Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

In support of the noble and learned Baroness, I say that public confidence is important—everybody accepts that. However, if the public’s confidence can be won and maintained only on the basis of quite unreasonable rigidity, one surely has to temper that by the consideration of being overrigid. All that the amendment seeks to bring about is reasonable and proper discretion. The objection of the Government is based on the fundamental belief that anything other than a first referral will be utterly unjustified and represent a flabbiness of the whole system. There is no proof or justification for that.