Sophy Ridge on Sunday Interview with Sarah Newton MP, Home Office Minister, 16.07.17

ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY, SKY NEWS

SOPHY RIDGE: Game of Thrones returns to our screens tomorrow night but if you are a fan of seeing power hungry political factions locked in a vicious battle to be next in line to lead, you really only have to read the papers this morning, senior cabinet ministers kicking lumps out of each other in anonymous briefings. Well we’re joined now in the studio by the Home Office Minister, Sarah Newton, and we will come to some of that manoeuvring in your party in a bit but first it feels right that we start off with the really serious issues of acid attacks because we have seen a spate of these attacks in recent weeks, what is the government going to do about it?

SARAH NEWTON: You’re right, it’s really very worrying and for those victims of these attacks it’s absolutely shocking, these are life changing injuries so I’ve been concerned about this and in the Home Office we’ve been concerned about this for some time, we’ve been working very closely with our colleagues in policing to build up a picture of what is going on so that we can take a really comprehensive series of actions to really tackle this terrible issue.

SR: So what are the actions then, because that’s what people really want to know about isn’t it?

SARAH NEWTON: Absolutely, well it starts really with understanding why on earth anyone would use acid or corrosive materials as an offensive weapon and then right the way through to what needs to be done in the criminal justice system to make sure the sentencing regime is absolutely right and sends out a very powerful message so there is a whole series of things they are looking at – access to the materials in the first place is there more we can do? There is the regime, the Poisons Act, but what more can we do there? Making sure that police officers understand the powers they’ve got so they can do their best apprehending people so there are a whole series of measures.

SR: I feel like I’m still not hearing that many specifics on what you are actually going to do here, will you need a licence for example to go and buy the kind of acids that can dissolve someone’s nose in a matter of seconds?

SARAH NEWTON: Already there is a regime for that but the problem is, Sophy, that …

SR: So is that no or yes?

SARAH NEWTON: It is, we are looking at the regime and we are looking to see what more we can do. We have to remember there is a lot of …

SR: So will you need a licence then to buy the …?

SARAH NEWTON: I am just about to answer that question. You do now, there is a licencing regime but the problem is that a lot of the chemicals that are being used are under your sink, are in your bathroom, these are readily available. So we are working with retailers and manufacturers. So with manufacturers to see can we reduce some of the strength of the cleaning materials, with retailers should we be asking for age verification checks for young people, how practical would that be, how can we introduce those measures? So examining every step of the process to see what more we can do.

SR: So that’s on the table is it, the age verification if you are going to buy for example some bleach?

SARAH NEWTON: These are all the things that we are currently working out to see if we can practically implement these changes, yes they are.

SR: Do you think that manufacturers are doing enough to try and make sure that these substances are as safe as they can be?

SARAH NEWTON: Well we’ve brought people to the table, we had a summit in the Home Office just recently with our national Police Chief’s Council lead, with the retailers, with manufacturers, making sure at every part of the process people are doing what they can to really bear down on this.

SR: Okay, so we are going to be hearing more about this tomorrow, you are giving a statement in the House of Commons. I just want to show you some statistics that we’ve got as well, now these show the pretty clear increase in the number of acid attacks that have happened, this is not something that has just happened overnight. Why has it taken so long for the government to act?

SARAH NEWTON: I don't think it has taken a long time at all. We’ve been working on this for some time and one attack is one too many but as you can see, they are relatively rare and there has been an uptick in the recent past and they effect so many different types of people. So they are used in so-called honour based violence, domestic abuse, they’re used by gangs – it’s a complicated picture but what we have been doing is working very closely with the police forces, they have been giving us a lot of voluntary data. We have been working with the NHS as well because not everybody who is affected will actually go to the police, especially if it is related to gangs, so actually building up a picture there. So we need to understand the motivation, we need to understand which chemicals they’re using, so we can take evidence based comprehensive measures I know everybody wants us to take.

SR: I’ll be honest here, you say that you have taken action before but at the same time it still feels very, when it comes to the specific things, you are just having conversations, you’re having debates about what can happen so it doesn’t feel that you have got that much concrete action if the upsurge started actually a few years ago.

