Hyper-prolific Offending
21. What steps she is taking through the criminal justice system to help tackle hyper-prolific offending.
Showing every spoken contribution, including 5,804 under 12 words. Hide short remarks
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Hyper-prolific Offending
Tool theft has a devastating impact on tradespeople and their families across the country. That is why I am pleased to support the shadow Justice Secretary, Sidcup police, On The Tools, Checkatrade and others in tool-marking initiatives and raids at boot sales where stolen goods are normally sold, but there is more to do across the criminal justice system to tackle this issue. Will the Government support Conservative amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill and ensure that these prolific offenders face tougher sentences and tradespeople get the justice they finally deserve?
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Draft Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Legal Aid: Domestic Abuse) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2025
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this evening, Sir Desmond. Legal aid plays a critical role in our justice system, particularly for the most vulnerable in society. Access to that legal advice and representation can be a lifeline for individuals facing incredibly difficult circumstances, and those who have experienced domestic abuse are often in particular need of such support. That is why any changes to the legal aid framework in this area warrant careful consideration. It is clear that a significant number of the changes in this draft order will help legal aid provision to keep pace with the evolving legal landscape. The alignment of terminology—moving from “domestic violence” to “domestic abuse” and from “financial abuse” to “economic abuse,” for example—is a necessary step to reflect the broader understanding of the multifaceted nature of abuse, consistent with the landmark Domestic Abuse Act. That modernisation of language is not merely semantic; it will help to make sure that a wider range of behaviours, and their impact, are properly recognised within the legal aid system, so it has our support. The amendments relating to immigration legal aid for victims of domestic abuse also warrant careful attention. The inclusion of those applying for leave to remain under the updated appendix to the immigration rules is a change that addresses a specific vulnerability. Individuals whose immigration status is tied to an abusive partner are in a precarious position. We support these changes, although we will closely monitor how they are implemented. We agree that the changes to the evidential requirements in private family law cases, allowing medical evidence from registered overseas health professionals, are a pragmatic step. Survivors of abuse may have sought medical attention outside the UK, and it is sensible and right that such evidence should be considered in legal aid applications. People who are fleeing abuse should not be inadvertently disadvantaged in accessing legal aid. The amendments concerning domestic abuse protection notices and domestic abuse protection orders represent a further stage in the integration of these relatively new protective measures into the legal aid framework. DAPNs and DAPOs were introduced to provide more streamlined and effective protection for victims of domestic abuse. The previous Government introduced statutory instruments in 2023 and 2024 to amend legislation to provide access to legal aid for both victims and respondents, where appropriate. This draft order makes further amendments so that the appropriate type of legal aid—civil or criminal—is available to those who are party to DAPO proceedings, and for those subject to DAPNs. It is right that victims and, where appropriate, respondents in such proceedings should both have access to legal representation to ensure fair and just outcomes. We will be particularly interested in the effects of these changes, which we support in principle. We particularly note the Government’s ongoing evaluation of the DAPN and DAPO pilot, which was launched on 27 November 2024 in the locations that the Minister mentioned, and how the legal aid provisions interact with the findings of that review. I understand that no formal consultation was undertaken specifically for this draft order, as the Government view these as technical amendments aligning with existing policy and legislation. While we understand the rationale, we reiterate the importance of ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, including legal aid providers and those representing victims of domestic abuse, to ensure that the practical implementation of these changes is smooth and effective. The commitment from the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Aid Agency to monitor the impact of these amendments on the legal aid scheme is important to ensure the transparency and adequate functioning of the legal aid system. The impact assessment accompanying this instrument provides a degree of insight into the anticipated costs and effects of these changes, and we note the estimated increase in the legal aid fund related to the expansion of immigration legal aid, and the assessment that other amendments are unlikely to result in a substantial increase in applications. We will monitor that closely, and we call on the Government to similarly keep these assessments under regular review, as the changes take effect. While we acknowledge the Government’s stated aims and the technical nature of many of these amendments, we also recognise the profound impact that legal aid has on the lives of vulnerable individuals. Ensuring that the system is accessible to those who genuinely need it, is up to date and reflects the realities faced by victims of domestic abuse is a shared objective. On the basis of the information provided and the commitment to ongoing monitoring and review, we will not divide the Committee on today’s order.
