It is a great pleasure to contribute, albeit briefly, to the debate. It is also a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr Burrowes), who made an extremely powerful case about the complexities of the situation. At the heart of the matter is the fact that, as we all know, people kill other people on the roads yet seem to receive remarkably light sentences. His points about people abusing drugs and alcohol before going on to kill someone were powerful.
There was a case in my constituency that was not drug or alcohol-related but demonstrated an anomaly. Many other people are trying find a solution to this, and I shall introduce a ten-minute rule Bill on the subject later in the spring, but today, in light of what the hon. Gentleman said, I want to ask the Minister a couple of questions.
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In relation to drug-driving, what drugs can we test for on the roadside today, in the aftermath of incidents like those that the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate described? I would also like to quiz the Minister a little about the drugalyser. When I first heard the idea, I thought it sounded exactly right and would make a difference, but my fear is that if it is seen as part of forensics, it comes under a back-office function of the police, and could be subject to fairly serious cuts. I cannot see the point of having lots of police legitimately checking people for drug-driving if we cannot get the results of the tests and get the guilty people put in jail to serve the necessary sentence.
Those are my quick points. I urge the Minister to take seriously the thoughtful issues that the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate raised. Across the House, in all parties, people are sick of the fact that people can receive such light sentences for one of the most serious offences imaginable, which causes immense heartbreak to so many families across the country.