Speeches by Cooper.

“Police and crime commissioners have a crucial role to play as part of the mission to reduce serious violence, as do local authorities. The hon. Lady is right that local partnerships will best be able to target young people who are at greatest risk, and ensure that proper prevention programmes are in place. As we know, …”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. I know that she has championed that issue over many years. The Young Futures programme will include youth hubs to draw together services around young people—I used the concept of a teenage Sure Start to bring young people’s services together. We also need youth prevention progra…”

“Knife crime takes far too many young lives in this country, so the Government have set a mission—not just for the Government but for policing and local communities right across the country—to halve knife crime over the next decade. As part of that, we have already implemented the ban on zombie knives and zombie-style m…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan) for the leadership she is showing in her community. The point she raises is partly about increasing neighbourhood police numbers, which is part of this Labour Government’s plan. It is also about ensuring that we have partnerships between the polic…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. Drug dealing, drug misuse and other forms of antisocial behaviour and crime are a real challenge in many communities. First, we need to get neighbourhood police back on the beat to address these challenges. Secondly, neighbourhood police need greater powers, and we will introduc…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. This is a challenge we are facing across the country. The proportion of people saying that they barely ever see the police is now nearly half, up from a quarter when the Conservatives came to power in 2010. This has been deeply damaging to public confidence, and we need the poli…”

“I have met the IOPC chair to talk through the issues facing that body. The hon. Gentleman is right that we need to speed up the decision-making process. He will also recognise that there are considerable challenges in the system that we have inherited.”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point, and I thank her for standing up for her community. We want to strengthen the law to give the police more powers to tackle the nightmare of dangerous off-road bikes.”

“We are being clear that it is not for the Government to specify precise arrangements for every venue. I do not think it would be appropriate to do so. Arrangements will vary according to the event. We know that many large venues already have procedures to search bags or conduct those sorts of checks. We are clear that …”

“The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, and I know there will be many detailed discussions on that in Committee. Since the original draft legislation was published, we have sought to ensure that there was extensive consultation with businesses, with premises and with venues of all sizes. That is why there is a dif…”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Bill has the wholehearted support of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and, I hope, the whole House. Some of those who campaigned hardest for it have joined us in Parliament for this evening’s debate. Seven and a half years ago, on the evening o…”

“The right hon. Gentleman is right. That is why one of the things we would expect is that premises have proper search measures, and particularly to ensure that there are security measures around the movement of individuals, but as well as the searches that might take place at an event itself, safety measures may also in…”

“I will give way first to my hon. Friend and then I will come back to the right hon. Gentleman.”

“As my hon. Friend will know, the prevention of future deaths report from the London bridge and Borough market inquests called for clarity of responsibility for venue operators regarding protective security. Addressing that point is one reason that we are bringing forward this legislation. My hon. Friend is also right t…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for her tributes to David Amess and Jo Cox, and I join her in those tributes. David’s family will be very much in our hearts as we remember him tomorrow, as will Jo and all of her family. The right hon. Member is right to pay tribute to them, and I thank her for doing so.”

“I said I would give way to the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes). I will then come to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).”

“The right hon. Member makes an important point and I thank him for his long-standing interest in the issue. Those responsible for premises and events in the enhanced tier will be required to provide the regulator with a document that sets out all the public protection measures and procedures they have, and how they exp…”

“The hon. Member is right that there has been considerable work by many venues and premises in Northern Ireland to respond to the kinds of threats and risks that, sadly, communities have faced through the years. He may also be interested to know that in Manchester a voluntary version of Martyn’s law was introduced after…”

“The hon. Member will be aware that full implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023 has been long delayed and is still needed. One of the provisions of the Act is a requirement on social media companies to remove illegal content. Many of the examples that she raises are of illegal content that is still available onlin…”

“I welcome my hon. Friend’s points. One of the most troubling things that we saw during those days of violent disorder was people feeling fearful to be out on the streets because of the colour of their skin. That should never happen in our country, which is why we do have to challenge racism and extremism wherever they …”