Business of the House

Ashley Fox Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

The figures are shocking: over 7 million people are, like my hon. Friend’s constituent, on NHS waiting lists. Behind every single one of them is a story like the one he describes—someone in pain, someone debilitated, someone unable to work or get on with their life. That is why getting the waiting lists down is one of the Government’s first priorities. We have set an elective reform plan, and we want to hit the 18-week referral target by the end of this Parliament. That is incredibly ambitious. I hope that, thanks to those ambitious plans, his constituent gets the hip replacement that he desperately needs.

[Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)]

Ben and Amy Branson are my constituents. Their daughter Bethany was 19 when she was killed by a drunk driver on 8 November 2022. The driver crashed his van into a car and fled the scene, before skipping a red light and crashing a second time into several cars, one of which was carrying Bethany. At the scene of his arrest, the driver admitted guilt and said:

“I hope I killed someone. Oh well, you know what, I will get three, four, five years. Hopefully I killed them.”

Despite his admission of guilt at the scene and there being no doubt as to his crime, he was still entitled to a one third reduction in his sentence as a result of his guilty plea, so 15 years were reduced to 10 years, and with good behaviour he could serve as little as six years and eight months in prison. Bethany’s family do not believe that that reflects the severity and heartbreak of his crime. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate on sentencing policy?

[Lucy Powell]

My heart goes out to Bethany’s family. What a heartbreaking and appalling case. Every single one of us can relate to what an awful tragedy that is for the family, and how it is made worse by what seems to be a shocking injustice in how the offender was sentenced. The hon. Gentleman will know that these matters were raised many times in previous Parliaments, which strengthened sentencing, but perhaps we need to go further. A sentencing review is taking place, and the House will be updated on that. There will be further legislation, and he could raise these matters further during proceedings on it. We need to do more to reduce tragic deaths like the one that he describes, and to deter people from drink-driving and dangerous driving.