Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill

Debate between Andy Slaughter and Baroness Laing of Elderslie

Monday 2nd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

I do not often feel compassion for the Lord Chancellor, but even he must have approached the Chamber this afternoon with how sad steps. Today, on the heels of the dismissal of the chief inspector of prisons comes the resignation of the conflicted chief inspector of probation, and so, on the first full day of probation privatisation, we have no one in charge of standards in the service.

The Lord Chancellor is scattering confidential data around like confetti, he appears to have changed at whim the burden of proof in criminal cases, and this afternoon, one of his favourite private contractors, Capita, was fined £16,000 by the president of the—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)]

Order. The hon. Gentleman is meant to be speaking to the Lords amendment. I normally give quite a lot of leeway for a general introduction, but he must speak to the amendment.

[Mr Slaughter]

Indeed, that is what I intend to do, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was simply making the point that, with all of that going on just in the past few days, here we are talking about the Lord Chancellor’s heroes Bill. He is fiddling while Rome burns: more Nero than hero.

We are all sick of the Bill. I suspect the Lord Chancellor is sick of the Bill. Like many of his projects, it began as an exercise in public relations and a nod towards the tabloids, and a coded attack on the rights of the individual to find redress through the law. Both the ridicule and the incredulity with which it has been met on both sides of both Houses, and from almost every expert commentator, has exposed its pointlessness and fragility.

The Bill will be locked away from public gaze, elided by the courts and ignored by everyone else until some future Government finds a space in the legislative timetable to repeal it. The noble Lord Pannick said that he could not

“remember a legislative proposal that has been the subject of more sustained ridicule and derision.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 15 December 2014; Vol. 758, c. 16.]

The chair of the Law Society policy board today wrote that there were two views of the Bill: that is was

“vague, meaningless and otiose”

or

“so ill-defined that it is dangerous to the point of mischievousness”.

Given that history, do the two minor amendments do anything to improve the Bill? They certainly do not make it any worse, if that is any comfort to the Lord Chancellor, so we have no reason to vote against them.

Amendment 2 has been urged on the Government since Second Reading on 21 July 2014, when the hon. Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) pointed out the unhelpful nature of the final words of clause 4. I moved to delete the offending words—

“and without regard to the person’s own safety or other interests”—

in Committee, supported by a very strong argument from St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross. However, it was not until Report in the other place that the Government finally gave in, stating:

“This will put beyond doubt that the clause applies to anybody who intervenes in an emergency to help somebody in danger, regardless of whether they acted entirely spontaneously or weighed up the risks before intervening.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 15 December 2014; Vol. 758, c. 44.]

I am not sure that that was the point of the objections; rather, it was concern that the Government were encouraging bystanders to intervene, even when it was not safe to do so, and when more lives might be placed at risk, including those of professional rescuers. The Government have at least removed one howler, whatever their motive or excuse for doing so, so we welcome amendment 2. It is just rather late in the day in coming.

Points of Order

Debate between Andy Slaughter and Baroness Laing of Elderslie

Wednesday 10th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In a debate on consideration of Lords amendments to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill on 1 December, the Lord Chancellor, while addressing the judicial review clauses in the Bill, misled this House—a matter that he corrected in a letter dated 4 December to the hon. and learned Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr Cox), a copy of which was subsequently placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

In that letter, the Lord Chancellor wrote:

“As we discussed, during what was a complicated debate, I inadvertently suggested to you that clause 64 contains a provision for the court to grant permission to proceed with a judicial review where conduct is highly likely to have not made a difference if it considered there were exceptional circumstances to do so. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that that is not the case. No such exceptional circumstances provision exists in this clause.”

Given that this misrepresentation goes to the heart of the Government’s proposals for judicial review in the Bill, I seek your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker, on whether it is sufficient by way of correction to write to only one Member who took part in the debate and then to place a copy of that letter in the Libraries. Would it not be more appropriate for the Lord Chancellor to correct the record? I ask that particularly because it was clear from the debate in the other place yesterday on this House’s disagreements with the Lords amendments that the noble Lords taking part were unaware of the Lord Chancellor’s correction.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)]

The hon. Gentleman has made a perfectly reasonable point of order. It is certainly the case that, when a Minister has inadvertently misled the House, it is essential for that Minister to put the matter straight. In this instance, it appears that the Minister has written to the Member concerned, and has, with all honesty and courtesy, sought to put the matter straight. The hon. Gentleman has suggested that that is not adequate. Whether it is adequate or not is a matter of judgment, particularly for the Minister concerned.

I understand why the hon. Gentleman wishes to draw the matter to wider attention, and, by making his point of order, he has done so. I think that he has done so effectively, because I see that Ministers are taking note of what he has said and of what I am saying, and I have no doubt that the matter will be drawn to the attention of the Lord Chancellor. I should add that, although the hon. Gentleman mentioned the debate that took place in another place yesterday, there will of course be another opportunity for this House to debate the substantive matters in the near future, and I have every confidence that the Lord Chancellor will take that opportunity to set the record straight. I also have every confidence that if he does not do so, the hon. Gentleman will insist that he does. The Chair will also keep an eye on the matter.

House of Lords Reform Bill

Debate between Andy Slaughter and Baroness Laing of Elderslie

Monday 9th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mrs Eleanor Laing (Epping Forest) (Con)]

rose—