"My Lords, joint enterprise has given rise to a certain notoriety in the criminal justice system. Given the way that gangs of children tend to go around together, is not the age of 10 a real problem? Children of 10 can be convicted of murder simply because one teenager further …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, I shall speak extremely briefly, because, compared to the expertise of my noble friends on the Cross Benches who have spoken thus far, I would probably merit nothing like the status of a keyhole surgeon—more like a butcher, really—in terms of legal matters. But I would just say …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, I was schooled in this subject, if I was schooled at all, by the late noble and learned Lords, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood and Lord Judge. They both took me through this and were absolutely certain in what they were saying: noble Lords will have heard Lord Brown’s …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, put his finger on something very important when he said to us that we must be careful about giving hope and then dashing it. But without hope, what is there? That is the point the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, made and …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, the previous Government and this Government have recognised the problem that we have in getting teachers—for music in particular and for the arts generally. Therefore, it is very disappointing that the bursary for people wanting to train as music teachers has been cut to zero. For young people …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Bailey, and I join others in the House in paying tribute to Baroness Newlove. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, I was very taken with my noble and learned friend Lord Burnett of Maldon saying that lengthening sentences …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, I will be even swifter than the noble Lord, Lord Randall. There are some good ideas in these amendments. If we can protect bats in the belfry and great crested newts in the pond, why can we not do the same for swifts? They are such wonderful birds.
"My Lords, my story is slightly different from that of the noble Lord, Lord Bailey. A few months ago, I had an elevated PSA. Within 36 hours, the surgery to which I go, run by the excellent Dr Sheldon, had put me on a cancer pathway and offered me an …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, does the Minister agree that if schools—especially those for younger children—were to place more emphasis on reading books, that would help ameliorate the problem to a certain extent? There is a follow-on problem in that many state schools, especially those for younger children, have very poor libraries, which …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech
"My Lords, I will not repeat everything that we have heard. I agree very much with the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, but on one point she brought up, surely one way that we could allay the suspicions of the general public, which are mighty at the moment, to do with …..." Lord Berkeley of Knighton - View Speech