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British Steel
That is not true.
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Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill
Equality before the law is at the heart of the rule of law. As the great Roman statesman Cicero said: “For rights that were not open to all alike would be no rights.” The revised guidelines from the Sentencing Council fundamentally went against that important principle. To introduce a presumption that pre-sentence reports would be required not necessarily because of a particular vulnerability of offenders or circumstances related to their offences, but because of the colour of their skin, the region of their ancestors’ origin or the religious beliefs that they held is two-tier justice, no matter how laudable the intentions. This is not about Court of Appeal judgments such as Thompson, which the Lord Chancellor referred to, and it is not about factors that could fundamentally change the effect of a particular judicial sentences on an offender, or factors relating directly to the circumstances of the offence. This is purely about those characteristics. My right hon. Friend the shadow Lord Chancellor did a huge service to not only this House but our country when he raised this matter from the Dispatch Box on 5 March, because it was clear that the Lord Chancellor was completely blindsided. Neither she nor her Ministers knew anything about the proposals. In fairness to the right hon. Lady, who is not in her seat at the moment, I am sure that she was as appalled as we were at the idea that people should be treated differently purely because of their ethnicity, culture or religion. But this is a lacklustre Bill, which does the minimum needed to clear up the immediate mess of this Government’s making. [Interruption.] As I said, it does the minimum necessary. It is better than nothing—it is a very small step in the right direction—but it does not go as far as the Government should to introduce the reforms that are needed. The right hon. Lady had been Lord Chancellor for eight months, but she had so little grip of her Department that she not only did nothing to stop the Sentencing Council’s new guidelines, but was not even aware of them. Her representative had met the Sentencing Council just two days earlier. What were they doing at the Sentencing Council, if they were not there to stop such proposals? How is the right hon. Lady running her Department, if she was not even informed of the new guidelines? The proposals had changed during the process. The Lord Chancellor, unlike me and the Business Secretary, has actually been a practising lawyer. She will understand that there is a substantial difference between saying that a pre-sentence report may be particularly important, and stating, as a requirement, that such a report will normally be considered necessary, given the effect that statement has, and the triggers for appeals against sentences. Those changes were made almost at the point when the right hon. Lady became Lord Chancellor, yet eight months later, she had done nothing to stop them and was not even aware of them. This Bill stops only the narrowest and worst aspects of the guidelines from applying. If the Government were actually serious about taking action, they could have done so much more quickly. They did not even need to take action; an omission would have been sufficient. On 28 March, when my right hon. Friend the shadow Lord Chancellor brought forward his private Member’s Bill, all the Government Whips had to do was not shout “Object” in order for it to go forward. It would have restored proper ministerial oversight and, through the Minister, parliamentary oversight over sentencing guidelines. That would have allowed Parliament to take control of this fundamental matter.
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Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill
Clearly, Parliament needs to have oversight of revisions to sentencing guidelines, so that they reflect the will of Parliament. The Government failed to act and have now brought forward this lacklustre measure. In the past few months, my hon. and right hon. Friends have uncovered multiple instances of two-tier principles being applied to bail, probation and other judicial matters. This is not a one-off, or a whistleblowing “fix it and move on” situation; it is systemic and endemic. We need much more radical reform than the Government are bringing forward today.
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Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill
I have to wrap up. When will the Government get serious, get a grip and put an end to this, once and for all?
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British Steel
It is clearly extremely welcome that the redundancy notices have been withdrawn—the steel community will breathe a sigh of relief. The Minister quite rightly speaks about what happens next. As well as a national streel strategy, the north Lincolnshire area needs a strategy of its own to maintain the local economy. Will she commit to an early meeting with MPs from the affected area, as well as with Councillor Rob Waltham, who leads North Lincolnshire council and has produced a document highlighting the way forward? That would be extremely helpful.
