UK Parliament / Open data

Debate on the Address

Queen's speech debate on Thursday, 4 December 2008, in the House of Commons, led by Baroness Smith of Malvern. The answering member was Dominic Grieve.

Queen's speech debate (second day) on home affairs and justice.

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

485 c155-229

Session

2008-09

Department

Home Office

Procedure

Addresses to the Crown

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Proceeding contributions

Dominic Grieve | 485 c227 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the Secretary of State's point. Obviously, I have not had a chance to study the judgmen...

Jack Straw | 485 c222-4 (Link to this contribution) We are dancing on the head of a pin. The census is sui generic; it is conducted by the national stat...

Show all contributions (152)

Jack Straw | 485 c224 (Link to this contribution) That point runs into the whole issue of rules of engagement, but I will follow it up.

Tobias Ellwood | 485 c224 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State does not need to write to me; he needs to write to the Navy and members of ou...

Jack Straw | 485 c224-6 (Link to this contribution) Of course I acknowledge that and I am grateful to my hon. Friend. My hon. Friend the Member for Kei...

Andrew Mackinlay | 485 c224 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer) and the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten), ...

Jack Straw | 485 c226-7 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman reads the judgment, he will find that the Court did take those judgments into ...

Lord Herbert of South Downs | 485 c226 (Link to this contribution) One argument that the right hon. Gentleman has advanced regarding the incorporation of convention ri...

Jack Straw | 485 c227 (Link to this contribution) Of course I accept that, and I would be happy to talk to the hon. Gentleman in more detail outside t...

Mark Field | 485 c227 (Link to this contribution) I want to return to the Secretary of State's previous point about faulty DNA evidence. I think that ...

Lord Herbert of South Downs | 485 c228 (Link to this contribution) On the Lord Chancellor's previous point, may I press him on the constitutional reform Bill? It was a...

Jack Straw | 485 c227-8 (Link to this contribution) Let us hope that that is the case. If hon. Members study carefully one of the most important paragra...

Jack Straw | 485 c229 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid I cannot satisfy the hon. Gentleman on that. The proposals were never for secret inquest...

Chris Huhne | 485 c229 (Link to this contribution) Can the Justice Secretary give the House an assurance that he will not reintroduce in the coroners B...

Jack Straw | 485 c228-9 (Link to this contribution) We have already had a draft Bill, so there is no point in publishing another draft Bill. That would ...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c167 (Link to this contribution) I give way.

Chris Huhne | 485 c167-8 (Link to this contribution) I find the growing consensus on both sides of the House on the need for some directly elected police...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c168-71 (Link to this contribution) First, our proposals do not touch on London, precisely because an existing arrangement in respect of...

Chris Huhne | 485 c171 (Link to this contribution) I am only modestly surprised to be called to speak so early in the debate, given that it is rather e...

Tobias Ellwood | 485 c171 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, who has only ju...

Speaker | 485 c171 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that that is not a point of order for the Chair.

Chris Huhne | 485 c171-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was making, in a rather different way, the very point I was about to make about t...

Jack Straw | 485 c172 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has mentioned only one or two offences, from this list of 3,600, that he wishes t...

Chris Huhne | 485 c172 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Justice Secretary for intervening in that way. When he wrote to me in those ter...

Jack Straw | 485 c172 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is either making a trivial debating point or a serious point. The point that he m...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c174 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should not assume that we desire to introduce a system that would necessarily lea...

Chris Huhne | 485 c174 (Link to this contribution) Given the knowledge that we share of how the British political system has developed over many decade...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c173 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is mistaken. First, there is no question of having Robocops. The elected commissi...

Chris Huhne | 485 c173-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that clarification, but it does not reassure me in one key respect. The single ele...

Jack Straw | 485 c175 (Link to this contribution) I hold no particular brief for the Conservatives' proposals, but the hon. Gentleman's reference to t...

Chris Huhne | 485 c175 (Link to this contribution) The Justice Secretary deliberately confuses two things that I said. We had at that time serious conc...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c174 (Link to this contribution) At present, we have no intention of changing the system presently in place in London. It is in its i...

Chris Huhne | 485 c175 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that we have some agreement that the system in London, which appears to be quite a good sy...

Mark Field | 485 c175 (Link to this contribution) Given the hon. Gentleman's passion for proportional representation, how would he try to rig the PR s...

Chris Huhne | 485 c176 (Link to this contribution) I fear that the hon. Lady and I will have to disagree on that point. I yield to no one in my abhorre...

