National Security
13 May 2026 · Commons Chamber · 35 speeches · Official record
Commons debate API. Not a paper. A named member links to their Institrace record when we hold that seat.
I am grateful to the hon. Member for his continued advocacy of FIRS. It is an important operational tool. It is still relatively new-it will be a year old on 1 June-and it is the Government’s intention to bring forward an annual report to update Parliament on the progress that we are making with it. I cannot get into the specific registration of the two individuals that he has referenced, but I can tell him-I think he will know this, because he knows a lot about FIRS, but I say it for the benefi... Full speech
I want to touch on state threats. I appreciate what the Minister said about the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme as it applies to China. Could he inform the House whether Bill Yuen and Peter Wai were registered on FIRS for their role as Chinese state employees? On Russia, on 5 May the Amur-class repair ship PM-82 was spotted around the Galloper wind farm. What steps is he taking to ensure that our offshore infrastructure is protected from Russian-state threats? Full speech
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes an important point. The relationship with local government is absolutely mission critical, and I work very closely with not only local government right across the country and the devolved Administrations, but ministerial colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. She is right to raise the importance of social cohesion. She will know that that Department has led a piece of work recently, but it is very important that that is... Full speech
Proscription of the IRGC is long overdue, and I welcome the Government’s commitment to taking the necessary legal action to ensure that happens, but the Minister will be aware that I raised with him a year ago the fact that 13 charities based in this country have been banned in Arab countries. They are directly linked to Tehran: they take their orders from Tehran and get their funding from Tehran. Equally, there are assets across London, in both finance and property, that are directly linked to ... Full speech
I thank the Minister for his statement. As Members of the House will be all too painfully aware, our Jewish community in north-west London, including in my constituency, has been subject to repeated despicable antisemitic attacks in past weeks. Our Iranian community has also been attacked. In my constituency, I also have many members of the Hong Kong community, who live under the shadow of transnational repression. Given that context, I warmly welcome the Government’s announcement in the King’s ... Full speech
I am grateful to the hon. Member for his questions. I agree with the concerns that he rightly expressed about antisemitic activity in our country. He will have heard the points that I made about protective security, but protective security is only part of our response. It is very important that we tackle the underlying causes. That is why-I hope that he will acknowledge this-there is a lot of activity in different parts of Government to attack antisemitic activity and behaviour wherever it rears... Full speech
I am grateful for the points that my hon. Friend has raised, and for his reference to the importance of remembering the victims of terrorism. It is an important part of my responsibility that we ensure that we have appropriate support for those who have been subject to terrorist activity. That is why we are progressing, as a priority, work to deliver a new victims hub, which will offer an enhanced service for those who have been victims and their families, as well as developing a proposal to hol... Full speech
I thank the Minister for his statement on national security threats and the swift response to this heightened threat. The horrific recent increase we have seen in antisemitic attacks and acts of anti-Muslim hatred is causing understandable anxiety in diverse communities such as mine in Luton South and South Bedfordshire, despite great partnership working between Luton council, Bedfordshire police and our voluntary and community sector. Will the Minister reassure my constituents that the Governme... Full speech
I thank the Minister for his statement today, and for the gravity with which he has approached this statement and his job while others in Westminster are being distracted by noises off. I completely agree with him that it is totally unacceptable for a foreign state to be conducting shadow policing operations on UK soil, and I welcome that he said that the Foreign Secretary has called in the Chinese ambassador. However, he will also be aware that, if press reports are to be believed, the Chinese ... Full speech
I feel that fear, as I think we all do in this place. The hon. Gentleman has assiduously represented the concerns of Jewish communities in his constituency. I knew that he would send a letter, having given a commitment to do so, but I confess that it has not been put in front of me. I give him a guarantee that I will go back to my desk and look at his letter straight away. Full speech
The hon. Lady makes an important and helpful point. I can give her an assurance that I discuss these matters with policing colleagues regularly. I hope she will understand that it is probably not for me, as the Security Minister, to be delving into the individual arrangements that different police forces have, but I am confident that all police forces understand the benefit and the importance of this training activity in the way that she has described. Let me consider further what she has said, ... Full speech
