Speeches by Slaughter.

“We have terrible reoffending rates in this country. People leave prison without a job, a place to stay or support for addiction and mental health. Some become a nuisance on our high street, committing further offences and quickly finding themselves back in prison. While you are building new prisons and substituting con…”

“The Prime Minister responded to my questions on Gaza in the Liaison Committee this afternoon by saying: “we need a ceasefire and we need it straightaway” and “the situation on the ground is intolerable”. How will we get that ceasefire when the Israeli Government have already rejected the statement by the Foreign Secret…”

“It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh), and I thank her for everything she has done on this issue. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) for taking up this Bill and getting it to this stage. As I suspect many Membe…”

“What Sir Brian’s comprehensive report demonstrates is the terrible state that our once envied criminal justice system was left in by the shadow Lord Chancellor and his colleagues. Does my hon. and learned Friend agree with Sir Brian that digging ourselves out of the hole in which they left us will require more investme…”

“Last year, 839 magistrates court trials and 186 Crown court trials had to be cancelled because the defendant was not brought to court on time by prisoner escort contractors. We expect Sir Brian’s report very shortly, which will have a range of proposals on how to reduce the unprecedented backlog in the Crown courts. Do…”

“It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I will try to be as brief as I can in making some points that are not new, but perhaps bear repetition. The west bank is occupied territory, something that puts it in a different class from many overseas disputes on which the Government have to take a …”

“What is the practicality of holding elections when the Israelis will not recognise the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem as being able to vote? Given the situation in the west bank, let alone that in Gaza, how are they supposed to organise elections? Is that not just utopian?”

“I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing time for this important debate on the spending of the Ministry of Justice on criminal justice. An effective criminal justice system is vital to the proper functioning of a democratic society. An ineffective criminal justice system presents grave risks for both socia…”

“That is already happening. Non-availability of counsel, whether Crime Prosecution Service or defence counsel, is already one of the main reasons for ineffective trials. I therefore hope we will hear something about that and the Government’s plans to alleviate it when the Minister responds. I briefly mention the cyber-a…”

“I do share those concerns. I want to take only a few more minutes with my speech, so I do not have time to go into what is happening in the magistrates courts as well—that is a debate for another day—but the shortage of magistrates, the shortage of legal clerks and low pay rates across HMCTS are clearly some of the fac…”

“My hon. Friend, who is knowledgeable on these issues, is absolutely right. We are relying on the implementation of the Gauke review’s recommendations to do two things: to ensure there is capacity in the prisons for the growing number of people being sentenced in our courts; and, in the longer term, to reduce prisoner n…”

“No, I thought not. However, I very much enjoyed our time together on the Justice Committee, and I also enjoy his taking every bad point during these debates—although he should have been kinder to the distinguished former Lord Chancellor David Gauke, who, in my view, produced a very good report. As for the Minister, he …”

“I do not need to add anything to my opening speech, because the inevitable gaps have been filled eloquently by the subsequent speakers. Let me just take two minutes to thank those who have contributed to the debate. I thank the hon. Member for Bridgwater (Sir Ashley Fox), my hon. Friends the Members for Colchester (Pam…”

“The postponed French-Saudi conference on a two-state solution may take place as early as next month. Does the Minister think it will provide the significant opportunity that he seeks for us to recognise Palestine as a state, alongside UK allies?”

“Does my right hon. Friend believe that the attacks on Iran are beneficial to this country or will they create more instability in the middle east and beyond? As an upholder of the rules-based international order, which he says that we still support, is there a cost to the UK if the actions of our allies—the United Stat…”

“I am not going to give way. The obvious qualification to what should be a clear and personal choice to leave life in a matter and at a time of one’s choosing is the risk of coercion, and that has rightly dominated much of the debate for the past eight months. There are two points to be made here. First, great effort ha…”

“I will speak briefly and cover just three points. I do not expect to persuade those committed to opposing the Bill to change their minds; I hope that I do not persuade those supporting it to change theirs. This is the time to put our concluded thoughts on the record before seeking their lordships’ opinions. I start whe…”

“Given that the independent sentencing review suggests that more use could be made of community sentences in such cases, but courts seem reluctant to use them as an alternative to custody, what can the Law Officers do to ensure that sentencers have confidence in community sentences, which have better outcomes than impri…”

“I will speak to new clauses 23, 24 and 25 in my name. New clauses 23 and 24 propose restrictions on the delivery and display of pointed knives to avoid death and serious injury from knife attacks. New clause 25 repeals certain unnecessary and unlawful punitive measures directed against Roma, Gypsy and Traveller communi…”

“The powers are there, but we must look at their implementation. I am always sympathetic to the hon. Gentleman, because he was such a good opponent for me at two elections, and I take to heart the measured way in which he puts his point, but to counter what he says, in May 2024, following a judicial review of part 4 of …”