Contributions
1,690 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)Does my hon. Friend agree that what tends to get the headlines in newspapers is when people bring claims in these kinds of cases? Some of the cases seem quite horrific and brazen,…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Eleventh sitting)The amendment from my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax is, as I said earlier, part of a broader piece about ensuring that we get the balance right between giving our security…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)I find that very difficult. If it gives him time for his civil servants to provide the answer, I will say that it is very unusual to have retrospection in a law such as this. If…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)There is lots in the Bill on which there is cross-party agreement. We want to achieve a situation whereby law enforcement, our agencies and others have maximum powers to stop the…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Eleventh sitting)I think the Minister has explained that. I take the point made by the right hon. Member for Dundee East, but as I said earlier on, I think the rules are a sensible safeguard in…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)The media’s portrayal of legal aid is of giving out huge sums of money to the undeserving and those who are guilty of crimes, but we should start from the basis, as I always do,…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Eleventh sitting)I warmly welcome the Minister to his position. He and I go back a long way: when I was a Minister in the Ministry of Defence, he was a bright, fresh young officer, and I think we…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)Is the Minister suggesting that this measure is going to be retrospective to 2001 for some individuals?08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)I am sorry, but what is the purpose of the measure? I know judges. The Minister might want to ask them to reduce damages, but he is not going to interfere with their independence.…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)I do not know whether my hon. Friend is aware of the international comparison with the gangster in Boston called Whitey Bulger. He was a notorious gangster whose unexplained…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)Also, if the money was used to support terrorism there is existing legislation about finance of terrorism, so it would fall under that legislation that exists already, rather than…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)I like the idea of the Government being able to look into the future. We have established that there are no cases so far, so what are the limitations of the existing legislation…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office employ a wide variety of talents among the individuals whom they recruit, but I did not realise that they actually recruit fortune…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)Why?08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)That is absolute tosh. If this gets on the statute book, what on earth would it cost if somebody challenges and appeals? The initial damages will be completely insignificant…08 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Twelfth sitting)Boston.08 Sept 2022HANSARDPoint of OrderFurther to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am grateful for your explanation, but may I inform you that what we discovered in the Committee this morning is not what…06 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Tenth sitting)The former right hon. Member for Rother Valley was a very good friend of mine. He also had a knighthood, so you might want to have a word with him, Mr Gray. I am speaking to get…06 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Tenth sitting)Quill pens, yes. Now it is about resigning by tweet. The Minister was clear in his tweet that he was resigning— [ Interruption. ] My hon. Friend the Member for Garston and…06 Sept 2022HANSARDNational Security Bill (Tenth sitting)Would it not also be interesting to know whether the hon. Member for Stevenage—unless, let us say, he has been kidnapped and put in a box or sent on a foreign trip somewhere—is…06 Sept 2022