Emergency Workers (Protection) Bill

The hon. Gentleman’s evidence accords with my personal experience and other reports from elsewhere. The irony is that the enactment of the Bill might prompt a surge in the number of offences, but that might misrepresent what is happening. It is because it would be apparent that we are doing something about the problem that the reporting of offences might increase. My right hon. Friend West described a range of incidents that he had uncovered in his work on the Bill, and they are probably reflected in the experience of many other hon. Members. I have several examples from the west midlands. I intervened on my right hon. Friend to describe a bizarre, so-called happy slapping incident, and the Bill might offer a potential way to deal with such incidents. A couple of years ago, there was an incident at West Bromwich bus station when two female ambulance service personnel answered a distress call. On arriving, they found someone who was drunk and who proceeded to assault them physically. As if that were not bad enough, some more drunken young people weighed in on the assault, although it might have been thought that those two ladies would have enjoyed the support of the public in that critical situation. Not only was the assault a disturbing and traumatic experience for those two young ladies, but their services were lost to the ambulance service for a considerable time. It is an appalling reflection on our society that such assaults should go unprosecuted. We have also heard about incidents involving the fire service. In the west midlands, in 2004 there were 76 attacks on firefighters, and in 2005 there were no fewer than 143. We should be cautious about the use of such statistics, because they may reflect an increase in reporting and a greater awareness of the problem, but one incident in Coventry stands out, in which someone tried to drop a car battery on a firefighter from the 16th floor of a tower block. Happily, it missed, but one can only wonder at the vicious mindlessness of someone who is prepared to perpetrate such an attack. Public service workers who have to run such risks in carrying out their duties deserve our sympathy and support. My right hon. Friend has described the incidents in Manchester and Merseyside, so I shall not repeat them. Many of the incidents are a result of drink or drugs—mainly drink. We have discussed the potential impact of the changes in licensing laws on the problem and I happen to believe that dealing with such incidents is not only a matter of legislating to prevent them, but of legislating against antisocial behaviour in a range of areas. Although it is too early to make any definitive pronouncements, there is some evidence that the changes in licensing laws are having an impact, and that will need to be carefully monitored to see whether any amendment to the law is needed to prevent such incidents. The Government must also consider diversionary activities, especially for young people. My hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ann Keen) commented on the attempts made by firefighters to visit schools to talk to young people. That could be taken further. If we could show young people how the emergency services work—within the health and safety requirements—it might provide a bonding effect in communities that could prevent some of the incidents that we have heard about today.