Melanie Onn MP: speeches

Speeches

• 12 Jun 2025 · Support for Small Businesses · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his answer, but I really do need to press him, because my constituents in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes are as fed up as those of my hon. Friend the Member for Kensington and Bayswater (Joe Powell) with seeing high streets dominated by dodgy vape shops and unlicensed barbers. While some of those businesses are legitimate, a recent BBC investigative report shows that many are involved in money laundering and organised crime. Obviously, the Minister is aware of the situation, but is he working closely with the Home Office to try to tackle this blight? We probably need a national strategy, not a three-week operation.

• 19 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. After an appalling rape incident on the Fuller Street bridge in my constituency, I was shocked to find that last year only 2.7% of recorded rapes in the UK resulted in a charge. What is the Minister doing to improve the charge rate and get justice for more survivors of this appalling crime?

• 3 Mar 2025 · Church of England: Safeguarding · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. He is right that many constituencies have been affected. Members will have constituents who have suffered abuse in a place where they should have felt very safe. It is the same for the constituent who contacted me: he participated in football activities and experienced abuse as a young child that has affected the whole of his life. His mental health has been shredded. There has been a lack of accountability, a lack of seriousness and slow pace from the Church of England when it comes to taking such cases seriously and giving people the justice they feel is necessary. The Church just does not seem to be catching up with the expectations of modern society and the safeguarding that happens in every other institution and organisation that works with young people and vulnerable people. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Church really has to pull its socks up and get its act together if it is to restore the faith that this country should have in this most honoured of institutions?

• 21 Jan 2025 · Money Laundering in Retail Businesses · Hansard source

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  What additional support can the Government offer to Customs and Excise, local authorities and police forces in gathering supporting evidence that can then be provided to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs? High street money launderers are brazen fronts for significant criminal enterprises.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Respect Orders and Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source

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  I never thought that I would see the day when we had Conservative Members arguing against more powers to increase the safety of our communities up and down the country—it is absolutely gobsmacking. I, for one, absolutely support what the Minister is bringing in today in relation to respect orders. My constituents feel the impact of antisocial behaviour very keenly, but they will want some assurance from the Minister that there will be sufficient police officers and PCSOs available to issue respect orders in a timely manner. Can she do that, please?

• 20 Nov 2024 · Government and Democracy Education · Hansard source

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  The Minister is exactly right. In my visits so far this week, young people have raised serious and current issues, including knife crime, vaping and their impact on health. The idea that young people are divorced from the realities of society is not bearing out, but their connection with the political system is very separate. I am interested to hear her views on improving citizenship in schools.

• 17 Oct 2024 · Criminal Justice System: Capacity · Hansard source

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  I am very concerned to hear of the missed publication of Crown court backlog data. How can we hope to drive down the backlog if we do not know how big it is?

• 18 Jul 2024 · Prison Capacity · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Lord Chancellor and her team to their places on the Front Bench. Further to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Southgate and Wood Green (Bambos Charalambous), is expanding this scheme to include unfair indeterminate sentences not worth further consideration? That would provide an additional 2,700 potential early releases.