Speeches by Davies-Jones.

“As I have already stated, the first and foremost principle of this Government is to ensure that there will always be a prison place available for those who need it, to keep the public safe. We recognise that prison is necessary. It can be a punishment, it can be a source of rehabilitation, and it is necessary that the …”

“I touched on it in my previous answer on looking at targeting the issues of offending, how we can change behaviour, how we can change as a society. That is on us all to work with, whether that is education, better healthcare, better support in the community, all this on reducing the levels of violence against women and…”

“I will frustrate you, Chair, and the Committee by saying that I am not at liberty to disclose any further information. Hopefully, the Committee will be aware of the remarks that I made in the Westminster Hall debate last week on the need to ensure that this is a families-first approach towards the legislation and the B…”

“It will be when the families and the campaigners and the Government are content that it meets the test of being a fit and proper Hillsborough law.”

“Yes. I am thrilled that the Committee has endorsed Cindy Butts to be the first ever independent public advocate. She truly is an incredible, remarkable woman who I believe will serve the public and the country very well in the role. We will be formally, hopefully, appointing her imminently, is the answer. Now that we h…”

“We have indeed.”

“I will certainly take that away, Chair. I am as puzzled as you as to why you were not involved in that appointment process. Hopefully, you will feel that the candidate who we have chosen is the right fit, but I will definitely take that away as to why you were not involved in that to look at how we standardise that app…”

“Yes, I have had positive meetings with Dame Vera in her new role looking at this. It is very important, given the nature of this review, that she does this wholly independently. I want a no-holds-barred, warts-and-all review of the CCRC, as did the previous Lord Chancellor, and I am sure that this Lord Chancellor will …”

“We are a member of the ECHR, we will continue to be a member of the ECHR, and that applies here in our country. We will be consulting on a new victims code in due course to make sure that it is fit for purpose in the modern era. As you have said, it has been quite a while since that was updated. I particularly have an …”

“I am indeed, at present. I have not heard anything different yet, Sir Ashley.”

“I have had positive meetings with the probate service on this, looking at complex cases. The head of the probate service has put in place brilliant review mechanisms and has improved the system. On complex cases it is still quite slow and we recognise that. We are looking and working together to see how best we can spe…”

“I will be continuing to work with the probate service and officials to ensure that we provide the best efficient and user-friendly service that we possibly can.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that vital point. She will, like me, be horrified by the results of the Femicide Census report this week, which show a rise in mothers being killed by their sons. We must tackle that as a society. She will be pleased to know that what she is talking about will be in the upcoming viole…”

“I will happily do that for my hon. Friend. I want to put on record our thanks to Pete Weatherby KC, Elkan Abrahamson, all those at Hillsborough Law Now, Andy Burnham and my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool West Derby for the Bill that was drafted in 2017. That Bill has been our guiding north star as we seek to draf…”

“I can confirm that. Once the Bill receives Royal Assent, it will apply immediately and cover any inquiry that is taking place. That includes the Government statutory inquiry that we have announced on Orgreave, the Government inquiry on grooming gangs, and any inquiry or inquest that will be taking place.”

“I am grateful for that question. I have heard the frustration and anger, both in this place and outside it, in relation to the need to introduce this quickly and urgently, but we have also heard directly from families about the need to get this right. It is our opportunity to do this, once and for all, and we will not …”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Hobhouse. I pay tribute to my fellow Red, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne). His tireless campaigning on behalf of victims and survivors—the 97, the Grenfell families, the MEN arena families and every family failed by the state, of which …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that. It has taken some time to get this right, but we are committed to introducing the Hillsborough law with parity of arms and that statutory legal duty of candour, and we hope to bring that forward as soon as possible. We have worked in conjunction with the families and campaigners to make…”

“The Government are absolutely committed to tackling the scourge of domestic abuse and halving violence against women and girls in a decade. We are implementing a domestic abuse identifier at sentencing to ensure consistent recognition of domestic abuse offenders across the whole justice system. That will strengthen vic…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question and for all his work to amplify the voices of victims and survivors. Like him, I am sickened by the treatment of the majority of women and girls who go through this in our criminal justice system. He will know that we inherited a criminal justice system in absolute crisis. T…”