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Ukraine Update
Does the Defence Secretary believe that reports that the US has withdrawn intelligence sharing with Ukraine are an exaggeration? If not, does he believe that the UK and our trusted partners in the coalition of the willing can do a work-around on intelligence sharing?
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Retail Investment
It is a pleasure to serve under your leadership, Mrs Hobhouse, and I congratulate you on your first Westminster Hall debate as a member of the Panel of Chairs—you have handled it masterfully. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Buckingham and Bletchley (Callum Anderson) on securing this debate. He previously worked for the London stock exchange; he may be interested to know that I started my 27-year investment career as a dealer on the floor of the exchange in what we like to refer to as “the olden days”. There will be an almost unanimous outbreak of agreement across the Chamber. The hon. Member made some very important points. There is one point on which I slightly disagree, but he could basically have written my speech. One of the things that the hon. Member mentioned is the idea of acclimatising people to the idea of investment. When I was first elected as an MP, a number of us spearheaded a campaign to get investing and financial education into the national curriculum. At the time, it was clear that too many young people were leaving school without any understanding of the basics of personal finance, let alone the potential of sensible long-term investment. Whether it is saving for a rainy day or putting away money to buy a home, making the right investment choices is absolutely vital. Retail investment should absolutely form a cornerstone of any investment strategy, but not enough people are aware of the long-term benefits of stocks and shares investment versus cash deposits. Polling conducted by Opinium last year highlighted that fewer than half of respondents felt confident about opening a stocks and shares ISA. I have always felt that the lack of knowledge starts with the lack of the right education. Better financial education was recommended by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards when I was on it over a decade ago—a long time before many Members here were elected. In 2014, I thought we had finally settled the debate about financial education in the curriculum. The national curriculum was updated to see financial education become a statutory part of it for the first time. Although it is still on the national curriculum, it has become clear that there is not enough focus on getting schools to teach it consistently. Academy schools that do not follow the curriculum have no requirement to teach financial education if they choose not to. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) for recently taking up the baton. His private Member’s Bill would make financial education mandatory for all students aged five to 18, which could resolve some of the issues we are debating here. Of course, things have moved on since my original campaign. It is clear that there is a real appetite for young people to become investors. Although the UK continues to lag behind countries like the United States when it comes to active retail investment, since the pandemic interest in investing has substantially risen among younger age groups, particularly Gen Z. That has partly been driven by cryptoasset investment, which, if I am being entirely honest, is something I find a bit odd. Younger investors aged between 18 and 24 are more likely than older investors to invest in cryptoassets. A survey carried out by the Financial Conduct Authority showed that 46% of young investors report holding cryptocurrencies compared with just 7% of investors aged 55 to 65. They are influenced by trends they see on social media such as TikTok, with cryptocurrency influencers bragging about fabulous returns—of course, there are fabulous losses as well. The bedrock of financial education is the old adage, “If it is too good to be true, then it probably is.” I am not against investment in cryptoassets, but as any good investor knows they should be seen as part of a balanced portfolio. Any young people with an appetite for taking investment risks should know that they could be better served with investments into the stock market rather than in the volatility of cryptotrading. I hope the Minister will outline how the Government intend to get our schools teaching financial education. Will she confirm whether the Government support the principles set out in the Financial Education Bill, which has had cross-party support? Online trading platforms have now made it easier than ever to become an investor. Despite the easy accessibility, the FCA’s 2022 Financial Lives survey showed that while more than 15 million adults in the UK have investable assets exceeding £10,000, more than half hold at least 75% of those assets in cash. There are very good reasons to hold cash, particularly as people get towards retirement age or want to divest to buy a property or a car. It is for that reason that we believe it is important to retain the individual choice of how to use a tax-free ISA and keep its current allowance unchanged. There is another important point about cash ISAs. They provide substantial capital for building societies, which use the capital to lend on in the form of mortgages. If we reduce the amount of money that can go into cash ISA, we potentially reduce the amount of money available to the mortgage market. We need to think in a balanced way. There are other ways to focus the minds of people, helping them to make better investment decisions, while retaining the flexibility to spend their ISA in their and their families’ best interests. The Investment Association has