Mark Field | 485 c176 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with what the hon. Gentleman has been saying about the BNP, but when he talks about...

Chris Huhne | 485 c176-8 (Link to this contribution) I am far more worried about the possibility that a populist, who was not necessarily badged under th...

Phil Woolas | 485 c178 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an important point, and I am grateful for his support for English langu...

Chris Huhne | 485 c176 (Link to this contribution) I have absolutely no suggestion that we should rig any system. I take a democratic view: if there is...

Ann Cryer | 485 c176 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that the hon. Gentleman understands the damage the BNP can do in positions of democrat...

Chris Huhne | 485 c178-9 (Link to this contribution) We asked for the total expenditure in this case, and the answer that we got was very clear. I am afr...

Greg Mulholland | 485 c179 (Link to this contribution) On a specific and important point, in the wake of the inquest into the tragic death of my constituen...

Chris Huhne | 485 c179-80 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention, and I hope that the Secretary of State for Jus...

Mark Field | 485 c180-4 (Link to this contribution) For what I fear will be the first of many years to come, the Queen's Speech unashamedly focuses firs...

Charles Walker | 485 c189-90 (Link to this contribution) I hope that we have not yet reached that stage, but if we are to avoid reaching it, now is the time ...

Mark Field | 485 c190 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes his point with great passion. I very much agree with it, and the contribution m...

Charles Walker | 485 c188-9 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in the 12th Queen's Speech debate under the...

David Davis | 485 c187-8 (Link to this contribution) Yes, it could have been the time taken to count the votes, although I sort of doubt it. Where are w...

David Davis | 485 c184-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall be extremely brief, lest I lose this enormous audience. I want to focus on the famous, and r...

Lord Bellingham | 485 c192 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman accepted that the coroners in this country do a superb job. However, we do ...

Charles Walker | 485 c190-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right; we are in the early stages of this technology. My concerns about the DNA da...

Lord Beith | 485 c191-2 (Link to this contribution) I want to consider the Gracious Speech from the standpoint of the Justice Committee and its predeces...

Tobias Ellwood | 485 c160 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary is being extremely generous in giving way. On responsible drinking, she will be a...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c160 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice is advising me on the price of beer, which I...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c158-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I will say something about human trafficking later, but...

Shailesh Vara | 485 c158 (Link to this contribution) On the subject of collaboration, I am sure that the Home Secretary will agree that there is no place...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c159 (Link to this contribution) I do not want this debate to become a love-in—

Keith Vaz | 485 c159 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Home Secretary for giving way a second time. What she has announced is excellent news, g...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c159 (Link to this contribution) No—some hope. My right hon. Friend's Committee made some important points and pressed us on precise...

Keith Vaz | 485 c159 (Link to this contribution) It will not become a love-in.

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c160 (Link to this contribution) The element that I am outlining with respect to a mandatory code would enable specific conditions to...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c159 (Link to this contribution) May I turn to 24-hour licensing? The Home Secretary knows that our party believes that the decision ...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c162-3 (Link to this contribution) We certainly believe that the requirements for English and, of course, knowledge of life should be r...

Simon Hughes | 485 c161 (Link to this contribution) These are important matters and Liberal Democrats have always argued that we need a proper and clear...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c161 (Link to this contribution) My first reaction was that when I need the right hon. Gentleman's help, I know that I am in really b...

David Davis | 485 c161 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary may be surprised to know that this is intended to be a helpful intervention for h...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c160-1 (Link to this contribution) I reiterate the point that my hon. Friend has been assiduous in campaigning on behalf of his constit...

Ann Cryer | 485 c162 (Link to this contribution) I have heard all sorts of stories over the last 12 months about people who are effectively buying ce...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c162 (Link to this contribution) The duty clearly relates to the detention of children. We are already working to ensure that the det...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c161-2 (Link to this contribution) I am just coming on to explain what is in the Bill and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will see that ...

Andy Slaughter | 485 c160 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Home Secretary's intention to assert more control over lap-dancing clubs, the ...

Jack Straw | 485 c164 (Link to this contribution) I would like to follow up, if I may, the point made by the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne). ...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c164 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. One problem at the moment is that there does not seem to be m...

Andrew Murrison | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that the acid test is what we hear as Members of Parliament, p...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I do not share the right hon. Gentleman's view with the certainty that he puts forw...

Tobias Ellwood | 485 c163 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State shouts that the Government are against it, but perhaps that needs to be made ...

Chris Huhne | 485 c164 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Gentleman talks about the doubling of crime. He is right that recorded violent ...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c163-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. There is a need for clarification both of the...

