Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Norris and Steve Witherden

Tuesday 15th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the question, and the spirit in which it was asked. I will not be drawn on that individual case if it is with the Attorney General, because it is right that that process carries on unhindered. The hon. Gentleman will know that there is a tension on this issue. I do not think that he or anybody in this House believes that people who have served their sentence—or, in many cases, a decade or more beyond their sentence—should be held in prison. That is why we have discontinued those sentences, but he makes very important points about support, public safety and public protection. We are doing work on that at the moment, and I look forward to his scrutiny of our plans.

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

14. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle youth offending.