I am grateful to the shadow Minister for his sensible and reasonable approach this morning. I agree that, wherever possible, we should seek to work on these matters on a cross-party basis, and that is absolutely my approach. I agree with the shadow Minister about the appalling and abhorrent attacks on the Jewish community that we have seen recently. I hope that he understands that the Government are absolutely committed to dealing with that poisonous hatred. I spelled out in my statement some of... Full speech
I thank the Minister very much for his determination and the determination of his Government to protect all the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and I endorse his comments about the police, MI5 and MI6. We have individuals collectively doing the hard work to try to worm out the malcontents. I have long bemoaned the lack of action against Chinese overreach, which sees spy work carried out against British nationals in this country. Some Hongkongers living in my... Full speech
I commend the Minister on his statement, particularly his peroration about how standing up to hatred and intolerance is the shared responsibility of every person in these islands. The Scottish Government have been working closely with Police Scotland and relevant partners to ensure that safety for Jewish communities and their places of worships is protected, and they will continue to do so throughout the new Scottish parliamentary Session. The additional funding of £25 million to protect Jewish ... Full speech
I welcome the statement because the issues that the Minister raises, particularly the antisemitism that we have seen grow exponentially and frighteningly in this country, and issues with the Chinese embassy, which are particularly relevant in my constituency, are concerns that we hear from our constituents all the time. For that reason, will he tell us a little more about the tackling state threats Bill and the national security Bill, as well as measures to tackle antisemitism, which he says mus... Full speech
I am grateful to the hon. Member, as I always am. He has a very long and proud record of standing against terrorism-he knows a lot about it from his experiences in Northern Ireland-and he is also right to pay tribute to those who serve in our police forces and our intelligence services, who work tirelessly around the clock to keep us safe. We all owe them a huge debt of gratitude. The hon. Member is right to highlight a number of concerns. I can assure him that we take these matters incredibly s... Full speech
I thank the Minister for his statement and his unequivocal support for the Jewish community. I am proud to have an Iranian community in Edinburgh South West. They are concerned about people in that community who speak out against the Iranian regime, particularly journalists, who they fear may be persecuted in the UK. What are the Minister and the Government doing to protect people who speak out against that awful regime? I echo the point made by the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), wh... Full speech
My hon. Friend raises an important point, and let me reiterate the Government’s position that the targeting, harassment and coercion of anybody here in the United Kingdom, including, of course, the Iranian community and journalists, is completely unacceptable. On what we are doing to counter the threat from Iran, we have now sanctioned more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities and have placed the whole of the Iranian state, including Iran’s intelligence services, the IRGC and MOIS-the Minis... Full speech
I am grateful to the hon. and gallant Member for his contribution, as I always am. He knows me well enough that I can be quite candid with him in saying that I do not think the Foreign Secretary will need any encouragement from me. She will share the concern of Ministers right across this Government about the recent activity-she will have seen that very clearly when she served as Home Secretary. I agree that the kind of activity he describes is totally unacceptable, and this Government will abso... Full speech
I thank the Minister for advanced sight of his statement and for his recognition of the importance of working together across the House to make our country safer. The attacks against the Jewish community in recent months have been devastating. As the Leader of the Opposition and the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation have said, this is a national emergency. The Government noted that the raising of the terror threat level was not solely a consequence of the attack in Golders Green, but... Full speech
I thank my hon. Friend for his statement, and for the work that the Government are doing to protect the Jewish community. My thoughts are with all those who have been victims of these attacks, and of antisemitism and hate crime. In my constituency of Southend West and Leigh, we have quite a significant and diverse Jewish community-Orthodox, Reform and Haredi. They are scared and concerned, and my concern after meeting some of those communities over recent weeks is that some do not know how to ac... Full speech
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his points, and for his acknowledgment of our intention to introduce legislation that would allow the UK Government to proscribe state-backed entities. He will know that a range of measures have already been leveraged against the IRGC, which is sanctioned in its entirety. I think it was back in November last year that I announced a range of measures to defend against the threat that we undoubtedly face from Iran. The hon. Gentleman’s point about charities ... Full speech
Week after week, British Jews are being attacked, intimidated and persecuted. We have seen what has happened at Heaton Park synagogue, Kenton United synagogue, Finchley Reform synagogue, and Jewish Futures in Hendon, and to the Hatzola ambulances, and more recently, there have been the Golders Green stabbings. The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall, is right to call these appalling levels of antisemitism a “national security emergency”. He is also right to say that laws... Full speech
