partners, we can reduce inappropriate demand on policing. Officers should not be left to pick up the pieces when other support services are better placed to help. This is about getting it right—and getting that tailored support—first time.
7 Jul 2025 · Community Policing and Neighbourhood Health Teams · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend speaks with a great deal of experience in health matters. There are regular discussions between ministerial colleagues about how we can best join up public services. We know that joined-up working results in better outcomes at a local level. Collaboration and engagement between neighbourhood policing and neighbourhood health teams already exists to tackle mental health issues, and drug and alcohol addiction. I hope that this Government’s investment in neighbourhood policing will enable more of that work to continue.
7 Jul 2025 · Community Policing and Neighbourhood Health Teams · Hansard source
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It was a pleasure to meet the right hon. Gentleman’s constituents; I think that was way back in February—it was a very cold day in North Yorkshire. I fully recognise what he says about the mental health and wellbeing impact of some of the crime challenges facing rural communities. That is why the neighbourhood policing guarantee is so important for areas like the one that he represents. As I have said a number of times in this House, we support the implementation of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act, and we plan to bring forward regulations shortly.
7 Jul 2025 · Off-road Bikes · Hansard source
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Yes, I am very happy to look into that issue and to meet my hon. Friend to discuss it. He may want to know that the 60 additional officers that are going to be available in his police force area by the end of this year will help to tackle some of the antisocial behaviour involving e-bikes and other vehicles.
7 Jul 2025 · Off-road Bikes · Hansard source
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Our Crime and Policing Bill, which Opposition Members voted against on Third Reading, is giving the police greater powers to clamp down on off-road bikes and other nuisance vehicles that cause chaos in our communities. Once the changes come into force, officers will no longer be required to issue a warning before they seize a bike that is being used antisocially. On 28 May, we published a consultation to explore changes to the circumstances in which the police can seize and destroy these vehicles, and we will not hesitate to go further if needed.
7 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue; I know he has experience as a police officer. I regularly meet the Police Federation and its officers and chief executive. I will raise his concerns directly with them.
7 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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As the Home Secretary just pointed out, we have provided an additional £200 million this year to support new neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs for all our communities. I am very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman if he would like to discuss policing further, but this Government are committed to making sure that the police have the resources they need.
7 Jul 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source
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We will of course learn lessons over the summer from our initiative and our blitz on town centres, and I am willing to share that with SNP Ministers, which I think would be very helpful in the light of what my hon. Friend said about the problems people are facing in Scotland. I of course welcome and commend the work with young people that is going on in his constituency.
7 Jul 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source
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I am very pleased to hear about the good ideas being rolled out in Northern Ireland. I hope very much to be able to visit in the near future, so that I am able to see for myself that community policing in Northern Ireland.
7 Jul 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source
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The Government are determined to crack down on antisocial behaviour, and tackling it is a central theme of our safer streets summer initiative, which is currently under way in over 500 towns. Our Crime and Policing Bill will provide policing with a suite of new powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, including respect orders to get persistent offenders out of town centres, and stronger powers to seize dangerous and deafening off-road bikes. I again remind the House that the Conservatives voted against those measures recently.
7 Jul 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source
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I am, of course, very happy to meet the hon. Lady. That is why neighbourhood policing is important, and why the Government made a commitment to put 13,000 additional police personnel back into our town centres and communities over the course of this Parliament, to provide the reassurance that communities have not had for far too long, with the decimation of neighbourhood policing over previous years.
7 Jul 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source
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First, I am very pleased to hear about the work of Northumbria police with Operation Shield, which I think is to be commended. We want to work collectively with forces to focus on town centres nationwide, while recognising that some town centres and areas of the country have more significant problems to address. We want to build on existing data, good practice and evidence to develop a model that can then be rolled out up and down the country.
7 Jul 2025 · Knife Crime · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend will know that the Government have set an unprecedented mission to halve knife crime in a decade. We are determined to tackle the scourge of serious violence on our streets. This month, we are running a major new surrender scheme for lethal weapons, including ninja swords, in hotspots across the country, alongside introducing the new provisions in our Crime and Policing Bill to crack down on the illegal sale of knives online. Those measures will help to reduce the availability of dangerous knives on our streets and ensure that those who perpetrate these offences face the full force of the law.
7 Jul 2025 · Knife Crime · Hansard source
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May I first express my condolences to Kayden’s family and friends? That is just appalling to hear. My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the role that social media can play in glamourising these types of weapons. That is why it is so important that we have measures in the Crime and Policing Bill and the Online Safety Act 2023 to start to tackle that. As I say, it is absolutely appalling.
