Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

Briefly, I support both these amendments. The use of the word ““punishment””, as applied to what you do as opposed to the act of sentencing, is where I part company with my noble and learned friend Lady Butler-Sloss. Of course, somebody who is too young and has a lack of understanding and all the other aspects referred to cannot possibly be subject to any form of punishment; correction, maybe. They should be shown a better way of life, and helped and guided not to reoffend. Above all, we are back to the preventive side of all of this. This is where the effort must be, and where the Government and everybody who speaks on this wish to place emphasis. On this detailed list of additions to Part 2, they are very lengthy and a lot have come up in previous debates. Some could perhaps be cut back a little but, by and large, they underline the important aspects of what sentencers should be taking into account as they decide what to do in the best interests of the child and society. It is about time we faced up to this pretence that you will protect society by sounding fierce, and began to educate the public rather more that the best way to protect them is to ensure that we turn as many young people and their families on to a better understanding of how a better life can be achieved.