Home Affairs and Justice

We are dancing on the head of a pin. The census is sui generic; it is conducted by the national statistician, for obvious reasons. When monetary data are collected for the purpose of producing national statistics, the ONS has to go to others to collect the data, and it then has to validate them. That also happens with crime statistics. The British crime survey does not have to depend on the intermediation of police authorities. There are issues with the recording of some crimes, and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has addressed them. Such issues will continue to arise, so the more robust we make the system the better. I addressed those issues as Home Secretary, as did my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett), and little thanks have we had, because the numbers for recorded crimes went up, not down. I shall briefly run through the issues raised by hon. Members in the debate and then make some more detailed remarks, especially in response to the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs. The hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker) and the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) both raised the issue of the Marper judgment in the European Court of Human Rights, and I will come back to that. I apologise for not being in my place for the speech by the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Field), although I saw some of it, and he raised several wider issues about the economy and matters of profound concern to his constituents, as well as to the major financial institutions in his constituency. I will personally draw his speech to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor so that he can make reference to it when he responds in the economic debate. The right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith) made several points about the coroners Bill. I understand that he also suggested national funding for the coronial system, and again I apologise for not being here for the major portion of his speech. I understand the concerns raised by the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, because two Bills have been put into one, but they are still effectively two Bills, and the new Bill will do the same job as the two Bills would have done. I shall deal with the issue of parliamentary time as some important points were made. Our view is that it is better to leave the funding and appointment of coroners as it is, not least because, although some changes are taking place, local authorities are attached to the idea that they play a role in the appointment of their coroners. There is no great demand for changing that aspect of the system and my view is if it ain't broke, don't change it. The hon. Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Ellwood) and the hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield raised the issue of piracy. The law on piracy has not changed. Piracy on the high seas used to be a capital offence, and under the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997, which made the law of nations the United Nations convention on the law of the sea, it is still a serious one, with a maximum penalty of life. The hon. and learned Gentleman suggested that our Royal Navy officers might be impeded in arresting people committing piracy on the high seas because such alleged pirates could apply for asylum. People can apply for anything they want, but they would not be given asylum. Article 1F of the 1951 refugee convention states that it does not apply to a person"““with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that…he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee””." There is no question about the matter. Pirates could not conceivably have an application for asylum entertained. However, I shall ensure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence writes, either directly or through me, to both Members in more detail about the matter.