Tobias Ellwood | 485 c163 (Link to this contribution) There is confusion in the Navy and other parts of the armed forces as to where we stand with regard ...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c163 (Link to this contribution) I listened with care to what the Home Secretary had to say and I am sorry that she sat down before I...

Chris Huhne | 485 c167 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

Speaker | 485 c167 (Link to this contribution) Order. We must not have sedentary interventions. They are quite disruptive to the debate.

Dominic Grieve | 485 c165-7 (Link to this contribution) I note what the Secretary of State says, but I stand by my comments, particularly in respect of viol...

Jack Straw | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) No, he was right. My hesitation was not entirely justified as it turned out on that occasion. It was...

Tobias Ellwood | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) It was his fault.

Jack Straw | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) So far as burglary is concerned, one target that I slightly reluctantly accepted; in fact, I was inv...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State says that the Government have done that, but I come back to where I started: ...

Jack Straw | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) We have done that.

Dominic Grieve | 485 c165 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. Indeed, he will be aware that Louise Casey, who produced a rep...

David Drew | 485 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend will accept, because she knows this only too well, that one of the sad...

Ann Cryer | 485 c200-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that excellent contribution. As he says, the trade unions were helping a ...

Fiona Mactaggart | 485 c201-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer) and her concerns about electoral re...

Jack Straw | 485 c202 (Link to this contribution) It may help my hon. Friend if I deal with that issue, which was also raised by an Opposition speaker...

Lord Beith | 485 c197-8 (Link to this contribution) Yes; what a young figure the Prime Minister cut, but we all remember him in those days. Clearly, al...

Ann Cryer | 485 c199 (Link to this contribution) I have an agreement to look after grandchildren from 6 o'clock, so I did not prepare a speech for th...

Paul Robert Holmes | 485 c204 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that there is a danger that if the Government pass the law on strict liabil...

Fiona Mactaggart | 485 c203-4 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to hear that. None the less, the matter raises the issue of the accountability of the Metr...

David Drew | 485 c206-8 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate having the opportunity to speak at this relatively late hour. Not having heard all the ...

Fiona Mactaggart | 485 c204-6 (Link to this contribution) If we put effort behind any law, it will work better. That is obvious. The hon. Gentleman is right t...

Charles Walker | 485 c194 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a good point about party fundraising. Why does politics excite people...

Lord Beith | 485 c195-6 (Link to this contribution) It is probably mainly to do with a perception that there was a need for change and a means to bring ...

David Burrowes | 485 c194 (Link to this contribution) Is the justice reinvestment inquiry that the Select Committee is undertaking, in which I take a part...

Lord Beith | 485 c194 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is on to a very important point. Our system does not locate in one place, either ...

Lord Beith | 485 c192-4 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman to this extent: we do not want an over-centralised system, but we ne...

Chris Huhne | 485 c197 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend will remember that when in opposition the Prime Minister was very proud of usin...

Lord Beith | 485 c197 (Link to this contribution) I accept that reform and supported it at the time, but we are seeing the playing around with the Gra...

Jack Straw | 485 c197 (Link to this contribution) I do not think we can be criticised on the Queen's Speech because one of the reforms introduced by t...

Lord Beith | 485 c197 (Link to this contribution) I still think and hope that PPSs will vote against the Government from time to time and might surviv...

Mark Field | 485 c215 (Link to this contribution) Further to that comment and that of the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne), does my hon. Friend...

Lord Herbert of South Downs | 485 c215 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend sounds as though he might be a fan of Bentham, who described the idea of natural righ...

Chris Huhne | 485 c215 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way because he has made precisely the point under dis...

Lord Herbert of South Downs | 485 c215-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman might be aware that both sides are talking about not just British rights, but Bri...

Jack Straw | 485 c219-21 (Link to this contribution) This has been an interesting and unexpectedly lively debate. I am pleased to say that three Conserva...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c221 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the Secretary of State will bear in mind what I said about the need for a mature debate....

Jack Straw | 485 c221-2 (Link to this contribution) I was going on to say two things. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary would be the first to ackn...

Lord Coaker | 485 c222 (Link to this contribution) They publish it everywhere.

Chris Huhne | 485 c222 (Link to this contribution) The reality is, as everybody knows, that the Office for National Statistics reviews the figures, but...

David Drew | 485 c209 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend suggests that other pleas could be made, so may I make a plea for Darfuri asylum seek...

Andrew Mackinlay | 485 c209-10 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that and pleased that I gave way to him, because my theme is tha...

