Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

Members might well believe that I come to this issue entirely on the basis of the Tony Martin case. Tony Martin is a constituent of mine and the case was nearly 10 years ago, when the current Lord Chancellor was Home Secretary. Although I have every sympathy for Tony Martin, I should make it clear that one single case is not a good basis for changing the law. However, the case triggered an unprecedented public debate on householders' rights and the conclusion was that the law was a complete muddle. There were too many investigations taking place and too many cases going to court. In the heat of the moment, when a householder has to react and take a split-second decision, he needs to know that the law is broadly on his side. The vast majority of the public who have been commenting on this issue feel strongly that burglars and intruders should leave the vast majority of their rights outside the building that they break into or intrude on. Of course, there will be exceptions to that rule. That is why, in essence, the three private Members' Bills on this subject were based on the concept of gross disproportionality. The first of those Bills was introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Mr. Gale), the second by my hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer), and the third by my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh)—not forgetting my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Cambridgeshire (Mr. Vara), who tried to bring in a Bill but found that there was no time for it. I sat through many of those debates, and in each and every case the Government were incredibly negative, although they had plenty of time to respond positively. Sadly, they are taking action only after a great deal of persuasion and public debate, having eventually realised that the public mood was running against them. I accept that new clause 6 is a small improvement, but it is incredibly complicated and convoluted. One has to read it about 10 times to make sense of it. As a lawyer, I find it difficult to understand how intelligent lawyers in the Department have come up with a clause that is quite so verbose and complicated. New clauses 8 and 9 have the great virtue of simplicity. The law needs clarifying and changing, and I urge the House to support our new clause. I look forward to hearing what my hon. Friend the Member for Newark has to say.