3 Jul 2025 · Phone Theft · Hansard source
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No, time is very short. The hon. Gentleman’s record when he was a special advisor in the Home Office really is nothing to be proud of. I will talk about the statistics. Street theft increased by more than 40% in the last year of the previous Government, driven largely by soaring rates of snatch theft involving mobile phones. While we are starting to see some promising reductions, including a decrease in the number of mobile phone thefts by force or threat of force in the capital, levels of mobile phone theft sadly remain intolerably high, which is totally unacceptable. We recognise that the impact of this criminality goes beyond the loss of a mobile phone, costly and stressful though that undoubtedly is. It undermines people’s sense of personal safety and security in the most insidious way. It snatches parts of people’s life, as my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East said, including bank details, personal records and precious memories stored on phones. Decent, law-abiding people deserve much, much better, which is why the Prime Minister has placed safer streets at the heart of his plan for change. Through that mission, we are taking decisive action to restore law and order to our town centres and high streets, and the scourge of mobile phone theft is very much in our sights. It may be helpful if I set out for the House some of the key steps we are taking to combat this crime. It has been clear throughout the debate that we accept that if we are to drive the real change we need to see, we need to work effectively with tech companies, the police and others in civil society, both to prevent thefts from happening and to better detect the perpetrators when thefts occur. In that spirit, the Home Secretary chaired a very productive summit in February, bringing together representatives from the police, including the Metropolitan police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, local government leaders, leading technology companies and other sectors to push for much stronger collaboration in this space. I have been working closely with stakeholders from industry and law enforcement on this important topic, so I was pleased to see the summit result in clear commitments from attendees to working in partnership, and to significantly boosting the sharing of data and intelligence on mobile phone theft, so that we can build a comprehensive picture of the problem and better understand the role of organised criminal networks. Ultimately, our aim is to disrupt, design out and disincentivise mobile phone theft. Officials are working closely with law enforcement partners, tech companies and other industry representatives to deliver practical and effective measures, so that we can crack down on these crimes. My hon. Friend the Member for Brent East talked particularly about mobile phone theft in London, which is a particular hotspot. That is why the Metropolitan police are an important partner in the collective effort to tackle this form of crime. We welcome the two recent periods of intensification of activity by the Metropolitan police, which together resulted in more than 500 arrests linked to mobile phone theft. We will hold a second summit in the next few weeks to reflect on the progress made, and to galvanise cross-sector agreement on the ambitious outcomes that we all want. There remains a long road ahead, but I am really hopeful that the tech companies and the wider stakeholders will come to the table with bold proposals. To be very clear, the Government will not hesitate to take more decisive action if the summit does not result in clear commitments to tackle this issue, including considering further legislation and regulation to radically reduce this—and related—criminality. I draw Members’ attention to the fact that the Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new power to help police recover stolen mobile phones more quickly. It allows officers to enter and search premises to which a stolen device has been electronically tracked in situations in which it is not practicable to obtain a warrant. This will allow the police to act swiftly, and will increase the likelihood that criminals will be caught and punished. We welcome the innovative steps already taken by tech companies to tackle mobile phone theft. It is crucial that we now deepen collaboration between those companies and law enforcement. That is how we will ensure that anti-theft features cannot be bypassed by criminals, and that the technology supports police investigations and the recovery of stolen phones. While anti-theft features are vital to ensure the safety of mobile phones, we acknowledge that some technology can be misused by bad actors, particularly in cases of domestic abuse. That is why we are working with tech companies to ensure that new solutions are safe and proportionate, and do not inadvertently put victims at risk. This is about making stolen phones worthless without creating new vulnerabilities. During this debate, several proposals have been put forward for how we might strengthen our collective response to mobile phone theft. I have heard them all, and I am grateful for all of them. While we will of course keep our approach under review, we are focused on delivering our plan to reduce mobile phone theft in partnership with law enforcement, technology companies and service providers. The Government are working with those tech companies to ensure that people’s phones are protected. Through working groups established by the Home Office and attended by technology companies and policing partners, we aim to ensure that everything possible is done to disincentivise phone theft by making stolen phones effectively worthless to criminals. I conclude by again offering my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East for securing this debate, and to all the Members who have contributed. I hope that, in the limited time available, I have addressed some of the points discussed this afternoon. In essence, this issue is as much about people as it is about policies and powers. We must always remember that behind the statistics are thousands and thousands of real victims who have suffered the shock and distress—as well as the inconvenience and disruption—of having their device snatched. Our high streets and town centres are filled with people going about their everyday lives. As they make their way from place to place, there should be no question but that they are safe, and that their belongings are secure. The notion that they might be pounced upon by thieves at any moment is simply unacceptable, and this Government will not tolerate it. Our message is clear: Britain’s streets belong to the law-abiding majority, not to thieves and muggers, and we will do whatever it takes to protect the public from those callous and harmful crimes.
3 Jul 2025 · Phone Theft · Hansard source
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I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) on securing the debate and I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating the time. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for sharing her experiences, particularly the “Starsky and Hutch” approach that she took to trying to recover her mobile phone when it was stolen 10 years ago. I am grateful to all Members of the House who have made contributions. In the limited time that we have had available, we have had an important discussion, spanning many different areas, both geographically and topically. The hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) spoke about the experience in West Yorkshire. My hon. Friend the Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) talked about the interchange at Stratford station and, along with my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey), talked about the problems with e-bikes as enablers of mobile phone theft. I want to be very clear: this Government are absolutely determined to address the menace of mobile phone theft. I say to the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Weald of Kent (Katie Lam), that the unfortunate truth is that by the time this Government took office, this type of criminality had become so common that it was essentially a feature of daily life in some areas, and the statistics bear that out. She talked about the policing of speech and locking criminals up, but she needs to reflect on the record of the Conservative Government. They introduced the non-crime hate incident guidance under the previous Policing Minister, the right hon. Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp), who is now the shadow Home Secretary, and failed the prison system by not building enough prison places. This Government are having to deal with that.
25 Jun 2025 · Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill · Hansard source
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rose—
25 Jun 2025 · Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill · Hansard source
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There is obviously a great deal of knowledge on this Committee about how these things operate. As someone who is not necessarily a huge football fan, I am certainly learning a lot today about some of the measures that are being put in place to help fans enjoy the event in a safe way.

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