Speeches by Fox.

“Okay. The Daily Telegraph reports that up to 43,000 criminals a year will avoid jail if most 12-month sentences are scrapped. Do you recognise that figure? Has your Department done any analysis of how many criminals will not go to prison as a result of suspending almost all sentences of fewer than 12 months?”

“I asked for evidence that victims support your policy and you have not replied to that question.”

“Professor Thomas seemed to suggest that when you did a study, if you had one conviction out of five or six or seven charges, you counted that as a positive, whereas when she did her analysis she looked at each and every charge, which suggests that perhaps not the aim but the effect of your methodology is to show a much…”

“Have you done any modelling as to what the 2027 changes will cause?”

“I am Ashley Fox, the Member for Bridgewater, and my interests are as on the register.”

“Excellent. The covid pandemic caused significant delays in the probate service, largely returned to normal except for the number of complex cases taking more than a year. That backlog has doubled and is not getting better. What steps are you taking to resolve this issue of complex cases?”

“From 2027 the Chancellor is going to include pensions within taxable estate. That will create an extra layer of complexity in probate applications. The estate will have to get in touch with every single pension company that an individual might have a relationship with. What contingency planning is your Department under…”

“Excellent. The covid pandemic caused significant delays in the probate service, largely returned to normal except for the number of complex cases taking more than a year. That backlog has doubled and is not getting better. What steps are you taking to resolve this issue of complex cases?”

“Minister, I think I am right in saying that you are also responsible for the probate service.”

“Minister, what evidence do you have that the changes that you are making with regard to the early release of offenders at one third or one half of their sentence is supported by victims and their representatives? What engagement have you had with victims and their views on this policy?”

“Minister, I think I am right in saying that you are also responsible for the probate service.”

“In December, I asked the Leader of the House for a debate on the Environment Agency’s failure to adequately dredge Somerset’s rivers and maintain our drainage network. The EA has now announced that it will withdraw entirely from main river maintenance in Somerset. My constituents are concerned that without proper maint…”

“The Minister will be aware that the reason hereditaries still sit in the House of Lords was the deal done in 1999. The promise made by the then Labour Government was that hereditaries would remain until the House of Lords was properly reformed. The Minister is aware that he is removing the hereditaries but giving no as…”

“This Government were elected on a manifesto to increase spending by £9.5 billion. That was to be paid for through £7.3 billion of extra taxes and £3.5 billion of extra borrowing, all of which was set out in the Labour manifesto. It was a modest plan with a prudent margin—exactly the sort of plan one might expect a part…”

“I do not accept that at all. This surge is entirely due to the Chancellor losing control of public expenditure, and the increased cost of servicing our national debt adds further pressure on the British taxpayer. Having presented her Budget, the Chancellor said: “We’re not going to be coming back with more tax increase…”

“I agree. It is the threat of higher taxes that is causing the economy to stall. Rather than reducing the size of the state so that it is affordable, the Government give every indication of wanting it to grow further. The fundamental reason that this Government need to raise taxes is that they are incapable of controlli…”

“Does my hon. Friend accept that speculation about all those new additional taxes causes more uncertainty, which itself causes the economy to slow further?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry, not the legal test.”

“How did you go about challenging that within the organisation?”