Attorney General’s Office: Conflicts of Interest

Debate between Lucy Rigby and Andy Slaughter

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.

[Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith and Chiswick) (Lab)]

Does the Solicitor General agree that what the shadow Solicitor General is asking her to do, in a not very subtle way, is to breach the Law Officers’ convention by the back door? If the Attorney General were to reveal whether or not he is able to advise on a particular issue, that would reveal the fact that he had been asked to advise on it. The Opposition’s intention is clear: it is to gain party advantage. The effect is to undermine the rule of law.

[The Solicitor General]

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. I am happy to confirm that where the Attorney General has conflicts, he will recuse himself.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lucy Rigby and Andy Slaughter

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.

[Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith and Chiswick) (Lab)]

Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker. I welcome my hon. Friend to the Front Bench, and congratulate the former Solicitor General, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman), on her promotion to Minister of State in the Ministry of Justice. It is sometimes difficult to keep up with this Government’s pace.

Given that the Crown court backlog stands at over 73,000 and trials are being listed for 2027, victims are awaiting justice for an unacceptably long time, with the consequence that many no longer feel able to support the process. How is the Solicitor General working, through the CPS, to ensure that victims facing a wait of between two and three years for trials stay the course?

[The Solicitor General]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his kind words, and I look forward to appearing before his Committee on 15 January. He is right to say that we need to be doing much more to support victims. He alluded to the review of the Crown courts; he will also know that the Lord Chancellor is taking steps to reduce the Crown court case load by increasing funding for sitting days, and further sitting days were announced yesterday—an extra 2,000, I believe.