Business of the House

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

It is always very sad to hear of cases of this kind, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising this really serious matter with the House. Knife crime is a great scourge on our society, and it is truly dreadful to see people’s lives taken away and to sense that justice has not been done. I do not know the details of the case she mentions, and I therefore as a Minister ought not to go into the details. It is essential that our justice system is able to operate free from political interference, but we must bring violent criminals to justice as well. The Government are spending over £200 million of taxpayers’ money on early intervention projects to prevent young people from committing violent crime in the first place, and we will also be piloting new knife crime prevention orders, introduced through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. These are preventive orders that will provide an additional tool for police to steer young people away from serious violence. My hon. Friend will have the opportunity to raise this issue specifically at Justice questions on Wednesday 8 December.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

I, too, want to raise the issue of the Arcadia collapse and the people in my constituency who work at Debenhams and Topshop and look like they are going to lose their jobs before Christmas. I am grateful to the Leader of the House for ensuring that there is a general debate on the future of the high street, but can I have his assurance that there will be sufficient time for this debate if any forthcoming Brexit legislation is published at the weekend, and that it will not be bumped?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Lady asks me a particularly difficult question, because although next Thursday is scheduled for Lords amendments, the guarantee I can never give is what may come along in terms of statements and urgent questions, which depends on the demand from this House to be kept updated about affairs that are going on. It is always a difficult balancing act, in that the House wishes and has the right to be informed of things first, but it also has its regular business to go through. That debate is scheduled for the whole of the day, and therefore I hope that there will be sufficient time. I will at least do my best to ensure that I am not too long-winded when making my own statement.