Offensive Weapons Bill

I hope that this is third time lucky. I understand the difficulties that the Government are in, b...

I do not disagree with anything that the hon. Lady has said, but for the record, has the informat...

I cannot answer that question directly, but one issue in Scotland relates to the collection of da...

I declare an interest: as set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, I am chairman ...

I am trying to remember, but I think that .50 calibre weapons were used by terrorists in Northern...

I believe that they have been, but I advisedly used “in this jurisdiction” for that purpose.

Just to correct what our hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart) said, the weapons use...

I thank my hon. Friend for that important clarification.

The National Crime Agency position...

It is about 20 years since I fired a .50 calibre. My hon. Friend is entirely right to talk about ...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention.

It is unfortunate that this debate is not abo...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and thank the Minister for seeing common sense and consider...

I am not sure whether those people are primarily ex-servicemen and women, but I am sure that a lo...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way; he is being extremely generous. I would ask him to conside...

My hon. Friend makes a very fair point. Firearms are potential very dangerous things to use. I ca...

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Huw Merriman) said, my hon. Friend has been ...

I thank my hon. Friend for that important intervention. I can honestly say that I have never hear...

Nuclear weapons have never been used for a crime, nor are they used in sport, yet they are not al...

I am afraid that I do not really understand the hon. Gentleman’s logic. I am talking about sports...

May I begin by reiterating Labour’s support for the Bill? We gave our support on Second Reading a...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. As the lead signatory to the amendment that sought to rem...

I did not see that comment as a personal accusation. One thing is clear—the hon. Gentleman has ce...

Later in my speech, I will come to exactly why we think the amendment that the Government have ta...

To the hon. Lady’s knowledge, have any of these heavier calibre weapons been used in criminality?...

Twice in the last two years these guns have been found in the hands of criminals: once in the nor...

In my mind, I make a distinction between a legal gun owner and an illegal gun owner. In the two i...

In one case, the weapon was held legally; in the other, it was held illegally. I hope that will h...

Order. We have lots of Members who wish to speak, so if we can be brief we can try to get in as m...

I am very grateful, Mr Deputy Speaker, to catch your eye in this debate on this important Bill, w...

My hon. Friend may have seen that I sought to intervene on the shadow Minister on this earlier. H...

I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend. Of course, those who possess these weapons use...

I just want to put it on the record that I support shooting and I supported getting rid of this c...

Indeed. There will be lots of other colleagues who signed the amendments who are also of the rema...

The hon. Gentleman may well be coming on to this, but I thank him for giving way. I wonder what e...

I greatly respect the hon. Lady, and if she will just be a little patient, I will give her exactl...

I have been very upset to hear the nature of this debate, because the worst thing for any police ...

rose—

Can I just say to Sir Geoffrey that hopefully he will recognise that we have six more Members and...

I am grateful for your advice, Mr Deputy Speaker, but it is important, in view of what the hon. M...

It is good to finally get down to further consideration of the Bill, at the third attempt. Let me...

The purpose of my amendments 23 and 24 is to avoid banning lever-release rifles. They are probing...

I wish to speak in support of new clause 2, in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol ...

Does the right hon. Gentleman recall that when the firearms legislation was revised in 2002, just...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for reminding me of the proposals that were brought in for No...

I wish to speak to Government amendment 26 and other related amendments. I had not intended to sp...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Does my hon. Frien...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Gun clubs do, indeed, provide such a sport. I will suggest to...

I will keep my remarks brief, as you have requested, Madam Deputy Speaker, because we are shortly...

rose—

No, I am not going to give way.

We know that the terror threat is growing. The Government r...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I am not going to give way to the hon. Lady, who I am afraid will say anything that the Whips...

Why? Three years ago, almost to the day, more than 100 young people were killed in an attack on a...

Well, I have to say that the hon. Lady would be supporting the Government whatever their position...

I thank all Members across the House for their passionate and heartfelt views on these important ...

I know the Minister has had extraordinary tension over this issue and has engaged very sincerely ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. He mentions the consultation, so I should forma...

I have now to announce the result of today’s deferred Division in respect of the question relatin...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Government new clause 17—Search f...

This group of new clauses and amendments deals with matters on which I know there is a great deal...

As the Minister probably knows, there was a nasty incident in Coventry a couple of days ago when ...

Let me say first that I am terribly sorry to hear of the incident in the hon. Gentleman’s constit...

Does the Minister appreciate the serious concern in the British Sikh community about people being...

I am delighted to say that I can, and I promise to deal with that in more detail in due course. I...

rose—

May I make a little more progress?

