Contributions
1,222 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)It absolutely does—but the Minister is not doing what Sir Brian recommended. She is rejecting his approach, but when we want to reject his approach, she asks how we can possibly…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)Yes, absolutely, which is why I said earlier that I regret some of the changes undertaken while we were in government. I have made it very clear that justice and all the issues we…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Third sitting)Will the Minister give way?14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Third sitting)I think even though the Minister did not directly and clearly say it, there was an acceptance there that the backlog is falling in a number of areas. A question that flows from…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)I do. In the other direction, the Institute for Government highlights that “only around 30% of sentences of 6-12 months were handed out by magistrates” since their sentencing…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank the Minister for explaining the measures as she understands them. I do not mind admitting that some of the explanations in the explanatory notes and the information from…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)The point was made very powerfully in the evidence sessions that we have this idea that we have to take a lot of time to explain all this complex stuff to a jury, and that we can…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)I do not think I am being the least bit unfair. I did not even ask the Minister to give a list or specifics; I just asked whether the statistics were going down in some parts of…14 Apr 2026HANSARD Dualling of the A21Even if the Government cannot commit to the funding, developing a business case and options in an updated form would not commit anybody to doing it or to saying that there will be…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)What does not bear up to much scrutiny is for the Minister to say, “Actually, the package as a whole will deliver these major reforms,” because we do not object to the whole…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)As we heard from the Criminal Bar Association and others during the evidence sessions, we do not accept that the Government have sufficiently justified that modelling. Modelling…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)It would assist the Committee to know why we are making these comparisons. I have figures on the effect of the reclassification of criminal offences in the Criminal Justice Act…14 Apr 2026HANSARD Dualling of the A21First, will the Minister advise me on what to do if something is not even in the long pipeline? What does an MP have to do to get it put into the long pipeline? Secondly, if the…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)My final point in opposition to clauses 1 and 2 is that the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner), who is not here today, would have had a lot to say during our…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)On a point of order, Ms Butler. This speaks to the heart of the confusion at the start of the debate. On the one hand, the Minister wants to say that it is arbitrary and…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)I covered all the statistics on the reforms that the hon. Member for Rugby mentioned this morning. The scale of these changes, compared with the scale of those changes, is…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fourth sitting)Clearly, if new receipts into the Crown court are coming down, we will not immediately see a reduction in the backlogs—we need time for the trials to come down. I am glad that the…14 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Third sitting)The policy adviser of the CPS does not represent the individual views of all the different people who work for the CPS. The suggestion that, because the policy lead or the senior…14 Apr 2026HANSARD Prison Officers: Mandatory Body ArmourIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) on securing this important…26 Mar 2026HANSARDLocal Government ReorganisationLabour is causing chaos in local government in East Sussex. After firing the starting gun on tearing up our local government boundaries—something that no resident in East Sussex…26 Mar 2026