Jake Richards MP: speeches

Speeches

• 17 Mar 2026 · Right to Protest · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend will no doubt be aware that this important matter falls under the remit of the Home Secretary, with whom I am in full agreement that the right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy. However, peaceful protest does not extend to unlawful behaviour. Should a protest contravene the law, the police have the powers to respond, and such behaviour will be met with appropriate consequences.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Right to Protest · Hansard source

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  No, I do not agree with my hon. Friend on that point. The Home Secretary has been very clear that that judgment will be appealed in the courts. We have been absolutely clear as a Government that the right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy, but those rights are balanced, and it is crucial that, where peaceful protest contravenes the law, the law stands firm.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Right to Protest · Hansard source

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  As my hon. Friend knows, this is a matter for the Home Secretary. If my hon. Friend seeks parliamentary time for a debate, he should come to business questions on Thursday morning.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Knife Crime: Support for Children · Hansard source

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  This Labour Government are committed to halving knife violence. We have introduced reforms to ensure that every child caught with a knife receives a mandatory plan to prevent reoffending. There is still much more to do, and we will set out a cross-Government plan to reform the youth justice system over the coming weeks.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Knife Crime: Support for Children · Hansard source

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  Each case is an absolutely tragedy, and Noah’s is no different. On behalf of the Government, I send our commiserations and thoughts to his family and, indeed, the whole community, which suffers when these events occur. In the past 18 months of this Labour Government, we have seen an 8% reduction in knife crime, which is a start. Very recently, we invested a further £15 million in the turnaround programme—a specialist programme aimed at early intervention, working particularly with young people and teenagers. We have set out a three-year funding settlement for youth justice services, offering for the first time in a generation that stability and certainty. We have taken tens of thousands of dangerous knives off the streets, and have invested in violence reduction units, young futures hubs and young futures panels. There is a lot more to do, but this Labour Government are getting on with the job of tackling knife crime.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The practicalities of that case are for colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that human rights in a health setting are incredibly important. Specific tribunals deal with that issue, and I would be very happy to deal with that case in writing if he writes to me.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for his attendance at yesterday’s meeting. The testimonies given by his constituent, Tracey, and other victims there were truly powerful. I said this at the meeting in private and I am happy to say it again at the Dispatch Box: we are working at pace to look at all the solutions. We will contact his constituent, and indeed him, as and when we have our position.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise that issue. The Government have invested £50 million to ensure that our brilliant prison officers, who do incredible work, are fully protected. I believe that I am meeting my hon. Friend tomorrow to talk about an issue in his constituency, and we can put this matter on the agenda, too.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Lord Timpson and I are looking at this issue in the round. We are ensuring that where prisons have education contracts, they are being given full effect, which often is not the case. My hon. Friend raises an important point. We are working on it, and we will keep her informed.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises the important issue of knife crime, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Adam Thompson). Every incident of knife crime is taken seriously and has a devastating effect on the victim, their family and the community. As I said, knife crime is down 8% under this Labour Government. That is a good start, but we have also just announced record investment in early intervention services, whether that is the Turnaround programme or youth justice services more generally. In the coming weeks, we will publish a cross-Government strategy for tackling knife crime, which will involve work by colleagues at the Department for Education, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. That is the best way of ensuring that we tackle the causes of knife crime.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Foreign National Prisoners: Sentences · Hansard source

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  When foreign national offenders are deported from this country and are able to return, they should be detained and dealt with appropriately by law enforcement agencies. I would expect that to happen in every single case.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Foreign National Prisoners: Sentences · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member raises an important point. This Government are committed to ensuring that, where possible, foreign national offenders serve their sentence outside this country. To do so, we have to engage in bilateral negotiations with countries to achieve proper and rigorous prisoner transfer arrangements. That is why I have had discussions with colleagues in Ghana, Nigeria, Albania and Poland in the last few weeks; indeed, last month we signed a new arrangement with Italy. We are working at pace to ensure that those agreements are as rigorous as possible. On the individual case that she mentions, I am very happy to meet her, and indeed her constituents, to discuss the details.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Foreign National Prisoners: Sentences · Hansard source

