Contributions
1,118 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsI have been very candid in saying that there are pressures in our prisons. But here is the thing: first, capacity in our jails is significantly higher than it was under Labour’s…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsIt is really important that the public are not inadvertently misled. Early release does not apply to those on life sentences, those on imprisonment for public protection…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsMany people in this House will have heard about some appalling cases, but this case is truly one of the most shocking and upsetting that any of us will have encountered. I of…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I was asked about my priorities when I was appointed to this role, and I said that the guilty should be convicted, that the innocent…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend for raising this incredibly important case and for taking it up so powerfully on behalf of his constituents. In the Sentencing Bill, we have a proposal such…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am proud that, since 2010, the number of people prosecuted for rape is up 32%, sentences are around 40% longer and the proportion of those sentences spent in custody has…26 Mar 2024HANSARDSentencing: Dangerous OffendersTo govern is to choose. Choices we have made mean that the most dangerous offenders—the acid attackers, the rapists, the knife-point robbers—who are sentenced to seven years or…26 Mar 2024HANSARDSentencing: Dangerous OffendersMy hon. Friend is absolutely right that rape is an appalling crime. In 2010, the average custodial sentence for adult rape was six and a half years, and prison governors were…26 Mar 2024HANSARDSentencing: Dangerous OffendersThat is not a fair characterisation. The capacity in our estate is much greater than when we inherited it—that is point one. Point two is that we have kick-started the largest…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising this important issue. I am aware of the issues that have been raised. There is plainly a delicate balance to strike. It is incredibly…26 Mar 2024HANSARDSentencing: Dangerous OffendersMy right hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right to say that it is a sensitive issue. As he knows from practice, those who commit the offence of murder outside, using a knife…26 Mar 2024HANSARDSentencing: Dangerous OffendersThere is nothing I could say from this Dispatch Box that would put right the horror that the poor families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Austin suffered in those…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am very grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for raising this point. Joshua Rozenberg has made a profound and important contribution to our country. Indeed, he is required…26 Mar 2024HANSARDReducing ReoffendingReducing reoffending is a core mission of this Government. That is why, for example, we rolled out the genuinely transformational policy of 12 weeks’ guaranteed accommodation for…26 Mar 2024HANSARDReducing ReoffendingI thank my right hon. Friend for the interest he is showing in this issue. He is absolutely right to pay tribute to the New Futures Network, which does exceptional work in…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsProbation officers do an exceptionally important job, as I believe we all agree. Let me set out what we have done in respect of prison and probation staff. First, we accepted…26 Mar 2024HANSARDReducing ReoffendingThe hon. Member is right: it is of course really important that we tackle drugs coming into prisons. We have rolled out £100 million in prison gate security, to ensure that there…26 Mar 2024HANSARDReducing ReoffendingI thank my hon. and learned Friend for his excellent point. He says something with which I passionately agree: strip out the emotion and follow the evidence. The evidence shows…26 Mar 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe point I was endeavouring to make, although I perhaps did not do so well, is that listing is a judicial function. We have seen the senior presiding judge make a decision that…26 Mar 2024HANSARDReducing ReoffendingAbsolutely. Importantly, we are rolling out a prison education service, with a considerable sum of money—about £150 million a year, which is significant. However, it is critical…26 Mar 2024