I thank the Minister for his careful and considered remarks and for setting out very clearly in his statement that the safety and security of Hongkongers in the UK is paramount. I also thank him for his remarks about new legislation announced in the King’s Speech to tackle hostile state threats and about the two convictions under the National Security Act last week, which regard the activities of two individuals on UK soil who leaked to the Chinese foreign intelligence service. Hongkongers in my... Full speech
Before we come to the national security statement, I should say two things in relation to matters that are sub judice. First, there are a number of live cases relating to recent antisemitic attacks. However, to help manage our discussions on an issue of national importance, I am granting a limited waiver to allow passing references to such incidents, as long as they do not engage in discussion of or speculation around the motivation for, detail of or immediate response to any specific individual... Full speech
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson. Full speech
I join colleagues across the House in strongly condemning the ongoing campaign of attacks and intimidation against our British communities, and I thank the Minister for his leadership on those and other security matters. He said that he has initiated a review of the national threat level system, which currently captures only the threat from terrorism. Can he expand on that? Does he mean that, following review, it will now capture the threat from state-based actors and other countries? Can he do ... Full speech
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on recent national security developments, including the increase in the national terrorism threat level. The events of the last few weeks have illustrated the breadth and seriousness of the national security threats that we face from both terrorists and foreign states. In the response to those threats, they have also highlighted the strength and resilience of our world-leading law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Over recent weeks we hav... Full speech
I thank the Minister for his statement. He has confirmed the roll-out of new training for police officers and staff to increase their understanding of state threats. Will that training be mandatory for officers in all police forces and all police roles, including police community support officers and special constables as well as back-office staff? How will it be implemented? Will it be in person or online? If it is online, will it be passive or active? Are participants just going to tick a seri... Full speech
My hon. Friend has been a diligent representative of his constituency, and I know that he takes these matters incredibly seriously. I hope that he understands this Government’s commitment to tackling antisemitism. He mentioned that in his constituency he has members of the UK Hong Kong community, so let me briefly say a word about them. Any foreign state-directed crime against an individual in the UK will never be tolerated, and the attempt to intimidate and harass members of the Hong Kong commu... Full speech
My hon. and gallant Friend has asked an astute question. He obviously heard my reference to the initiation of an internal piece of work, and a review of the national terrorism threat level. In truth, that has long been on my mind, and I want to satisfy myself that current arrangements are fit for purpose. Those current arrangements have served our country fairly well for a number of years, but I feel as if they have now been overtaken by events. It is therefore appropriate to look carefully at t... Full speech
The level of fear felt by British Jews is nothing short of a national emergency and requires the most urgent and rapid action. The last time that the Minister stood at the Dispatch Box, just before the last Session ended, I raised with him the case of the south Buckinghamshire Jewish community. While I welcome his commitment to increased funds, they still find themselves falling between the cracks for grant funding, because they do not have a building of their own and meet in different venues fr... Full speech
I am grateful to the hon. Member and he is right: I believe that this is a shared endeavour across the House and across our country. I was pleased to discuss these matters recently with the First Minister, and I have received positive correspondence from him. I hope the hon. Member will forgive me if I do not respond to him now on the precise point about Barnett consequentials, but I will write to him. Full speech
I am grateful to the hon. Lady, as I always am, for the points that she has made. She mentioned the Chinese embassy, so I hope she will forgive me if I seek to provide her with a word of reassurance on that matter, because I know it has been somewhat controversial in this House and elsewhere. Our intelligence agencies have been involved throughout the process, and an extensive range of measures has been developed to manage any risks. Following extensive negotiations, the Chinese Government have ... Full speech
My hon. Friend raises a very important point, and I can give him the assurances that he seeks. He will have heard in my introductory remarks that the Chinese ambassador has been summonsed, and he will have heard the determination of the Foreign Secretary to illustrate the completely unacceptable nature of the kind of activities that we have seen in recent times. I have personally been in touch with members of the Hongkonger community just this week to provide reassurances, but I want to work clo... Full speech