Contributions
1,222 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Oh dear! Dame Vera Baird: Kieran, you are not listening to what Claire says—she is right. The women’s movement is very disappointed with the Bill because it does not tackle the…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q Dame Vera, you talked about Charlotte’s powerful testimony. Would you accept that Charlotte has said it is wrong to use the voice of victims to advocate purely for reforms, as…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q Are there any lessons that could be drawn out for the rest of the country? You have given us some that you think cannot be. Sir Brian Leveson: Yes, and I have made…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Q Do you also agree that people who have the interests of victims at the heart of their thinking and positions on this can reasonably oppose your proposals, and that that does not…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q I want to move on to the references in your report to the modelling. I have various quotes from part 1 of your report, to refresh your memory of what you said. In paragraph 11,…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q I want to pick up on this discussion of the letter, which I think you characterised as coming from the perspective of women and girls as defendants in the system, not victims. I…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q I will take you through some further questions. Sir Brian Leveson: Fine.25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)On the right to elect, your report—we are not talking about further work that you are not responsible for—says: “It has been assumed that disposals per day in the magistrates’…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Yes. A whole series of stakeholders were invited by the MOJ and they potentially strongly disagree with your central conclusion of 20%. I have no further questions.25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)If they are being given sentences of potentially up three years versus, for example, six months, you do not think that will have any impact on the time, complexity or seriousness…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q I am being pressed for time, so I have just one final question. Sir Brian Leveson: Keep going.25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Great. Thank you very much; I appreciate that.25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Q Moving on to the substance of what you say in the letter, can you tell us a couple of the points that you think are most important in relation to why—although I am sure you…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q I think the witnesses were in the Public Gallery for the introductions, so I will skip straight to my questions. Claire, you have expressed your support of the structural…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Q Sure, but do you think that people might be concerned that you cannot say that no one had any pressure applied to them? Sarah Sackman: What I know is that as a Minister, I seek,…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Q Would it be fair to say that you had an increase in the backlog and then a decrease, without making any changes to the extent of the use of jury trials? Doug Downey: We have not…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Would I be correct in saying that it should not be inferred from anything you say today about the issues that need to be addressed, the challenges that victims are experiencing…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (First sitting)Q Okay, so it would be fair to say that your report points to the need to do further modelling, the MOJ has undertaken that modelling, and you reject the modelling that your…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Q Similarly to the question that I asked of the chief constable, it is important that we understand the constraints on your evidence. This is stated Government policy; would I be…25 Mar 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Second sitting)Q Okay. This question is more directly about your role. If you were to draw up a list for the Minister of the top five things that you thought would make a big impact on the…25 Mar 2026