Reports of further raids on churches in China are deeply concerning, and the environment for freedom of religion or belief across China remains restrictive. The Government champions freedom of religion or belief for all abroad. We work to uphold these rights through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora, and through bilateral engagement. The Prime Minister raised human rights when he met President Xi Jinping in January.

Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

The details are published in quarterly stats.

Home Office: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, July to September 2025 - GOV.UK

The Home Office does not publish data on immigration enforcement visits broken down by residential and commercial properties.

Although operational systems include an indicator of the type of address visited this level of detail is not currently included in our published statistics.

Information on enforcement visits and illegal working enforcement visits can be found at Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025 - GOV.UK, giving the total number of number of enforcement visits.

Where police have caused damage to property, for example by forcing entry, individuals may be able to claim compensation by raising a complaint or claim with the police force concerned, who will assess the claim in accordance with force policy.

Decisions relating to police operations, including arrests, are made independently by the police.

Ministers do not intervene in individual cases or operational matters, not because of any lack of concern, but to respect and uphold the principle of policing free from political influence.

The Border Security Command is committed to working with international partners to tackle shared migration challenges and is working in multiple countries and regions to reduce the impact of organised immigration crime into the UK.

Our international work seeks commitment to deepen cooperation, including through upstream intervention with source and transit countries. The relationships we have strengthened and the new agreements we have formed will allow us to disrupt and deter the criminal gangs, as demonstrated by our landmark agreements with Iraq, our new pilot scheme with France, and through the Joint Communique with Vietnam.

Further to this, the Border Security Command (BSC) is working strategically across the Border Security system, including with partners such as the National Crime Agency, Police, and intelligence agencies.

Working with the BSC, the National Crime Agency led 347 disruptions of organised immigration crime networks in 2024/25 – its highest level on record and a 40 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The police are operationally independent of the government and make decisions on specific incidents based on their intelligence and judgment. The Home Office does not have the power to direct them to make any operational decisions. However, the Home Secretary has regular meetings with all policing leaders, including the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), covering a range of matters.

The enforcement of the law is an operational matter for the police. It is for them to decide whether a particular action warrants police involvement, based on their operational expertise and the circumstances of the case.

The Metropolitan Police are operationally independent of the government. It is for the police to make decisions about how to respond to specific incidents based on their professional judgement and the circumstances at hand.

The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:

“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”

The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:

“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”

The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:

“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”

The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:

“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”

The use of police powers are a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of Government. The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement about the incident in question, which reads as follows:

“Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks. While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. On Thursday, 27 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action. Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action. A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”

As the hon. Gentleman will realise, this is an operational matter for the Metropolitan police, and I am sure that they will provide further commentary at some point.

Reports about the Met police raid and arrests at the Quaker meeting house in Westminster last Thursday have caused great alarm, particularly because Quakers are renowned for their non-violent and pacifist principles. The incident raises serious concerns about the police’s approach to freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest. What explanation have the Met police given the Minister for their actions that night?

It is a fundamental principal of British Policing that the police are operationally independent of the government, and it is for them take decisions on enforcement action.

No assessment has been made at this time on community relations following the police operation at the Kurdish Community Centre in London.