Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, I put my name to this amendment and strongly support what has already been said both by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, and the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart. The phrase "life imprisonment" is sacrosanct, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, said, but of course, it is not true. Very few people serve life imprisonment; I think that fewer than 10 people are likely to be there throughout their lives. So, we start with a contradiction: the sacrosanct life imprisonment and the reality which is entirely different. It is a sound and not substance. It would be very sad—it is sad in that it happens—if both the Government and the Official Opposition were so concerned to align their position with the popular press rather than look at the merits of a very good amendment. It would be a great triumph for common sense, as well as for the amendment of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, if both the Government and the Official Opposition were to agree on this and let it through.