SARAH NEWTON: Well it’s not a new crime, unfortunately, tragically, this has been a crime since Victorian times and it is something we have kept under review. We do have really good measures, police can stop and search, there are possession offences, most people get convicted for very serious offences, grievous bodily harm you can have up to a life sentence so we have been taking all this action over the while but clearly as that data shows, data that we’ve got from police forces, there has been an uptick and it’s starting to be used in different types of criminal activity with some different motivations so we are constantly reviewing and updating our intelligence, constantly seeing what more we can do.

SR: So are you going to be pushing the courts then to apply more life sentences for this kind of crime?

SARAH NEWTON: Well we are definitely doing a review of sentencing and are definitely involved with the CPS to make sure that people understand the powers they’ve got, understand the measures that can be in place and making sure that those penalties truly reflect the severity of the injuries, even a life sentence for some people and I quite understand when victims say they feel the perpetrators themselves should have a life sentence. Victims are at the heart of everything we’re doing and making sure that they are getting proper access to the ongoing psychological help as well as the physical care for their injuries. We are very determined to do everything we can to understand the issue and do everything we can to prevent it from happening.

SR: Okay, so to move on to a slightly different topic, do you think public sector workers are overpaid?

SARAH NEWTON: I certainly don’t think people working hard in our public services on modest incomes are overpaid at all, they do incredibly important jobs from cleaning our streets to being care workers to emergency services and we know they have had a really tough time as we’ve had to deal with the legacy of the enormous debt and the economic mess that we inherited in 2010. It’s been tough on public sector workers as they’ve had their wages capped and we know people are getting weary and tired of having to live with those pay caps so this is why the government is listening to the Public Sector Pay Review bodies and we’ll listen very carefully to see what more we can we do about increasing public sector pay, particularly for those people on modest incomes.

SR: The reason I am asking the question, as you probably twigged, is the Chancellor Philip Hammond allegedly told a Cabinet meeting that public sector workers are overpaid when you take pensions into account. Now he hasn’t denied it this morning, he just said he doesn’t want to comment on what happens in Cabinet. Is he wrong then to have allegedly have said these comments?

SARAH NEWTON: You know, I think the key word there is allegedly …

SR: Well five sources according to the Sunday Times and he hasn’t denied it.

SARAH NEWTON: I don’t comment on tittle tattle or leaks or anything like that. We are all united in wanting to do two things really, you know we’ve still got to manage the economy well, we must have a strong economy and that means that we have to be very careful about public expenditure but equally wanting to give people in the public sector a decent wage. What we’ve been very clear about is we must protect people’s jobs. Ever since the recession in 2010 we have been able to protect jobs because people have made those sacrifices in the public sector, because they have had their wages capped and we have got record levels of people in employment in our country and I’m sure we’d all agree that it is better for people to be employed than unemployed and you’ve only got to look across Europe where they didn’t take this responsible position and yes, perhaps their wages have gone up more but look at the levels of unemployment, particularly amongst young people, it’s terrible.

SR: Is it a bit of an issue though when these leaks are happening around the Chancellor? It’s not the first time that alleged comments he’s made have been leaked to the press, some reportedly sexist things he said about female train drivers were also leaked. This is not the vision of a united Cabinet, it really sounds as though someone’s got it in for the Chancellor.

SARAH NEWTON: Well I don't think that anybody should be leaking Cabinet meetings at all, I think that is thoroughly unprofessional but look, what I observe every day in parliament as I go about my business is a very united team of ministers behind the Prime Minister.

SR: Is that really what you’re saying?

SARAH NEWTON: It is absolutely what I said, it is absolutely focused on what our constituents want us to be focused on.

SR: So why are all these leaks happening then? Forgive my incredulity.

SARAH NEWTON: You know, who knows, this is all hearsay, all hearsay. What I see every day is people working with determination on the issues that our constituents expect us to be focused on – the economy, making a success of Brexit, tackling these awful issues like we have been talking about this morning. This is what we are determined to do.

SR: If people are trying to take down Philip Hammond because they see him as a potential leadership contender, is it time for Theresa May to stand down so at least these battles can be done in an actual contest?

SARAH NEWTON: It is absolutely not the time for the Prime Minster to stand down, she has the full support of the parliamentary party. It’s in the national interest that we all get on and make a success of Brexit, build a stronger economy, build that fairer society that everyone wants to see.

SR: Okay, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning.

SARAH NEWTON: Thank you.