called for cash products to come with risk warnings, in the same way as all financial products. That could be as simple as comparing the quoted savings rates against inflation—a point the hon. Member for Buckingham and Bletchley made. In that way, an investor would know that their investment could in fact be losing money in real terms versus inflation. Just as we rightly warn investors that markets can go down as well as up, we should also be honest that holding cash, while it may feel safe, risks steadily losing value through inflation. The Investment Association has also suggested that renaming the stocks and shares ISA the investment ISA could be a way of changing the mindset of investors. I would welcome the Minister’s thoughts on how we can highlight to investors the pitfalls of holding long-term cash. A successful hearts and minds campaign could, according to estimates from Aberdeen, unlock £3.5 trillion of capital for markets, if UK adults held as much wealth in investments as their US peers. That clearly raises another question: how do we encourage retail investment into UK stocks and shares? If we are serious about encouraging long-term investment and wider public participation in the UK’s capital markets, we must take a hard look at stamp duty on shares—again, the hon. Member for Buckingham and Bletchley made that point. At 50 basis points, the UK has one of the highest rates of this kind of transaction tax in the developed world. We should not be taxing investment in British businesses; we should be incentivising it. Stamp duty creates a direct disincentive to buy UK shares and disproportionately impacts those investing smaller amounts, for whom every pound counts. It also reduces the attractiveness of London as a global listing destination and adds friction to the secondary market, which ultimately feeds back into the cost of capital for UK firms. In short, stamp duty is a tax on growth, on participation and on financial inclusion. We need to ask ourselves whether that levy, introduced in a very different era, still serves a useful purpose, or whether reform could help us to unlock a stronger culture of long-term share ownership in this country. I ask the Minister to consider whether the tax could be looked at again, particularly for retail investors. As an idea, perhaps we could also look again at how the ISA tax-free allowance could be incentivised to stay in the UK. I recently spoke to a successful investor, someone who makes full use of his £20,000 annual stocks and shares ISA allowance. As one would expect, he is shrewd with his money, putting it where he believes it will deliver the best returns. In recent years, that has meant investing primarily in the American markets, where growth has outpaced much of what has been available here in the UK. What struck me was a comment he made a little later about his gardener, who is on minimum wage. The gardener can only afford to put a tiny amount of money, if anything, each month into a cash ISA; yet through his taxes he is effectively subsidising a tax break that allows his employer to invest tax-free in overseas companies. That does not feel right, and it is another point also made by the hon. Member for Buckingham and Bletchley. ISAs are a cornerstone of our savings culture, but if they are primarily being used to funnel capital abroad, it is time we asked ourselves whether the current system is doing what we intended it to do. Perhaps it is time to explore how we can better direct ISA investment towards British companies. I am sure the Minister will be addressing that subject in her speech. I think we are all in wholehearted agreement on the need for more retail investment in the UK. The opportunity for investment into UK companies is substantial if we can get it right. I am sure the Minister will have a plethora of ideas—she is writing them down ferociously as I speak—and we look forward to hearing what she has to say.
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Retail Investment
I think the Minister has covered most of my questions, but I will review and we can perhaps have a conversation later.
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Residential Estate Management Companies
I congratulate the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) on securing this debate. I want to give the House a message of hope. FirstPort was responsible for Lendy Place, a development in Sunbury in my Spelthorne constituency some 10 minutes’ walk from where I live. I was contacted by Mr Saponaro, who set up the residents association there. The usual FirstPort management company rap sheet was at play there, with a constant change of account managers, service charge hikes, substandard accountancy and depletion of funds. The company was even at one stage proposing to charge an additional £40,000 to accommodate post-Grenfell regulations. When it was pointed out that Lendy Place was only three storeys high so those regulations did not apply, FirstPort simply said, “Whoops, sorry, we overlooked that,” and the bill went away. The residents of Lendy Place were so disappointed with FirstPort’s performance that they did what the hon. Member for South Devon suggested, which can be a very tortuous process, and removed FirstPort as the managing agent. The residents are very happy with the new managing agent company, which, if I had texted a lot quicker, I would have a name for. I am meeting the residents of Lendy Place shortly and I look forward to reporting back to the House and similar forums how they went through the process of removing FirstPort. I can tell hon. Members with amazing tales of woe around this Chamber that there is hope. It can be done. With hon. Members’ support and no doubt their tenaciousness, Members’ residents can in future remove substandard management companies from their role.
