Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

The second point of the noble Lord was so wide that I was looking for assistance to the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwark as to how completely to revamp the morals of our society. I shall not do that with the amendment that I have suggested to the Committee. However, I largely share his views about the lapse in standards and join him in asking what one can do about it. However, it is such a wide debate that I cannot go into it. In response to his first question, I say that I share his concern that, when we lock people up, we are not doing anything positive with them. Adults are outside the terms of reference of the amendment, but I share the noble Lord’s concern that we do not simply throw away the key when they are locked up, when all the other ways in which we have attempted to deal with the person’s problems have failed. We must still try; we must still have the resources available to put on the courses to which the noble Lord referred. I have already wearied the Committee for long enough. I will accept the invitation of the noble Earl, Lord Onslow, to discuss further—I hope with the Minister and certainly with other participants in the debate—ways in which we can positively take the issue forward. For the moment, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.