Speeches by Munt.

“My sense is that we could have some equity in the amount of legal aid given to families and individuals fighting big organisations, such as public bodies. If the rates of the specialists and professionals who are supporting the public bodies came down, and matched the rising rate of legal aid for the support of those i…”

“Can the hon. Member spot the irony in the fact that today, while the Government are considering this legislation, which is designed to prevent public bodies from obstructing the truth, the Ministry of Defence is in the High Court in London, trying very hard to silence the Chinook families by saying that they are out of…”

“One of the hon. Gentleman’s former colleagues went to Downing Street just a month ago with a letter that says he believes he was misled by his own Department when he was the Secretary of State for Defence, so why on earth is the hon. Gentleman arguing this particular case? If Defence Secretaries are misled by their Dep…”

“Last month, the High Court issued its judgment permitting the development of 119 homes in a flood risk area in the village of Yatton in Somerset. The site had failed the flood risk sequential test. The judgment prioritises building and development over protection against flooding and imperils existing homes and busines…”

“The Government would probably say that Clause 1 has all sorts of provisions designed to protect its independence. Will they have any practical effect?”

“In 2015, you had to be packed up two weeks beforehand and have your stuff stacked outside your office so that, whatever happened, everything was shunted around and taken to your new office or sent down to your constituency, or whatever you wanted done with it. It was a very useful thing, and it might have avoided some …”

“Do you want to add anything, Damon?”

“It is worse for the staff.”

“I am the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills in Somerset. Everything is on the Register, but I point out that I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for penal affairs, and I am the director of WhistleblowersUK, which is a not-for-profit organisation.”

“That is very helpful. Thank you very much indeed.”

“I lost my seat in 2015, and my recollection is very clear. When Dissolution happened, I was instructed, along with everybody else, to pack all my stuff into boxes and leave it outside my office. Was that the case last time?”

“I assume that might have the potential to affect the quality of decision making.”

“I want to move on to the independent immigration appeals authority, which I will refer to as IIAA. Part 1 of the Bill creates this authority. To what extent does the proposed structure of the IIAA ensure its independence from Government, bearing in mind that the initial chief executive and chief appeals officer will be…”

“My questions are directed to those of you who have had a little bit of cumulative experience. I wanted to ask you how useful you felt the Dissolution guidance was at the last election, and how you found the winding-up process to be.”

“I was told quite clearly that if I did not do it, the House staff would come in and pack it up for me.”

“Last month the former Defence Secretary said that he believed he was misled by his own Department while he was Defence Secretary. Former Scotland Secretary Baroness Liddell, who sat on the Philip review panel, said that she was misled. Given that, surely the Secretary of State must support the Chinook Justice Campaign …”

“I welcome the Minister’s statement. Has she considered the merits of establishing an office of the whistleblower, which would create new legal protections for those who declare wrongdoing and promote greater public awareness of whistleblowers’ rights? Will the Government ensure that there are criminal sanctions on offi…”

“Where do you think your threshold should be?”

“What you are saying to me is that there are victims who do not get that because they are not RASSO, they are not rape and serious sexual offences, and they are not domestic abuse victims, who might still be in a pool that does not quite get the service yet but might one day. There is a whole raft of other people.”

“Okay, thank you. Can I talk a little bit about the delays and backlogs that are happening? There are repeated adjournments, which clearly compound victims’ trauma and distress. How do prosecutors support victims in those circumstances? You have talked about your letters. I do not want to go over the things you have alr…”