Commons
Debate
20 January 2026
Sentencing Bill
I apologise that I was not here for the Minister’s opening speech; I was chairing the Justice Committee. I do not think that matters, though, because I agree with him on the amendments. They strengthen the Bill considerably. They bring more openness and transparency, and we welcome all the recommend…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 January 2026
9 contributions
Prisons: Illegal Drugs
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for me to make a statement on behalf of the Justice Committee on the Government’s response to the Committee’s sixth report in this Parliament, “Tackling the drugs crisis in our prisons”. The report was published on 31 October 2025, and the…
I think it is particularly demoralising for prison staff and governors to see drones coming and going almost casually. The point I often make is that if this was happening around civil airports or military facilities, it would be stopped immediately. The problem, which is not unique to this Governme…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
3 contributions
Jury Trials
The background to this debate is well known. Against that background of a historically high and growing backlog of cases in the Crown court provoked by the previous Government, the former Lord Chancellor commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to undertake an independent review of the criminal courts with th…
I will give way once, but I am aware of time.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
Middle East and North Africa
This morning I had the honour to attend the official opening of the Palestinian embassy in my constituency by His Excellency Ambassador Husam Zomlot and also by 14-year-old Obeida, who was evacuated to the UK for medical treatment after losing two of his limbs in Israeli bombings. I thank the Minist…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 January 2026
Venezuela
I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement that she will abide by international law. I would not expect her to publish the legal advice that she has received from the Law Officers and others, but I would expect her to set out the Government’s own analysis of whether and how the acts of US forces to…
Commons
Debate
5 January 2026
HMP Leyhill: Offender Abscondments
In the light of these escapes from a class D prison, will the Government look again at the policy and process for moving prisoners to open prisons earlier in their sentence as a consequence of prison overcrowding? Does the legacy of the previous Government mean that prisoners may be located in priso…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
Local Government Finance
The Minister mentioned Hammersmith and Fulham council in her statement, so I hope she will not mind my reminding her that it is one of the most efficiently run councils in the country. Despite having had 50% of its funding cut under the Tories, it has made £138 million in savings since 2014. It has …
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Topical Questions
Is the Secretary of State aware that there is a crisis in family mediation, with no confirmation of mediation vouchers going beyond next April and over half of legal aid providers having been forced to give up in the last eight years? Does he agree that this is short-sighted, as mediation saves time…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Legal Aid
The Select Committee has just begun an inquiry into access to justice. The evidence we are getting suggests that civil and family legal aid in particular are in a dire position, with fees now approximately half what they were 28 years ago. There have been welcome increases in housing and immigration…
Commons
Proceedings
8 December 2025
Restriction of Jury Trials
There is no reason why the Government should not consider mode of trial as part of their reform of the criminal courts, but they would find more support if they could better evidence the effects of the proposed changes to jury trial. To what extent will they reduce the backlog? What proportion and t…
Commons
Proceedings
3 December 2025
Official Secrets Act and Espionage
The Joint Committee, of which I am a member, approached this issue in a non-partisan way, and I agree with the Minister that it is a pity that the Conservatives have not taken the same approach, particularly as it started on their watch. The strong impression that I form from the inquiry is that eve…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 December 2025
Criminal Court Reform
May I recognise the commitment of the Lord Chancellor and the Minister of State in grasping the issue of the Crown court backlog, which, as Sir Brian Leveson says, is a threat to our whole system of criminal justice? The criticism of these proposals from those on the Opposition Benches comes with no…
Commons
Proceedings
27 November 2025
Right to Trial by Jury
The Minister is right that we cannot go on as we are with 80,000-plus cases in the backlog and growing, and four-year delays in serious cases. She is also right that there is nothing sacred about jury trial for any particular level of offence. But if the Lord Chancellor is thinking of going beyond S…
Commons
Westminster Hall
27 November 2025
3 contributions
Packaging: Extended Producer Responsibility
My hon. Friend is making a very good point. The famous Griffin brewery is in my constituency, as is Fuller’s, with its substantial on- and off-trade. We all want to see recycling increase, but there is the issue of fees and whether it will involve the use of materials that are less recyclable than g…
Will the Minister give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 November 2025
6 contributions
Reoffending: Rehabilitation in Prisons
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for me to make a statement on behalf of the Justice Committee. This is the seventh report of the Committee and its subject is rehabilitation in prisons.