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Birmingham: Waste Collection
I have a genuine question for the Minister. I am a little bit confused about what these three supermen and women from the MOD or the military have done. One of the principles of mutual aid and military aid to a civil authority is that the people being helped must not have the capacity themselves, and it must be unreasonable to expect them to grow that capacity in a timely manner. What have those people done that Birmingham city council could not do itself?
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Ukraine Update
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. I think the House had risen for Easter recess when President Zelensky announced that 155 Chinese troops had been deployed in support of Russian forces in Ukraine. I invite the Secretary of State to tell us how this major crossing of the Rubicon will change his Government’s approach to China, and how it might inform his discussions with his American counterpart.
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Residential Estate Management Companies
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I draw hon. Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, because I am a local councillor. I also understand this issue more than most, because I live in a leasehold property. I have a number of cases across my constituency of Broxbourne of leaseholders being ripped off by management companies, including High Leigh in Hoddesdon; Academia Avenue, Robinia Road and Watery Lane in Turnford; Aldermere Avenue and Magnolia Way in Flamstead End; and Eleanor House in Waltham Cross. These companies are completely unaccountable. There is a lack of transparency, and they simply do not care. If they deem that residents have underpaid by £10, or even £1, they are straight round to their door. However, when my residents—or constituents across the country—write or email asking for answers to their questions, these companies are absolutely nowhere to be seen. That is absolutely shocking, and it cannot be allowed to continue. As we have heard from Members across the House, our postbags are full with issue after issue. Sadly, I am yet to come across a company that is good in this area. In the limited time available, I want to touch on the issue of solicitors and what people are being told when they buy these properties. Solicitors are not doing enough to point out all the red flags, including everything that residents are accountable for, what money they may have to pay and the previous accounts of the different estates. We really need to shine a light on the issue of solicitors; we cannot let them off the hook. I will be interested to hear the Minister’s view on that.
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Residential Estate Management Companies
Will the Minister give way?
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Residential Estate Management Companies
I want to make a point about solicitors’ practices and what information people get when they buy their properties. I think that a number of people go into these contracts under false pretences and do not fully understand what they are responsible for and what they may end up paying for.
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Birmingham: Waste Collection
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Just eight weeks ago, during a Select Committee evidence session, the Minister told me that “there is a lot of good work taking place in Birmingham”. The Government want to create super-councils, covering half a million people and reaching over vast areas to manage bin collections and other vital services, against the wishes of my constituents. We have seen the result in Birmingham. Does the Minister believe that tons of rubbish on the streets is the model that the rest of the country should follow?
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“For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling
In 2022, as I was sitting at Wormley community centre telling for the local elections, a woman said to me, “I’ve just voted Conservative because you are the only party that knows what a woman is,” so the British people really do care about this. Will the Minister be more specific on when she will issue guidance to schools about gender-questioning children?
