Following my interventions in Parliament last week raising concerns about the violence that has taken place at the recent protests in London I was invited this morning for a special briefing by the Metropolitan Police. The National Lead for Protest Policing was present as well as other of senior Officers. I expressed my disgust at the way a number of war memorials have been defaced and damaged as well as the Churchill monument.

My own view is I think the policing over the past week weeks should have been more robust and that the Policing around protests isn’t quite where it needs to be. It was interesting to learn more about why this is and the Officers I spoke to outlined a number of ways in which the law can be changed to allow them to take a more robust approach. I know this is an important area for many of my constituents, rest assured I will remain on the case. I also took the opportunity to thank the Police for their work over the past few weeks. A large number of Police Officers have been injured and have shown great bravery in looking to protect the public.

Following last week’s meeting with Highways England on implementing the speed limit solution to the closures of the Orwell Bridge, I have now written to City University of London about the urgency of getting their wind tunnel up and running to complete the final safety checks.

The wind tunnel is currently closed and I do have concerns that this could become an issue which causes the timeline for implementing the solution to slip. That’s why it’s important we get on top of this now.

Today I asked the Leader of the House about the 10 people who failed to attend Court last month in connection with the horrific mass brawl on Norwich Road in November. The behaviour of these 10 individuals demonstrates an appalling level of contempt for our justice system and all those in Ipswich who were affected by the incident.

I have been in contact with Suffolk Constabulary since these 10 individuals failed to attend, including to offer my support in getting the full force of the Government behind catching these fugitives. While one of the 10 has now been arrested, the other 9 are suspected to have fled to another EU country.

That’s why I urged the Leader of the House to work with colleagues across Government and with Suffolk Constabulary to bring the remaining 9 back to this country to face our courts, including in the issuing of any European Arrest Warrants if necessary. Bringing fugitives like this back must also be something we can continue to do after the EU transition period is over, especially if those who fled did so under Freedom of Movement rules.

I am glad that the Leader of the House shares my outrage and that of many Ipswich residents about what has happened in this case and that he’ll be raising it with the Home Secretary shortly. I’ll continue to work with the police and with Ministers to ensure that those who have flouted our justice system are brought back to justice and receive the appropriate punishment for this serious crime.

Earlier today I used an urgent question on the UK-EU negotiations to ask the Cabinet Office Minister about the unacceptable increase in illegal immigration across the English Channel and how we can take a more robust approach after the transition period has ended. Here’s what I said:

“We have recently seen an unacceptable increase in the number of illegal migrants entering this country through unauthorised crossing of the English Channel. Does my Right Honourable Friend agree with me that being tied to EU rules and regulations during the transition period makes the return of illegal migrants more difficult and that this underlines the importance of ending it on the 31st December? And will he assure me and my constituents today, that the UK will rebuff any EU attempt to make a new deal on illegal migration contingent on us conceding in other areas of negotiations?

I used Justice Questions today to ask the Lord Chancellor if he was confident that the law was on the side of the police and the law-abiding public in light of the disruptive Extinction Rebellion protests last year and the criminal damage and violence we saw over the weekend. Here’s what I said:

“Following the immensely disruptive Extinction Rebellion protests last year and the violence and criminal damage we saw committed over the weekend by a small minority of thugs, is my Right Honourable Friend confident that the law as it stands is on the side of the law-abiding majority and our brave police officers who have really stood up and been counted over the last couple of months?”

Today I was able to ask the Home Secretary about the atrocious violence towards police officers and the criminal damage we have seen over the weekend, including the defacement of the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square on the 76th Anniversary of D-Day.

The minority of thugs and vandals behind this must be brought to justice and face robust repercussions for their ignorant actions.

After the Extinction Rebellion protests last year and the disorderly scenes this weekend, it’s vital that the right balance is struck between upholding people’s right to peaceful protest and ensuring police have the powers to come down hard and fast on criminal damage and mass disruption.

Thank you to everyone who wrote in about with their latest views on the Government’s plans to introduce a quarantine for international arrivals from next week. On Wednesday, I got the chance to share them in a question to the Home Secretary in the Chamber.

It is disappointing that the quarantine was not introduced earlier when there were deep concerns during the peak of Covid-19 that 15,000 people were still flying into the country every day and the impact this could have on public health. I called on the Government at the time to introduce much stricter controls at the border.

