Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
Main Page: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick's debates with the Ministry of Justice
(10 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mike Penning
I am not the prisons Minister but I have visited many prisons, not least the ones on the edge of my own constituency, and I have seen that happening in our own prisons. Giving people life skills is vital, as is giving them somewhere to live when they come out.
Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)
Does the Minister agree that we need to retain the Human Rights Act as part of a programme established to deal with reoffending, in order to ensure that proper standards of human rights are adhered to in prisons?
Mike Penning
This country has led on human rights for centuries, and it will be no different when we introduce the legislation to ensure that this Parliament decides exactly what goes on, rather than a foreign court.