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Residential Estate Management Companies
It is a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Mr Stuart. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) on securing this important debate; the strength of feeling from the people speaking has been strong. Companies such as FirstPort should take note of that when it comes to the services they offer. I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I will keep my remarks brief to give the Minister plenty of time to respond—the ball is very much in his court, as he knows—but I also might give time for interventions from Members who have not been able to make speeches in the main debate. It is safe to say that I will not mention every speech by name, as that would take too long, but I very much agree with the essence of all the contributions today. I have come across these issues in my constituency, in estates in Malton and Easingwold. FirstPort was invariably the managing agent causing many of these difficulties. The best regulator is always competition. We need to make sure that it is easier for people to manage their own freehold estates and to swap between different managing agents. The speeches today have had in common references to high and sometimes spurious charges, as well as poor and obscure service. That is something I certainly recognise. I also recognise, and am frustrated by the fact, that local authorities have moved to the model of granting consent for what have become known as fleecehold estates. It seems that residents on these estates do not understand why they have a two-tier system, paying council tax and for the management of the freehold estate, when other people in their locality do not. It is time look at this in more detail and to act. I am happy to have a cross-party conversation with the Minister on how we might work together to make sure this situation does not become worse. We should all note the excellent work of the Competition and Markets Authority on making sure that the default position is to have adoptable standards. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Lewis Cocking) for highlighting a point I do not believe anyone else did: the work of conveyancers. Conveyancers have moved towards a shed-based service. It used to be there was a local, friendly solicitor who would give good advice on a buy and the implications of it, but much of that has gone. We need to make sure our conveyancers are doing the right thing in terms of pointing out to someone buying a fleecehold property the potential problems for which they might have to take responsibility. As has been mentioned, we legislated in this area in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. This gives the potential to challenge charges, makes the right to manage easier, and opens the door to first-tier tribunals on charges and to an ombudsman scheme. This is where I would like to ask the Minister some questions. He has a role in implementing the provisions of the Act, which will require secondary legislation. As I think was stated in his White Paper, consultation may also be required, both on right to manage and on potential access to ombudsman oversight of the companies managing these estates. He needs to approve an ombudsman scheme and publish guidance. To what timescales does he expect implementation to take place? For the residents Members across the House have discussed, there is clearly a pressing need. Regarding the White Paper and the potential of the leasehold and commonhold reform Bill, I am interested in which specific further steps the Minister intends to take on oversight of these fleecehold situations. We also need to be clear on exactly where he is going with leasehold reform. The manifesto the Minister stood upon said very clearly that Labour would “finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end”. If that is his intention, is he talking purely about new leases or about existing leases? Clearly there are difficulties around those. Finally, there is talk about a cap on ground rents. We have previously talked about a peppercorn charge. Where exactly is the Minister going with that? People need to know exactly what his intentions are.
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Birmingham: Waste Collection
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the disruption to waste collection and the deployment of the military in Birmingham.
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Birmingham: Waste Collection
It is astounding that the Secretary of State, having had to resort to calling in the Army to cover her blushes for her failure to resolve the situation, was not intending to make an oral statement to the House and had to be dragged before it by means of this urgent question. She is failing—failing to stand up to the unions, failing to protect the residents of the UK’s second city and failing to protect the reputation of our nation—and now resorting to being bailed out by our brave armed forces, which I note the Minister did not even mention. It is a national embarrassment. I realise that the Minister and the Secretary of State were not born until 1980, but many in this House and in the wider country remember very well the 1970s and the winter of discontent. It is clear that with this Government we risk going back to those days. To prevent that from happening, I offer the Minister and the Secretary of State our support, if the Minister will clarify and confirm the following. What is the projected cost to the taxpayer of the military’s involvement? Will he rule out the humiliation of service personnel ever having to collect refuse? Will he commit to using provisions in the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 to ensure that residents receive a basic level of service, and to reinstate legislation that would allow the council to commission agency workers to clean up the city until the strike is resolved?
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Topical Questions
T5. Release on temporary licence is denied when people say nasty stuff on Twitter but granted for much more serious crimes. Can the Secretary of State tell me when I can expect a satisfactory reply to an urgent ROTL case that I have already raised with the Prisons Minister and senior civil servants and that affects a grieving family in my constituency?
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“For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling
The Supreme Court’s ruling goes a long way to guarantee the rights and safety of women and girls. Does the Minister agree that the judgment highlights why it is now right for the SNP Government finally to ditch the divisive gender self-ID agenda once and for all, and proves it was totally wrong for Scottish Labour to back the SNP Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill?
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Residential Estate Management Companies
One other aspect worthy of scrutiny is the situation whereby a developer sets up a management company made up of family members of the original developer, leaving residents with a real challenge to get to the heart of who is truly accountable. That is something that I have seen in my constituency, and I am sure that it happens across the country. It is something that the Government need to address in whatever they come forward with.
