Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

Lord Davies of Stamford Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 12th January 2022 Lords Chamber

To come back to this amendment, I hope that the House is assured of the Government’s position on the matter, and I urge the noble Lord to withdraw the amendment.

[Lord Davies of Stamford (Lab)]

My Lords, I have listened to the debate this afternoon with great pleasure, and I must say with growing agreement with what was said—until I heard the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Faulks, who said that sentencing should be a matter for the Government of the day. That is a very dangerous approach, because it means that sentencing becomes a reflection of the political pressures on the Government of the day. Somebody used the term “auction”. You would get competition between people who were seeking votes from the public in projecting themselves as being tough on crime, and the resulting sentencing guidelines—

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

I am sorry, but the Minister had already sat down. We can only take a question if it is very short.