Andrew Mackinlay | 485 c208-9 (Link to this contribution) I shall not keep the House for too long, but I would like to comment on a number of aspects relating...

Lord Herbert of South Downs | 485 c212-4 (Link to this contribution) Yesterday we saw the Lord Chancellor, in all his finery, skilfully walking backwards, which he did m...

Chris Huhne | 485 c214 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, particularly since he was getting into some sple...

Tom Brake | 485 c210 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman may need to talk to his local authority about that because I certainly have offic...

Andrew Mackinlay | 485 c210-2 (Link to this contribution) Of course. I totally endorse what the hon. Gentleman says. I am pleased to see my hon. Friend the M...

Lord Herbert of South Downs | 485 c214 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for reminding us of the important lesson that this Parliament is...

Andrew Mackinlay | 485 c214 (Link to this contribution) On the question of the Bill of Rights proposed by the Justice Secretary some time ago, I cannot help...

Lord Herbert of South Downs | 485 c214 (Link to this contribution) No, I disagree. We will all celebrate the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rig...

Andrew Turner | 485 c156 (Link to this contribution) If the police look for things on any site, they have to explain to the owner that they either need a...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c156 (Link to this contribution) I think that I made it clear that the legal basis for such searches is outlined in the Police and Cr...

Lembit Opik | 485 c156 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the Home Secretary with interest. Switzerland has made an interesting departure fr...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c156 (Link to this contribution) We have already made considerable progress on breaking the link between crime and drug addiction by ...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c155-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Gentleman knows from the British crime survey and the recorded crime figures th...

Dominic Grieve | 485 c155 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the Home Secretary. May we consider violent crime? The briefing document...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c155 (Link to this contribution) It is a great privilege to open the debate on the Gracious Speech. Yesterday, the Gracious Speech m...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c157-8 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I am satisfied with the current arrangements for the appointment of the Metropolitan Police Com...

Keith Vaz | 485 c158 (Link to this contribution) I warmly welcome the Home Secretary's announcement today, which is very much in line with recommenda...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c158 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend's Committee produced a good and important report. If he looks at the speed with...

Tobias Ellwood | 485 c156 (Link to this contribution) May I take the Home Secretary back to the statistics with which she started? She knows that there ha...

Simon Hughes | 485 c157 (Link to this contribution) In earlier debates, the Home Secretary said that she is keen for the police to build on their good c...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c156 (Link to this contribution) The review of the Licensing Act that the Government carried out showed that the incidence of violent...

Mark Field | 485 c157 (Link to this contribution) It is fairly fruitless to bandy statistics about, as we have tried to impress upon the Home Secretar...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c157 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes two important points. I wholeheartedly agree that local people need and des...

Lord Bellingham | 485 c157 (Link to this contribution) The Home Secretary mentioned accountability and more local involvement. Is she satisfied with the cu...

Baroness Smith of Malvern | 485 c157 (Link to this contribution) No I do not, and I have made it clear that I think that there should be an abolition of the police a...

Mark Field | 485 c189 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend referred to the British way, something which many of us feel strongly in our hearts. ...

Fiona Mactaggart | 485 c162 (Link to this contribution) I really welcome the duty to safeguard the welfare of children, but will it have any impact on the d...

Jack Straw | 485 c163 (Link to this contribution) We are against it!

Jack Straw | 485 c222 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend says, they publish it everywhere. If that is the case, as it is in both Oppositio...

Chris Huhne | 485 c172-3 (Link to this contribution) The Justice Secretary accuses me of making a trivial point, but I just wish he knew the difficulties...

Chris Huhne | 485 c187 (Link to this contribution) It was the time they took to count.

Dominic Grieve | 485 c167 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing, wants to intervene, I shall be ...

Charles Walker | 485 c197 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has been in the House for 35 years. Was it not the case that, 35 years ago,...

Subjects

Databases

Biometrics

Accountability

Crime prevention

Crime

Alcoholic drinks

Administration of justice

Asylum

Crimes of violence

Anti-social behaviour

British nationality

Bureaucracy

Coroners

Community policing

ICT

Immigration controls

Immigration

Genetics

Identity cards

Drugs

Human trafficking

Electoral register

Economic situation

English language

Police

Proceeds of crime

Misuse

Licensing laws

Piracy

Police authorities

Probation

Prostitution

Metropolitan Police

Statistics

Standards

Terrorism

Surveillance

Youth services

British National Party

Work permits

Sex establishments

Legislation

Licensing Act 2003

Link

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