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  This Government are focused on removing foreign national offenders so that they are no longer a burden on the taxpayer. Strengthening prisoner transfer arrangements is a priority, and we are actively engaging with a number of countries to do that, so that more offenders can be removed and serve their sentences in their home countries.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Parole Board Hearings · Hansard source

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  We recognise that parole hearings can be traumatic for victims, and victim liaison officers can support them throughout the process. We are launching a victims’ code consultation, which will also give victims the opportunity to provide input as to what more can be done.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Parole Board Hearings · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a fine champion for her constituency, and has raised this case with both me and other Ministers on numerous occasions. Baroness Levitt, who is responsible for Parole Board hearings, will meet Ralph Bulger and his legal advisers this afternoon to discuss this very issue, and I am sure she will be able to offer some more substantive answers to my hon. Friend’s constituent’s question. I put on record my thanks to Ralph for his campaign, and am very happy to meet him or anyone else on this issue in due course.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Parole Board Hearings · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Member is no doubt aware, I am unable to talk about the specifics of that case, but if she writes to me, I will make sure I get back to her with any details I am able to share.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Prisoner Rehabilitation: Education and Training · Hansard source

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  It was fantastic to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency with her just last week to visit a facility in the youth custody service, and I look forward to visiting Rochester prison with her in the future. She is right to raise this issue. There are real fiscal pressures when the two twin strategic objectives for this Department are dealing with a prison capacity crisis inherited from the previous Government and pressures in our courts, but that does not mean that we are going to overlook the importance of educational work in the prison system. We are looking at working with the third sector and the private sector to ensure that we can provide adequate provision while maintaining our two strategic aims of stabilising the prison system and solving the backlog.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Prisoner Rehabilitation: Education and Training · Hansard source

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  Prison education builds skills for life, including reading and numeracy, alongside work-focused training. We are expanding prison apprenticeships and prison industries, providing work-ready skills to support rehabilitation.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Prisoner Rehabilitation: Education and Training · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who asked this question last week as well. We are raising the quality of the provision of education, but he is right to identify some issues with the contracts that the last Conservative Government entered into, which we are having to look at and deal with. As I said to him last week, it is important that we look at alternatives to those contracts. As I have just said, that includes working with the third sector and looking at how we can get more private sector provision. It also includes, as he said last week, working with governors individually to ensure that they have more autonomy and power to bring in educational facilities from local colleges and universities where it is possible and safe. I am getting to work to do that this week.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right; when we are building new prisons, we have to think about the local area and ensure that we listen to local people’s views. I would gently say that the Conservative Government promised 20,000 new prison places, but managed just 2% of that—I think we are starting to see why.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I will look at that report and personally make sure that we consider what the recommendations are and how they can be implemented. This Government have put record investment into our probation services. We are also harnessing technology to ensure that probation officers can do what they are trained and want to do, which is to work with offenders to rehabilitate them, rather than be bogged down in paperwork. I will look at that specific case and come back to the hon. Lady.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  If the right hon. Gentleman writes to me, I will get back to him on those details.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  This is utter nonsense, Mr Speaker—the hon. Gentleman completely misunderstands how our legal system works. The Government understand that lawyers have to represent all sorts of people all the time, and we will stand by that. I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that the shadow Attorney General, while serving on the Tory Front Bench, is currently representing Roman Abramovich, a sanctioned Russian oligarch. There is no word from the Opposition Benches on that issue at all.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is right to raise reoffending. It is why the Government are making a record £700 million investment in our Probation Service—a 45% increase—to try to fix a service that the last Conservative Government broke completely. That is the best and only way we will deal with the prison capacity crisis and clamp down on reoffending.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Protest-related Offences: Remand · Hansard source

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  Decisions on remand and sentence length are made by judges independently of Government, and it would be wholly wrong for a Government to intervene in a judicial matter.