Business of the House

Apsana Begum Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am certainly not a revolutionary—or a gyrator, either, for that matter.

I am sure that this will be welcome news for residents in Hertford and Stortford. It is fantastic to see businesses—leading forces of capitalism such as British Petroleum and McDonald’s, international titans that they are—contributing to their local communities, ensuring smooth and fast journeys for their customers and all the people in Hertfordshire. It is in their interests, is it not? If the roundabout runs smoothly, people can go and fill up with petrol and then go for a drive-through McDonald’s. The businesses are quite right to contribute, because it will benefit them in the long run.

[Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab) [V]]

This week we saw a historic result for the campaign for the Shrewsbury 24, who had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. That verdict is significant for the rights of working people in the UK. Sadly, many of those involved, who saw their lives ruined by the politicisation of charges, did not live long enough to see justice done. Given that, and the fact that this verdict was achieved after half a century of injustice, does the Leader of the House believe that time should be allocated to debate the merits of the Government’s holding a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the dispute and the trial?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Appeal Court has ruled, and that shows that British justice works and that we have a country where, when mistakes are made, we have the systems to ensure that those mistakes are admitted to, even if after a long time. We do not just say, “Well that happened a long time ago; we are therefore ignoring it.” We should be proud of our justice system and the fact that it spends time looking at historical cases and setting the record straight. For those who have not lived long enough to see it, at least their families know that there was no stain on their family member’s character, and I think that is important and reassuring to those who mourn.