§ Martin LintonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by the(a) Ministerial Committee on Animal Rights Extremism and (b) police unit within the National Crime Squad on violent animal rights protests. [57015]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Ministerial Committee on animal rights extremism has taken a range of measures, including agreeing upon and implementing legislation to allow police to remove intimidatory protesters from outside homes, introducing procedures to prevent disclosure of the home addresses of directors of vulnerable companies, and carrying out a thorough review of the criminal justice system in relation to animal rights cases and identifying improvements where necessary.
The National Crime Squad has undertaken a number of operations which have resulted in the arrest of 70 individuals for a variety of offences relating to animal extremism, and has supported colleagues nationally in the co-ordination of both intelligence and operational activity.