Business of the House

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Thursday 10th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The position of the Government is that we have put forward a proposal in the coalition agreement. That proposal will require the assent of both Houses before it comes into effect. We have made it clear that we would like a debate before we proceed with the proposal. I take seriously the right hon. Lady’s point, which has also been made by her colleagues, that we ought to find time as soon as possible to debate the matter at greater length.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Further to that, there is a lot of confusion about the Government’s position. The agreement says not, as the Leader of the House suggested earlier, that the Government will give “serious consideration” to introducing the proposal, but:

“We will extend anonymity in rape cases”.

Would he care to propose an amendment to the coalition document to reflect what he said, and perhaps to publish a White Paper or Green Paper on the proposal? Given what the Prime Minister said recently, is he suggesting that there will be consideration of a free vote on the issue when the Government introduce legislation? The coalition’s programme for government states that it “will extend anonymity”, so he cannot get away with saying that he is just running this idea up the flagpole—that is fag packet politics.

[Sir George Young]

That, if I may say so, is a distortion of what I said. I said that the coalition Government have made a proposal, which is in the coalition agreement. That proposal cannot reach the statute book unless it goes through both Houses. Before it can do that, it is clear that there needs to be a serious debate about the pros and cons. I have taken on board requests for a debate before we make progress, and I will try to respond to them.