Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

In view of what I said yesterday, I am certainly not going to suggest that magistrates are failing in their duties; of course they are not. But equally there is always a balance to be struck between what is set out in statute in sentencing guidelines and the discretion of the magistracy. As the noble Lord has said, there is a power to give a conditional discharge in exceptional circumstances, but we also think it is right that Parliament can set a framework in which that happens. That is why the Bill is as it is.