It is a pleasure to be speaking under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Pritchard. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) for securing this debate, and to the others who participated.
As we heard, these are really serious issues that affect many people across the United Kingdom. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that drugs go to the heart of
every serious social issue that we face, whether it is family breakdown or young people being enticed and entrapped into lives of crime. Whether drug dealers are fuelling crime itself or simply ruining lives, their impact is felt not just by those who are directly involved but by the neighbourhoods where they operate. The trade is driven by organised crime’s relentless pursuit of money; it seeks the maximum profit for the minimum risk. The tactics the gangs use are evolving, and so must our response.
As everybody who contributed to the debate will be aware, in Northern Ireland crime and policing is the responsibility of the Executive, who in 2021 published an organised crime strategy for Northern Ireland. However, this issue is of course cross-jurisdictional, and we must work together closely. The example that the hon. Gentleman gave of the €150 million haul seized, which was quite possibly designed to go elsewhere in the United Kingdom or more widely, is a good illustration of that point.
I will explain briefly the steps being taken by the Government to tackle the UK-wide illicit drugs trade and disrupt the organised crime groups behind it —[Interruption.]