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Residential Estate Management Companies
The Minister is setting out a thorough analysis of the challenge that he faces. Could he say something about the distinction between existing entities and those that are yet to be set up? One of the concerns is that the Government’s legislation will not deal fully with existing arrangements, and that the none of the cases that we have heard about today will get redress from the Government’s intervention.
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Ukraine Update
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
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Ukraine Update
I had better think of something quick. I will return to the question of fishing. It is right that we draw together with our European allies to fight and to bring this war to an end. However, it cannot be right for the French to leverage in fishing negotiations for defence spending. Will the Secretary of State press on the Prime Minister the need to defend our fragile coastal communities and make it clear to Paris that this cannot be helicopters for haddock or mackerel for missiles?
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British Steel
The Minister talks about working at pace. If she wants to see what pace looks like, she might consider the Business and Trade Committee’s report on steel, which was turned around in rapid time—much faster than the snail’s pace review of steel, which has yet to emerge. Will it do so in the spring, or the summer? No one is quite sure. When that review finally emerges, will it address the elephant in the room, which is the ridiculous energy costs in this country? They have been driven up in part by gas, but also by carbon taxes, and by the renewable subsidies laid on by this Government.
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Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill
I think the Lord Chancellor just said that the approach to the guidelines taken by the Sentencing Council puts the foundation of the justice system at risk. Given that, how can she have confidence in a Sentencing Council that takes such an approach?
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Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill
My hon. Friend is right; the issue is not just these guidelines. In the last Parliament, we legislated to increase the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving to life imprisonment, after an offender killed three members of my constituent’s family and was given a sentence of only 10 and a half years. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need a broader power, so that where Parliament’s intent is not recognised by the Sentencing Council, we can act?
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Ukraine Update
May I associate the Opposition with the Secretary of State’s wishing a good and successful mission to the crew of HMS Prince of Wales as it sets sail on its latest trip? I am grateful to the Secretary of State, both for advance sight of his statement and for the support that was provided by his Department for my recent visit to Ukraine; we provided the same support when we were in government. It was a privilege to pay tribute to the victims of this terrible war at the Wall of Memory in Kyiv, but it was also a powerful reminder of the stark contrast between the reality on the ground of continued casualties and the lies and propaganda from the Kremlin in respect of any so-called ceasefire. It must be clear that to Putin a ceasefire is simply part of a game—one that he has no intention of pausing—and we must continue to stand with all our allies in being 100% clear about who the aggressor is in this war. Those who pay the price for Putin’s game are innocent civilians, such as those killed in the terrible strike on Sumy on Palm Sunday. Is the Secretary of State able to shed any light on reports that Russian forces used a cluster munition as part of the attack on civilians, and if so, does this not illustrate the extraordinary contrast between claims of a ceasefire and the reality of the Russians’ continued indiscriminate bombing? In the face of such aggression, we remain proud of the extraordinary role that the United Kingdom has played in backing Ukraine’s struggle under successive Governments, and I welcome the continued support announced by the Ukraine defence contact group. I turn to the Secretary of State’s latest update on the coalition of the willing. Although we will always stand with the Government in supporting Ukraine, he knows that it would be a major shift to go from the indirect provision of munitions to boots on the ground. Therefore, as the Opposition, we are duty bound to probe what remain several unanswered but very significant practical questions that any such deployment would raise. A month ago, on 22 March, I wrote to the Secretary of State with a series of questions on the coalition of the willing, but I have yet to receive a reply. Given the importance of those questions, I will ask them now. First, what progress has he made on securing a US military backstop? Secondly, what would be the expected rules of engagement? Thirdly, how many nations have definitively committed to sending troops? Fourthly, will he consider derogating from the European convention on human rights for any deployment, given our military’s previous experience of vexatious lawsuits arising from overseas operations? Of course, an extraordinary aspect of the coalition of the willing is that we are meant to be leading with France, while at the same time—behind our back—it is seeking to undermine our fishing rights in our sovereign waters over access to a European defence fund that will definitively include non-EU nations. When I pointed that out at oral questions last month, the Secretary of State asked me to “drop” the “Brexit rhetoric”, yet over the Easter recess it was he who blasted the EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas when she suggested that his plan for troops in Ukraine was unclear. What is clear? Almost alone, we stood by Ukraine from the very beginning of the war, helping it to avoid an early capitulation that would have been a disaster for the whole of Europe. We also offer our nuclear deterrent to European NATO 24/7—not to get better fishing rights, but to defend the freedom of European nations. A country that does all that should not be excluded from a defence fund that will include non-EU states, and should not face punitive measures against its fishing fleet, when we are meant to be doing everything possible to strengthen European defence solidarity. The Secretary of State needs to understand that this is not about Brexit, Britain or France; it is about the security of the whole of Europe. Does he understand that, and can he confirm categorically that the Government will not offer any concessions on fishing rights in order to secure an EU defence pact? Finally, I turn to procurement for our own armed forces. Both in Kyiv and with cross-party colleagues in Parliament this morning, I had the pleasure of meeting Ukrainian manufacturers of drones that have been highly effective on the frontline. Will the Secretary of State support such companies to partner with British companies and to set up operations in the UK, both to boost Ukraine and to give our military rapid access to proven capabilities? Given how much of this rests on the strategic defence review, will it be published this month?