In relation to the issue of a private place, it will bec...

I thank the Minister for giving way. The Minister said that the corrosive substances offence appl...

The hon. Gentleman is drawing me into the incredibly complex area of applicability in Northern Ir...

The Minister will see in the Bill that for the specific provisions in clauses 1 to 4 it is for a ...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right.

I hope that this new offence will attract widesprea...

I thank the Minister very sincerely for the way she has engaged in this issue. Clearly it was a r...

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend and thank him again for his help not just on this but on a d...

He is always helpful.

My colleague sitting next to me is quite right: my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley is always h...

I should like to thank the Minister for her response to the amendment on the possession of the ki...

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention. I want to make it clear that it was never the Govern...

I should like to thank the Minister for the open, listening approach that she has taken in respon...

I am happy to confirm that. The original wording mirrored the wording used in existing legislatio...

The Minister has been very generous in giving way. May I identify myself with my colleagues in su...

Of course. I am sure that everyone who works in this complex area has sympathy with the hon. Gent...

indicated assent.

I shall move on to new clause 1. The right hon. Member for Delyn (David Hanson) continues to rais...

A group of women shopworkers came to see me because of regular threatening behaviour by a gang of...

I am extremely concerned to hear that, but I wonder why the local police are not using the powers...

If all the Minister says is true, why has every retail organisation in the country, and the Union...

They are of course free to do so, but we have looked carefully at the law. However, I chair the n...

If the Minister genuinely does not want to frustrate the content of new clause 1, could she not s...

I know this will not meet with the approval of Opposition Members but, having looked very careful...

The reality on the ground, and USDAW and the Co-op Group have been clear about this, is that the ...

Of course, anyone working on the frontline deserves our support. The criminality the hon. Gentlem...

rose—

rose—

A lot of Members are seeking to intervene, and I will give the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby...

The hon. Lady is very kind. She says that she will speak to her committee of retail representativ...

As part of our discussions—I not only include myself but Home Office officials—of course we talk ...

I appreciate the Minister’s courtesy in allowing me to come back. The reality is that serious vio...

Forgive me, but it is not a question of deferring responsibility. It is the responsibility of the...

Does the Minister not realise quite how this looks? Shop workers across the country—in every part...

I do listen—I must disagree with the hon. Gentleman on that. The point I am making is that the la...

rose—

I am just about to move on to the next topic, but of course I will give way.

I am grateful to the Minister for that. Does she realise that many shop workers across the countr...

I completely agree that we need to communicate the fact that the behaviour the hon. Lady describe...

Interestingly, the Minister said that the Home Secretary has talked about adopting a public healt...

The hon. Lady asked me about this at the last Home Office orals and I said I would be delighted t...

rose—

I give way to the hon. Lady, whom I am tempted to call an hon. Friend because she and I have disc...

I am delighted that the Minister modelled this part of the Bill on my asks on acid crime. I know ...

I pay tribute to the hon. Lady and her constituency neighbour, the right hon. Member for—I am goi...

East Ham.

Thank you. She and the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) have done a great deal on n...

I hear what my hon. Friend says about the national co-ordination centre. From my experience talki...

That is very much the case. Indeed, in my previous career prosecuting serious organised crime, on...

If I have understood correctly, the key thing that new clause 16 does is to fill a gap in the law...

Indeed, and I thank my hon. Friend for being kind enough to show me his great city only a few mon...

The Minister is absolutely right that new clause 5 would impose a blanket ban on retailers displa...

We are indeed introducing a blanket ban on the delivery of bladed products to homes, first becaus...

When packages are delivered to post offices to be picked up, are they clearly marked, “This is a ...

The conditions in the Bill require those who are selling such products to make it clear on the pa...

rose—

rose—

rose—

Oh, gosh. I am going to try to finish my speech by 4.30 pm, so I will give way to the hon. Member...

I appreciate the Minister’s generosity. I hope to speak to those amendments but if time eludes me...

The hon. Lady’s constituent will be able to sell the products. We are not banning the online sale...

Sheffield is obviously the home of knives in this country—knives for proper purposes. I visited T...

Of course I acknowledge the great history of Sheffield as the centre of knife making in this coun...

rose—

I will take one more intervention because I have promised that I will finish at 4.30 pm.

The Minister is extremely kind. Although I and, I dare say other hon. Members, can understand the...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend because he has identified one of the problems with which we grapp...

I rise to speak to new clause 1. I say to the Minister straightaway that I think she has missed t...

