Home Secretary, James Cleverly, visited Upminster tonight at the invitation of local MP, Julia Lopez, to take residents' questions on crime, security and immigration. 

Mr Cleverly spoke to the group at Upminster Golf Club, where guests included members of the local business community and the Hornchurch & Upminster Conservative Association. The Home Secretary recently took up his post after serving as Foreign Secretary, during which time he acted as the UK's top diplomat during the crisis in the Middle East. He takes his experiences of that crisis to his new role, where he will oversee the Mayor of London's policing operations on protests. He spoke to Upminster residents about the importance of making sure the Jewish community feels safe at a time of heightened tension and the pride he has in the police officers, security operatives and border force agents who dedicate their lives to securing people in the UK. 

Mr Cleverly also spoke about and answered residents' questions on immigration levels and small boat crossings, as the government prepares to address the Supreme Court's ruling against the Rwanda policy. 

Mrs Lopez said, 'I was incredibly grateful to the Home Secretary for taking time out of his pressured schedule to speak to my constituents. Policing and immigration are some of the issues on which residents contact me most frequently, and it was reassuring to hear the approach that Mr Cleverly wants to take as he assumes his new role'.