Dan Jarvis

I hope that the shadow Minister will accept that the Government’s response is not about warm words, but about decisive, targeted and effective activity, and that is what we have seen over the past few days. Let me agree with the hon. Gentleman in recognising the fear and distress that exists within our Jewish communities. It is abhorrent that members of our Jewish community are considering their long-term future in the United Kingdom. Collectively, I am sure we want to assure them that we will do everything we possibly can to make sure that the United Kingdom is a safe place for them and their families, but I recognise the fear and distress they are feeling at the moment. That is why we are making sure that our response is proportionate and urgent in the way that I set out earlier in my remarks. The shadow Minister, entirely reasonably, raised the spectre of the threat we face from Iran. I have made these points previously, but for the purpose of clarification let me tell him and the House precisely what we are doing to combat the specific threat from Iran. The Government specified Iran under the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme, which is a useful operational tool that will bolster our oversight of Iran’s influence and activities here in the UK. We have sanctioned more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities, including the IRGC in its entirety. He mentioned proscription. He will know that the Government have committed to take forward the recommendations by Jonathan Hall KC, including the creation of a new proscription-like power to help tackle malign activity by state and non-state linked actors. We have also engaged in extensive activity to go after the criminal networks and enablers that the Iranian intelligence services use to carry out their work, as well as to target those who assist the IRGC and others to launder their money here in the United Kingdom. The role of the police force right around the country is very important to that work, which is why we have rolled out new training to all frontline police officers to increase their understanding of state threats. We are strengthening our immigration system against Iranian infiltration, including those who promote Iranian interference in the UK. We are also doing this in concert with our allies. We are engaging internationally on transnational Iranian threats, including joining 13 other countries in condemning Iranian intelligence activities, both in the United Kingdom and globally. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the work we are doing through Prevent. He will have seen the Home Secretary confirm the appointment of a new independent Prevent commissioner, Tim Jacques, to fulfil the role that has been done expertly by Lord Anderson. This is an important role and we want to work very closely with him to ensure the Prevent programme is fit for purpose. The hon. Gentleman will have seen the detail from phase 1 of the Southport inquiry and that the Government immediately commissioned phase 2, which will be conducted by Sir Adrian Fulford; we have made a commitment to respond in full by the summer. The hon. Gentleman also made an entirely reasonable and important point about extremism. As I said in my previous remarks, the Government are doing a lot of work led by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. There is also a lot of work co-ordinated across Government to target the threats we face from extremists. That work was set out recently with the publication of the “Protecting What Matters” document, which shows how the Government are delivering a fundamental reset in how we counter extremism, ensuring we have the tools, capabilities and partnership to match the scale and nature of the threat we face. I hope he and the House understand the seriousness with which we take this issue. These should not be matters of cross-party disagreement. We should work together to make sure that our Jewish communities feel safe. That will be our approach.