Contributions
1,222 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Eighth sitting)I rise to speak in support of amendments 58 and 52; I will start with amendment 58. We find ourselves at a significant juncture in the history of our legal system, and the…21 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Seventh sitting)Will the hon. Member give way?21 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Eighth sitting)I beg to move amendment 52, in clause 5, page 14, line 36, leave out subsection (5) and insert— “(5) The judgment must be given at the time of conviction, except where an…21 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Eighth sitting)Yes, absolutely. I have acknowledged that on a number of occasions, along with what the Government have done on Crown court sitting days and a number of other ways that I…21 Apr 2026HANSARD Victims and Courts BillThere will be some back and forth about who wants what elements of this scheme and in what ways, but I think the Minister was wrong to say that our focus was on it being for…20 Apr 2026HANSARD Victims and Courts BillIt is a pleasure to take part in this debate on the Lords message on the Victims and Courts Bill. The Bill has been debated extensively in the other place. I thank the Lords for…20 Apr 2026HANSARDSecurity VettingThe Prime Minister is suggesting that the idea that the security services had concerns about this appointment was a bolt from the blue to him two weeks ago, despite the fact it…20 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)I rise to speak in support of amendment 40 in my name and to consider other related amendments. At this point, we are considering in more detail the allocation decisions, how they…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)That goes straight to the point we discussed earlier about why it is important to separate the two, because in this scenario it is the same person all the way through. Ultimately,…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)Would the Minister like to intervene?16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)I beg to move amendment 40, in clause 3, page 5, line 38, at end insert— “(7) Where a court has determined in accordance with this section that a trial is to be conducted without…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fifth sitting)Yes, and my hon. Friend did an excellent job of pointing out that although that might have been in some non-statutory documents, we do not know, because we do not have the…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)I think the Minister would accept that it is a high bar, but also that it is sometimes successfully crossed. Allocations are sometimes successfully challenged, which demonstrates…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)Yes, but the question is not whether the six-year sentence is reasonable, it is whether the mode of trial in reaching that sentence was fair. The Government agree that the…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)I welcome the opportunity to speak to amendment 19, tabled in the name of the hon. Member for Chichester. As my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight East pointed out, this one…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)As I pointed out, at some point in these proceedings, even the Justice Secretary did not think it necessary. When he was considering these matters, the Justice Secretary agreed…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)I want to pick out a couple of points. The Minister has criticised the risk of retrials, and we have made several points about how other elements in the Bill will increase that…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)As I said at the outset, there is a fundamental safeguard of people being able to have a judicial review of the allocation decision. It is all well and good for the hon. Member…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)This is a great opportunity for me to learn and understand an element of the system that I did not understand—I know about it, rather than understand it. I will go back to the…16 Apr 2026HANSARDCourts and Tribunals Bill (Fifth sitting)I accept the first point. If the Minister had said, “Yes, there is a drop in the backlog in those three regions, but we tend to see that because of this,” citing the points the…16 Apr 2026