As I am sure the right hon. Gentleman knows, I worked for Asda for 12 years before I first entere...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his support. As he will know, the frontline staff are the...

I, too, support my right hon. Friend’s new clause 1. Does he agree that there is a particular poi...

My hon. Friend is right. If the Bill was passed with new clause 1 included, shop workers could at...

I, too, support my right hon. Friend’s new clause. Does he agree that workers in rural locations,...

Indeed. My new clause—if adopted, or if the Minister looks at this as part of age-related sales—w...

I support my right hon. Friend’s new clause. I visited a Co-op shop in Croydon recently. The mana...

My new clause would give added protection, but more importantly, it would show retail staff on th...

At the moment, many of our constituents seem to think the only thing we are discussing in this pl...

I rise to support my two amendments, amendments 1 and 2, with regard to a specific constituency c...

I wonder whether my hon. Friend has seen, as I think would be the case under the Bill, that peopl...

My right hon. Friend makes a really important point. That is just another huge loophole in the Bi...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Redcar (Anna Turley), who is a fellow Arsenal fan ...

The hon. Gentleman rightly says that the shadow Home Secretary has recognised that the use of exc...

Of course, we are all entitled to our point of view.

It’s the law.

I understand it is the law, but it also sends out a certain message, does it not? The police are ...

rose—

I will not give way again because many others wish to speak.

Unfortunately, there is not time for me to address all the amendments in the group, but I thank m...

I strongly agree with the points my hon. Friend is making. Does she agree with me that if the Gov...

My right hon. Friend is right. After eight years of cuts to frontline policing, the Government ha...

I rise to speak in support of my new clause 26, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffie...

I shall be brief, as lots of hon. Members wish to speak.

The provisions in the Bill in rela...

I rise to comment on two of the new clauses. First, my hon. Friend the Minister has spoken convin...

I hope my hon. Friend realises that I listened with great care to the speech of the right hon. Me...

I am very grateful to the Minister. That is a really good step forward, and I wonder whether the ...

I happily accept the Minister’s offer to revisit this with the trade unions and shop organisation...

I am not sure this is how these things often work on the Floor of the House, but this is a helpfu...

Let me start by saying that I think we are all pleased with what the Minister has just said to my...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker) on his excellent speech and I associat...

Order. I am listening intently to the right hon. Gentleman, as always, and in a friendly way I ex...

Mr Speaker, you are right to be confident because I am.

There may now be more people behind...

Given the constraints on time, I will speak only to new clause 23, from among the six new clauses...

I am sure that the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) intends to detain the House...

I will do my very best, Mr Speaker.

I rise to speak to my amendments 8, 9 and 10, to which ...

I will try to be brief to ensure that everybody has a chance to speak. I served on the Bill Commi...

I have tabled an amendment to this Bill that has cross-party support. Members of all parties and ...

I want to focus on new clause 6 as well. Although we all know how falling police numbers are impa...

I rise to speak in support of new clause 6. I was pleased to serve on the Public Bill Committee, ...

I thank all Members for a most interesting and informative debate. I want to clarify a point made...

Will the Minister give way?

I am conscious of the time, so I will not. I am always happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, but it i...

Consideration completed. I will now suspend the House for no more than five minutes in order to m...

I can now inform the House that the Speaker has completed certification of the Bill, as required ...

indicated assent.

The House forthwith resolved itself into the Legislative Grand Committee ...

I remind hon. Members that if there is a Division, only Members representing constituencies in En...

I beg to move, that the Bill be now read the Third time.

As the House is all too aware, we ...

Labour will not oppose the limited measures in this Bill tonight, but we regret how very limited ...

I am slightly confused. I thought that, during the opening speeches, Labour Members suggested tha...

We supported this Bill on Second Reading and in Committee, and we supported the Home Secretary’s ...

I commend the Minister for steering the Bill through the House of Commons, and I commend the shad...

One problem we often have is that the Opposition parties are critical of some of the legislation ...

I have heard the Opposition’s message that they are disappointed by the Bill. Does my hon. Friend...

My hon. Friend makes an important point and I agree with it completely. The Express & Star newspa...

I just want to put on the record my thanks to the Government for bringing this excellent Bill thr...

I commend Ministers for their efforts on this Bill. Although the Secretary of State introduced th...

I shall not talk for long; the Whips are worried that I might inadvertently talk out the Bill, wh...

It is now my challenge not to talk out the Bill.

It is a pleasure for me to close the Third...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Speaker has ruled several times that the convention o...

It is the convention for any Member going to another Member’s constituency to carry out political...