Yesterday (05/06/20), Tom Hunt, MP for Ipswich, made a speech during the third reading of the Sentencing Bill in which he called for criminal sentencing to be tougher, clearer, and more honest to build public confidence in the justice system.

Hunt welcomed this particular Sentencing Bill which will pave the way for complex sentencing law to be simplified. Currently the complexity of the law often leads to the justice process being drawn out and more successful appeals due to errors made by judges in sentencing. Hunt was clear that the greatest beneficiaries of this will be victims who are the ones who suffer the most from protracted court cases and confusion about what the law really says.

While Hunt welcomed this Bill as a step in the right direction, he was also clear that there is more work needed to be done to build up the public’s confidence in our sentencing regime.

Hunt said sentencing must be clearer across the board. He specifically raised the Court of Appeal’s decision to reduce the sentence of Kyreis Davies, one of the men convicted for the murder of Tavis Spencer-Aitkens in 2018, from a minimum of 21 years to just 16 years. In an emotional moment in the chamber, Hunt described how the opaque appeals process and the lenient result the judge had come to had left him and Tavis’s family confused and frustrated, and without a clear explanation of what had happened. Hunt said that while this Bill would make sentences easier to understand, a more comprehensive approach is needed across the whole justice system to make justice clearer to victims and the public.

In his speech, Hunt also emphasised the importance that sentences are honest and ‘do what they say on the tin’. Currently, many petty criminals are still let out automatically half-way through their sentences, undermining transparency in sentencing and the public’s faith in the justice system’s ability to deter crime. Hunt’s focus on more honest sentencing yesterday follows his readiness in the past to fight against any early release of prisoners. Last month, Hunt had indicated his readiness to rebel over Government plans which would have seen some prisoners released even earlier than the half-way point in their sentences. The plans were cancelled at the last minute.

Hunt’s third call in the Chamber for tougher and firmer sentences has been one of his focuses since his election. Just this week, Hunt was also at the heart of the campaign for tougher sentencing for pet theft, as he chaired a Zoom conference with the figures behind the campaign who launched a petition which is now before Parliament with well over 100,000 signatures.

Following his speech Hunt said:

“This Sentencing Bill is quite a technical piece of legislation but ultimately it will make sentences clearer for the public to understand and reduce the number of appeals and drawn out court cases which are so difficult for victims and their families.”

“This is undoubtedly welcome but it was important to make the point yesterday that we still have a long way to go in building up public confidence in our sentencing regime. I raised the appalling decision to reduce Kyreis Davies’s sentence for the murder of Tavis Spencer-Aitkens. For Tavis’s family this process has never been clear or accessible and they weren’t able to participate in it. I’ve written to Government about this but we are still no closer to understanding why this regrettable decision was made. Going forwards a more comprehensive look needs to be taken at transparency in our courts and putting the law back on the side of victims.

“It’s also crucial that sentences are honest and it’s no longer the norm that prisoners are let out before they have served their full sentence. The majority of the public can’t understand why sentences just don’t do what they say on the tin and prisoners walk free before serving their full debt to society. And there is of course I made the point that there is no substitute for tougher sentences. The sad reality is that when sentences are handed down now there is almost an expectation they will be too lenient and not represent an appropriate punishment nor an effective deterrent against further crime.

“Since my time as a candidate, I promised Ipswich residents I would push for more robust action on law and order, and I will continue to fight for tougher, clearer and more honest sentences in Parliament over the coming weeks.”

Disappointed to hear reports that the Government won’t be extending the free school meal voucher scheme over the summer holidays and I’ve written to the Minister for Children to raise my concerns.

These vouchers have been a real lifeline for families facing great hardship as schools have been closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. A decision to end this scheme too soon will hit Ipswich’s most vulnerable children the hardest and no child must go hungry because of Covid-19.

Hopefully the Government will reconsider this decision over the coming days and of course I’ll be raising this issue on the Education Committee and elsewhere to try to persuade the Government to change course.

A few months ago towards the beginning of the lockdown, a number of constituents got in touch to raise concerns that the measures in place at our borders to prevent more cases of Covid-19 coming into the country weren’t robust enough. I shared these concerns as 15,000 people were continuing to fly into the country every day while countries around the world had cancelled international travel or introduced strict quarantine measures for arrivals. That’s why I wrote to the Home Secretary at the time, urging her to implement stronger measures at our borders as soon as possible.