Speeches by Slaughter.

“I am grateful for that intervention. Many Members here will have local organisations that they help to signpost, champion and try to obtain funding for. What I am arguing for is something that is comprehensive and reliable, in terms of funding and support. In addition to the excellent work that Members may do, we need …”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Furniss. I congratulate the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) on securing this important debate. May I also congratulate the Minister? This is my first opportunity to speak in a debate to which she is replying. Perhaps I should be congratulating the Government on her a…”

“One of the successes of the family justice system is the family mediation voucher scheme. Two thirds of families who use the scheme avoid going to court, which takes a lot of pressure off the family courts. It started in 2021 and gets renewed every year, often at the end of the year or even when the next year has start…”

“That was a bit off-subject, so I will confine my comments to saying that, as usual, we are all disappointed by the official Opposition. We will leave it at that. Fortunately, the Justice Committee has been involved in scrutinising some of the legislation being carried over—namely, the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which I…”

“I welcome the White Paper, which shines a welcome light on an often-neglected part of the criminal justice system. The remarkable drop in the number of young people in custody, from a high of 3,400 a day, is sometimes box-ticked as “job done”, but when half those young people are on remand and a majority do not go on t…”

“I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for her intervention, and the answer is that there is a balance. We all want the Government to press on with all the wonderful things that they intend to do, which are in the King’s Speech, but that must be mitigated by the guiding hand of experienced practitioners, suc…”

“What an abrupt end that was. What a cliff-hanger! I want to speak briefly about the justice measures in the King’s Speech. Important Bills are being introduced or carried over, and it is disappointing that the Opposition did not nominate justice and home affairs for a full day’s debate, even more so because today those…”

“It is a bit early, but all right.”

“I thank the Minister for agreeing to meet me and members of the safer knives group, which brings together experts on the type of knives most commonly used in knife crime. Does she agree that restricting sales of pointed knives, and moving to rounded-tip versions for kitchen use, could limit the number and type of injur…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for all the work that he and other Members present do in supporting the POA and making sure that its voice is heard. It is often the case with prisons that out of sight is out of mind. Both because of the conditions in prisons, which are deplorable in many cases, and in particular for the w…”

“It is a pleasure to talk about this very important matter under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I suspect there will be quite a degree of agreement across the House. The first thing that struck me was a quote from some evidence that the Prison Officers’ Association submitted to the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee…”

“The UK has been very clear over the years, ever since UN Security Council Resolution 242, which is nearly 60 years ago now, on the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war. We were clear on that with regard to Ukraine. We now have that happening in Palestine, in Syria and in Lebanon as well. What is the G…”

“So your Middle East Minister is right: there will be some concrete action taken.”

“But there always seems to be in relation to middle east conflicts a difference between the basic principle—what the Attorney General is talking about tonight, on the rules-based order—and the practicality of that. For example, in relation to the west bank, your Middle East Minister said on 3 March, “We will consider co…”

“The situation has never been worse in the west bank. Some would say that is a reaction to what we have done.”

“Good afternoon, Prime Minister. Can I just mop up one or two of the international law points? We have seen very little published by the Government on the legal basis for the current conflict in the middle east—less than has happened with less serious and less complex crises previously. Given the number of countries inv…”

“I will finish with this, but the common theme here is that we are very good on the principles but not so good on the practice. A good example of that would be recognising the state of Palestine, which I think most people will support, but what is the practicality of that? Where is the coalition of the willing around Pa…”

“It would be strange if it was no. But in that respect, do you believe that domestic authorities should exercise universal jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes?”

“I almost wanted to have a bet on who would mention AI first in this debate. AI is always said to be the solution, but for once it might be. Everything that the hon. Member is saying about the system of transcripts—that it is anachronistic, lacking in transparency, costly and baroque—is absolutely right. We must move to…”

“This is my last question. Given that there are many violations of international law taking place around the world, which is undermining the rules-based international order, do you agree that the UK should not be a safe haven for those who have committed international crimes? I assume your answer to that is going to be …”