Kevin McKenna

I commend the Minister for managing to handle two really difficult challenges that are facing the country at the moment. First, the small boats crossings are obviously very concerning to people in Sittingbourne and Sheppey, as they are to many people in Kent. It has not escaped my notice that the protest in Dover at the weekend happened at a time when the boat crossings are falling. The second challenge is the increasing far-right activity. We have had uniformed thugs on our streets who have been organising relentlessly behind the scenes and publicly on Facebook, and we have to come down hard on it. I would like to ask the Minister two things. First, we have seen this before—this is not the first time that the country and other countries have faced this. In the 1930s we banned uniformed political parties and uniformed political activists. Obviously we now wear slightly different clothing from what was worn back then, so has the Minister looked at how we can update the law to address these thugs and make sure that it is fit for purpose in the modern world? Secondly, the local independent news outlet Kent Current reports that these thugs were mustering in nearby villages the night before the incident in Dover. Local people picked this up and had been reporting it, but that seems to have been missed. Can the Minister look at that and make sure that intelligence from concerned people on the ground in Kent is also factored in?