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Ukraine Update
And the SDR?
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Prison Reform
Personal protective equipment is now worn in all kinds of jobs where people may have to deal with dangerous situations. As Professor Acheson has said, it is “staggering that frontline police staff working in conditions of far greater peril…are not issued with stab vests capable of stopping an attack with a bladed weapon.” We should all be ensuring that our prison officers come home safe to their loved ones. Unions have called for this measure, and I can assure the Minister that they have the full support of those on the Opposition side of the House. Will he act—not in two months or six months, but now—to protect prison officers before it is too late?
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Prison Reform
I thank the Minister for his answer, but I suggest that this is something we should just get on with—it is common sense. There is a more fundamental issue. Perhaps I can invite the Minister to provide his assessment of the relative threats provided by different ideological extremists in prisons, which may be fuelling such violence. Islamist terror suspects make up the vast majority of MI5’s caseload. Do they also make up the majority of radicalising criminals in our prison estate?
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“For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling
I welcome the Supreme Court’s ruling and congratulate For Women Scotland and others who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue despite the abuse, threats and attempts to silence them. Will the Minister please confirm what discussions the Prime Minister or anyone on the Labour Front Bench at the time had with Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, when he whipped his MSPs to vote in favour of the SNP’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill? Do those on the Labour Front Bench now regret some of their previous decisions, when they sided against women across the country who were voicing their very real concerns?
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British Steel
In her statement, the Minister celebrated the fact that this is not the end of British Steel, and we all welcome that, but Labour’s policies very well could be the end of domestic oil and gas, whether it is the extended windfall tax, removing investment allowances or no new oil and gas licences. We are walking towards the end of our domestic oil and gas sector, which has proven so beneficial to us across Scotland and the UK, all the while offshoring our emissions and relying on, at best, unreliable and, at worst, hostile states such as China to supply our renewable energy infrastructure. Taking the example of British Steel, is it not time to reverse Labour’s headlong rush towards ending oil and gas in the North sea and to rely on our domestic supply for as long as we can, to help our energy security into the future?
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Topical Questions
T2. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
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Topical Questions
I associate myself with the Lord Chancellor’s comments and extend my sympathies to the families of those who were attacked. In Bordon, the release of a sex offender to a property near the Hogmoor inclosure—frequently used by young people, families and children—has caused consternation in my constituency. What is the Lord Chancellor doing to ensure that people who have been convicted of sex offences are properly monitored when released into the community? Do our national and local agencies have the resources and powers to ensure that these risks are monitored and the public are kept safe?
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“For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling
Patients deserve to be treated not only in single-sex wards, but —especially when they are having intimate examinations —by clinicians of the gender and sex that they wish. Is the Minister as concerned as I am about the General Medical Council carrying on with its policy to remove and hide biological sex from the medical register? What discussions is she having with the GMC and the other medical regulators about this issue?