Alicia Kearns

Imprisonment of Craig and Lindsay Foreman in Iran

The hon. and learned Gentleman is making absolutely the right points. So far the Government have limited themselves to saying that Craig and Lindsay were innocent tourists, but they have not said categorically that they are not spies, despite promising to do so. They have also refused to say that they are being arbitrarily detained. We are dealing with a terrorist state. Does the hon. and learned Gentleman agree that there is no reason for the Government to hold back in their rhetoric? Iran is a

Spoke in debate: Imprisonment of Craig and Lindsay Foreman in Iran

Parliamentary appearance by Alicia Kearns

Imprisonment of Craig and Lindsay Foreman in Iran

The Minister has made the point about public versus private, and what works. The French approach of declaring their person arbitrarily detained worked; they are home. On the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies), given that the Minister has just recognised that Iranian law does not provide for a fair trial, and that we cannot recognise due process to have been followed, will the Minister at least declare on the Floor of the House that Craig and Lin

Imprisonment of Craig and Lindsay Foreman in Iran

Will the Minister give way?

Imprisonment of Craig and Lindsay Foreman in Iran

I thank the Minister for saying that he is pressing on the matter, and that he has been talking to our ambassador, but can he tell the House when he last spoke to his Iranian counterpart, and how many times in the past three months he has raised the case with his Iranian counterpart? With all due respect, getting the couple home requires Government-to-Government negotiation.

Open Prisons: Policy on Convicted Paedophiles

Paedophiles should be behind bars, not roaming our communities. I am afraid that the Minister’s words will ring hollow for my constituent who received a call in January and was told that her abuser, the paedophile, who was only two years into a nine-year sentence, had been moved into an open prison, and now had the right to leave the site freely, and even stay out overnight. Will the Government review these moves? Clearly something is not working. Will the Minister also specifically look into th

Open Prisons: Policy on Convicted Paedophiles

7. Whether his Department has a policy on the housing of convicted paedophiles in open prisons.

Spoke in debate: Open Prisons: Policy on Convicted Paedophiles

Parliamentary appearance by Alicia Kearns

Backing Business to Create Economic Growth

Does the Secretary of State not concede that GDP per capita is down? Can he tell me that a single one of his constituents, apart from those on welfare, feels better off under this Government?

Spoke in debate: Backing Business to Create Economic Growth

Parliamentary appearance by Alicia Kearns

Backing Business to Create Economic Growth

I will begin with an issue where the Government have promised action time and again but have failed to act: solar mega-plants. If rural communities are to host nationally significant energy infrastructure, we must be compensated fairly for doing so. An entire parliamentary term has passed, and yet the Government have still not regulated mandatory compensation, despite promising to do so. The consequences are real. In Rutland and Lincolnshire, a 2,100-acre industrial plant with 10-foot solar pane

Backing Business to Create Economic Growth

My right hon. Friend is completely right. What is breathtaking about this offer of £96,000 a year is that in a previous meeting—in a statement the company now disavows—we were told that paying compensation any higher would make the project financially unviable. That is to say that a project generating £15 million a year would be made financially unviable if it upped its offer to £144,000 a year in compensation. I wonder how Quinbrook’s investors and shareholders would feel if I asked them why ma

Backing Business to Create Economic Growth

My hon. Friend has enormous experience, and it is exactly the MHRA that we need to look at. This is not a medical device, yet it is being treated as such. I want to pay tribute to the brave young girl who has shared with me the letter sent to her by Enough. She is not a journalist or a campaigner, and she does not have the protections that I enjoy as a Member of Parliament, so Enough thought it could silence her. The first letter, signed personally by both founders, Katie White and Tom Allchurch

Spoke in debate: Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Parliamentary appearance by Alicia Kearns

Voted AYE on: Privilege

Alicia Kearns voted AYE on 'Privilege' (223-335, defeated)

Voted AYE on: Privilege

Alicia Kearns voted AYE on 'Privilege' (223-335, defeated)

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Oh my goodness! I can only apologise again for saying “you”, Madam Deputy Speaker. There is a reason why Labour MPs from older intakes have chosen not to come and defend the Prime Minister: they have seen this show before and know what happens. They know that their gut is telling them the right thing to do. I congratulate those of them who have been brave enough to speak out and share their views. The House will recall that the Government attempted to whip Labour MPs against giving the Intellige

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

I fully accept that. I know better and I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Absolutely. Some Members have suggested that their constituents do not really care about process and whether the truth is told in this Chamber, and that they are not really interested in this privilege motion, but that is most certainly not the case—and that is something that Members will experience in the months to come. I fear that a future release of files will further contradict the Prime Minister’s version of events. We discovered only this morning that Jonathan Powell, the National Securit

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

The hon. Gentleman is completely right. We were told repeatedly and consistently that due process was not followed. I know that it was not because I have been through security clearance. At the first level, before I could hand in my notice at my existing job and join the civil service, I had to wait seven months for security clearance. Then there was developed vetting, for which I had to wait about six months before I could take up a new role. I have also been through STRAP clearance, so I have