Contributions
640 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsI think the hon. Lady for her question. The Criminal Justice Bill deals with repeal provisions for the Vagrancy Act, and we are bringing the Bill back on Report with more on rough…20 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am grateful for the hon. Lady’s question. She will know how much we are doing on victim support, particularly in terms of sexual and domestic abuse. I would like to speak to her…20 Feb 2024HANSARDRape Victims: Privacy RightsI am truly sorry to hear of what happened to the hon. Lady’s constituent. I hope that I can reassure her by saying that new regulations will be published under the Victims and…20 Feb 2024HANSARDDomestic AbuseI am afraid that the Government take the opposite view. We use the expression honour-based abuse, which has been controversial in itself, because often victims understand it the…07 Feb 2024HANSARDDomestic AbuseI can reassure my hon. Friend that the Government will publish a draft Bill on that in due course.07 Feb 2024HANSARDDomestic AbuseI meet the Domestic Abuse Commissioner regularly, and our last joint visit was to a refuge for minoritised women for whom honour-based abuse was a specific issue. It is important…07 Feb 2024HANSARDWindrush Compensation SchemeI say to the hon. Lady that that is not accepted. In fact, the Health Secretary made an announcement on maternal services this week; I think it would be appropriate to refer to my…07 Feb 2024HANSARDWindrush Compensation SchemeAs of December 2023, 91% of all claims either had received a final decision or were less than six months old. The Windrush scheme has reduced the time taken to allocate a…07 Feb 2024HANSARDWindrush Compensation SchemeI can confirm that we have been made aware of 53 claimants who have unfortunately passed away. I want to provide the hon. Lady with two reassurances: first, if we are notified an…07 Feb 2024HANSARDWindrush Compensation SchemeWe consider each claim on its facts, and no two claims are the same. I would be happy to write to the hon. Lady about specific issues, but I reassure her that we do not take a…07 Feb 2024HANSARD Police Grant ReportOf course it is serious, but it has fallen so much. My right hon. Friend the Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp) quite properly talked about homicide, the maximum high-harm…07 Feb 2024HANSARD Police Grant ReportIt is a pleasure to wind up this short but perfectly formed debate on police funding, and I am grateful to the Members who have spoken in it. Before I respond to the points that…07 Feb 2024HANSARDWindrush Compensation SchemeI find it difficult to accept that a scheme is failing when more than 80% of claims have now received a final decision, and more than 90% have either received a final decision or…07 Feb 2024HANSARDWindrush Compensation SchemeSo far, £75 million has been paid out on more than 2,000 claims. I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that it is not appropriate to draw precise equivalence with things like the…07 Feb 2024HANSARDCriminal Justice Bill (Sixteenth sitting)That has assisted there. A new statutory defence would also be restrictive in how it is framed and, unlike the common law defence, is less able to respond to the changing nature…30 Jan 2024HANSARDCriminal Justice Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I am simply making a point about causation. The hon. Member has put a causal measure into her new clause and she raised a case, and I am simply saying that it was the conclusion…30 Jan 2024HANSARDCriminal Justice Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I am grateful to the shadow Minister for raising this important issue. I agree without reservation that centralisation is crucial to the effective policing of rape and serious…30 Jan 2024HANSARDCriminal Justice Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for her intervention, which leads into the point I wanted to address in her new clause. Subsection (3)(b) of new clause 32 says that the criminal offence…30 Jan 2024HANSARDCriminal Justice Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland, who has been such an effective campaigner on this deeply personal offence that completely devastated her young…30 Jan 2024HANSARDCriminal Justice Bill (Sixteenth sitting)The guidelines already include a range of aggravating factors for theft, among which are stealing to order, an intention to cause harm to the victim personally, and where the…30 Jan 2024