Speeches by Slaughter.

“It is a bit early, but all right.”

“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…”

“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…”

“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 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…”

“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…”

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

“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?”

“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 …”

“I do not think you fully answered my colleague on E1. That is the crucial issue on settlements at the moment. Equally—we always bring this up at these sessions, but I make no apology for that—there is the ICJ opinion. If the Government is not going to respond to that after almost two years, could it just put us out of …”

“There was one very short statement on 1 March and a clarification on 20 March in relation to the strait of Hormuz. There are 10 to a dozen countries that have been subject to hostilities from Iran, and there is Israeli action in Lebanon and in the west bank. That is all going on around the main conflict there. Surely t…”

“At her annual press conference this week, the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, said: “I have grave security concerns if there are going to be judge-alone trials.” Does the Solicitor General share those concerns, and what are the Government doing about it?”

“I have noticed there is a lot of debate on the role of juries at the moment—nothing gets past me. It might be a better informed debate if the researchers and jurors could talk about what happens in the jury room. The Law Commission recommends decriminalising that so it cannot be a criminal offence. Will the Government …”

“I know that Members from all parts of the House support the Government’s aim to halve violence against women and girls. The metric on which that is based, the crime survey for England, deals with those aged 16 and over, but girls under 16 are also substantially at risk. How will they be included in the recording and mo…”

“The Grenfell Tower fire was a momentous as well as a tragic event. It fundamentally changed the way we look at fire safety, social housing and the emergency services. Most of all, it changed the lives of many people—not just those who lost their lives or were injured and traumatised, but their family, their community a…”