This time last year, the Justice Committee began its principal inquiry to look at the…
I thank the hon. Member, who is an effective and active member of the Committee, for her question. We should not ignore the fact that youth custody is one of the successes of the prison system in the sense that over the past few decades, the number of young people in custody has gone down from over …
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
20 November 2025
Separation Centres: Terrorist Offenders
May I thank the Minister for reaffirming the Government’s support—which it should not be necessary to do—for the rule of law and the ECHR? Will she concentrate on the key points here? The first is making sure that the most dangerous prisoners are held securely and the second is ensuring the safety o…
Commons
Oral Questions
Solicitor General
13 November 2025
Rural Crime
As my right hon. Friend says, these days rural crime is often organised crime. A lot of that is county lines, which by its nature is cross-jurisdictional and involves different parts of the CPS and different police forces. What is she doing to ensure co-ordination to tackle those types of offences, …
Commons
Debate
11 November 2025
Prisoner Releases in Error
I welcome the initiatives that the Lord Chancellor has announced to deal with wrongful releases, but does he accept that the level and circumstances of such releases are symptomatic of a deeper malaise? Will he look at the Justice Committee’s current reports on drug culture, organised crime and the …
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 November 2025
Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights
We are also celebrating another event: the 25th anniversary of the coming into force of the Human Rights Act 1998. Like the European convention, it is about the rights of the individual against the state, and it gives individuals in this country the right to enforce those rights. Those are both thin…
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 November 2025
2 contributions
House Building: London
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
The problem I have with the hon. Gentleman’s speech is the implication that the Conservatives are in favour of house building, particularly affordable house building. I had the dubious distinction of having a Conservative council for eight years, which typically asked for 0% or 5% of homes to be aff…
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
3 contributions
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that a couple of things are missing from this otherwise excellent Bill? The first is an acknowledgment of the role that the media played in covering up many of the wrongs that happened, and the second is a national oversight mechanism which would ensure th…
I welcome the Bill, and thank the Government for introducing it. It is the result of years of committed campaigning led by the families of the victims and the survivors of Hillsborough. Many of the worst corporate miscarriages of justice, from infected blood to Grenfell, would have been exposed year…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
29 October 2025
4 contributions
Sentencing Bill
indicated dissent.
My right hon. Friend makes a good point. Although commercial organisations may well be able to run community schemes, it is clear that the ambition of voluntary organisations is rehabilitation and the prevention of reoffending, and that really must be the goal of community sentencing, which is at th…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
Victims and Courts Bill
May I congratulate my hon. Friend on piloting the Bill through the House? It is an excellent piece of legislation that will make a real difference to victims. But, as she said, it is just a start. Will she and the Department rededicate themselves to bringing down that Crown court backlog? Speedy jus…
Commons
Debate
27 October 2025
Prisoner Release Checks
Given the pressure on prison front desks and the complexity of rules for release, this was an accident waiting to happen. One thing that might bring down the number of releases in error is the digitising of prisoner records. On visits to prisons, Justice Committee members are often horrified to find…
Commons
Westminster Hall
23 October 2025
5 contributions
Work of the County Court: Government Response
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for me to make a statement on the Government’s response to the fourth report of the Justice Committee, “Work of the County Court”.
Two independent reviews into the criminal justice s…
As I think I set out in the statement, there are problems all along the line. There are problems with representation. There are problems with access. There are problems with systems remaining on paper when they should have been put online long ago. It might therefore be thought that the physical sta…
+3 more contributions in this session