Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Bedford and Jake Richards

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jake Richards]

No, I do not agree with my hon. Friend on that point. The Home Secretary has been very clear that that judgment will be appealed in the courts. We have been absolutely clear as a Government that the right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy, but those rights are balanced, and it is crucial that, where peaceful protest contravenes the law, the law stands firm.

[Mr Peter Bedford (Mid Leicestershire) (Con)]

People should have the right to protest, but that needs to be coupled with responsibilities. As my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) mentioned, it is outrageous that fringe groups feel emboldened to protest in support of terrorist ideology, contrary to basic British values. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that these people are under no illusion about how they will end up being prosecuted if they openly support fundamentalist Islamist ideology, and that if they have no right to be here, they will be deported?

[Jake Richards]

As I have said, this is a matter for the Home Secretary. She has made it abundantly clear that, although there is a right to protest in this country—an important right that should be protected—where incidents such as those the hon. Gentleman has identified occur, those individuals should face the full force of the law.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Bedford and Jake Richards

Tuesday 3rd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Peter Bedford (Mid Leicestershire) (Con)]

T7.   It has been reported that lawyers—some of whom now sit in this House and in the other place—have relied on the European convention on human rights to support the prosecution of patriotic Brits who fought for their country. Does the Secretary of State agree that this is yet another example of activist lawyers and unaccountable judges in Strasbourg shamefully pursuing veterans who were doing their duty, and will he, like the Conservatives, commit to withdrawing from the ECHR?

[Jake Richards]

This is utter nonsense, Mr Speaker—the hon. Gentleman completely misunderstands how our legal system works. The Government understand that lawyers have to represent all sorts of people all the time, and we will stand by that. I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that the shadow Attorney General, while serving on the Tory Front Bench, is currently representing Roman Abramovich, a sanctioned Russian oligarch. There is no word from the Opposition Benches on that issue at all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Bedford and Jake Richards

Tuesday 16th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jake Richards]

I am constantly aghast at the chutzpah of the Conservatives, who left the prison system in utter crisis after 14 years. Prison officer numbers reduced under them, and prison places hardly rose at all. We are stabilising the prison system and investing in security measures to ensure that we have a prison system that is fit for the future and safe for the public.

[Mr Peter Bedford (Mid Leicestershire) (Con)]

8. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed ending of jury trials for certain offences on the right to a fair trial.