I present a petition in the same terms as those presented by the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart), from constituents of mine at the Waren caravan park, Waren Mill, Bamburgh in the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency. My constituents are deeply concerned about the impact not just on manufacturing, but on the holiday parks and caravan sites in whose business model sales are an important factor.
The Petition of residents of Waren Caravan Park, Waren Mill, Bamburgh, Northumberland.
[P001028]
I, too, present a petition, on behalf of the residents of the Brigg and Goole constituency, in the same terms as my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart).
The Petition of residents of Brigg and Goole.
[P001029]
I present a petition in the same terms as those presented by the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart), from constituents of mine at the Waren caravan park, Waren Mill, Bamburgh in the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency. My constituents are deeply concerned about the impact not just on manufacturing, but on the holiday parks and caravan sites in whose business model sales are an important factor.
The Petition of residents of Waren Caravan Park, Waren Mill, Bamburgh, Northumberland.
[P001028]
I, too, present a petition, on behalf of the residents of the Brigg and Goole constituency, in the same terms as my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart).
The Petition of residents of Brigg and Goole.
[P001029]
(12 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberI will give way to my hon. Friends, but then I am going to make some progress.
It is always easy to concentrate on the emotive issues in debates like this, and it can be very powerful, but I also believe there are less emotive reasons for pursing this policy. I would not suggest for a moment than anybody does not want to support families; it is a question of how we drive the reform forward. It is a bit like the discussion last night, when the Conservative party was united but had different tactics.
Does my hon. Friend recognise that it would be possible to have a chief coroner who could provide professional leadership by the designation of an existing coroner without going into the very large costs involved in the original proposal and without involving the chief coroner in running an appeals system, which might more appropriately remain a matter for reference under law to the courts?
My right hon. Friend makes a point that I was coming to. We have not identified where the savings could be in this system. Many would contend that the costs of adjourned and delayed hearings and of expensive judicial reviews could be taken out of the system by the chief coroner. My concern is that far too much emphasis has been placed on costs.
I said that I was going to talk about three particular issues. The first is independent leadership, which I think we all agree lies at the heart of the chief coroner’s appointment and is the reason for his status as linchpin of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Parliament accepted back then that if real reform was to be achieved, there must be an independent judicial leader with responsibility for spearheading that reform. Independence is key.