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2,215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) BillHow did we get here? It takes a special kind of uselessness to engineer a crisis entirely of your own making and then to come to this House asking for applause as you legislate…22 Apr 2025HANSARD Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) BillLet me make some progress. Eventually the Sentencing Council did U-turn, but not before the guidance had briefly come into force. The council took until midday on 1 April, which…22 Apr 2025HANSARD Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) BillLet me finish the point. If hon. Members do not like the answer, perhaps they should hear it in full. The Sentencing Council made it clear that the guidance that was put before…22 Apr 2025HANSARDSentencing Council GuidelinesThe Lord Chancellor must be living in a parallel universe if she is giving herself a pat on the back today. The truth is she has completely lost control of the justice system. She…01 Apr 2025HANSARDSentencing Council Guidelines(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if she will make a statement on the Sentencing Council’s publication of community and custodial sentences guidelines.17 Mar 2025HANSARDSentencing Council GuidelinesIn just 14 days, new two-tier sentencing rules will come into force. These sentencing rules will infect our ancient justice system with the virus of identity politics, dividing…17 Mar 2025HANSARDSentencing Council GuidelinesOn a point of order, Mr Speaker. In his response to the urgent question, the Minister has repeatedly told the House that the previous Government approved the guidelines. In…17 Mar 2025HANSARDSentencing Council GuidelinesI do hope it was inadvertent, Mr Speaker.17 Mar 2025HANSARDCriminal Justice System Efficiency: TechnologyUnder the Justice Secretary’s leadership, her Department let out dozens of dangerous prisoners by mistake last year. Now we have uncovered that criminals who were let out early by…11 Mar 2025HANSARDCriminal Justice System Efficiency: TechnologyWe can all see that the Justice Secretary had no answers to my questions. If her Department cannot even tag prisoners properly, why should the public have any confidence in her…11 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsYesterday, the Sentencing Council issued a letter correcting the Justice Secretary. It made it clear that the new sentencing guidelines were not the same as the draft guidance…11 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsAs a lawyer herself, I would have thought that the Justice Secretary would know the difference between the last set of guidance and the new one. I say “as a lawyer,” but in this…11 Mar 2025HANSARDCourts and Tribunals: Sitting DaysIt is great to see the Justice Secretary back in the country after her holiday in Texas. If she can find time to travel to America, why can she not find time to travel to the two…05 Mar 2025HANSARDCourts and Tribunals: Sitting DaysI do not pretend that cutting the court backlog is easy, or that it will be quick, but the Justice Secretary owes the country a plan and a timetable for when that backlog is…05 Mar 2025HANSARDCourts and Tribunals: Sitting DaysIt is getting worse.05 Mar 2025HANSARDCourts and Tribunals: Sitting DaysIt is getting worse.05 Mar 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsTwo weeks ago, three grooming gang members were sentenced at Bradford Crown court for the most appalling rapes of children, but they received only six, seven and nine-year…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI have written to the Attorney General asking him to review those sentences as potentially unduly lenient. Two of the men who were sentenced at Bradford Crown court for grooming…28 Jan 2025HANSARDSouthport AttackContempt of court laws are guardrails that ensure fair trials. Does the Justice Secretary accept that, as the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation has said, by failing to…28 Jan 2025HANSARDCrown Court BacklogThe courts backlog is growing by 500 cases every month, and the Ministry of Justice has not set a date for when it will come down. Victims are being forced to put their lives on…28 Jan 2025