Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, I hesitate to interpose myself between the Government Front Bench and their Back Benches or, for that matter, noble Lords from the rest of the House, who do not seem to like what the Government are attempting to do. I shall briefly set out the Opposition’s point. We accept that people who have committed awful crimes should not be allowed to profit from that crime by selling their story, so there is some merit in what the Government propose. We also note, and this is relevant in this House, that it is a matter that was promised in their manifesto at the last election. The Minister nods. Having said that, it is also important to remember the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Lester, that Part 7 was hardly discussed in another place. It is unfortunate, when a new crime—and this is a new crime—or a new procedure is being added to the statute book, if these matters are not properly discussed in another place as well as in this House. I hope that the Minister can comment on that. It is obviously rather late in the day for that to be rectified, but procedures are such that the Government should ensure that these matters are properly discussed. In some respects we are slightly more supportive of the Government. We note that nothing in these provisions actually prevents publication. We do not think that there is an infringement of free speech. In fact, free speech is not the issue; we are talking about paid speech. I dare say that the noble Lord, Lord Lester, will correct me if I am wrong on this, but there is no human right to be paid for saying or writing what you wish. The clauses in the Bill allow an application to be made for profits or benefits to be confiscated. A court may hear an application for an order—