My Lords, I commend the noble Baroness, Lady Newlove—and other noble Lords, but particularly she—on her determination and her excellent speech in explaining the horrific nature of this crime and its repercussions. Like many noble Lords, I was delighted to receive a letter from the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, regarding
the Government’s willingness to introduce a new offence of non-fatal strangulation on to the statute book as soon as possible, albeit not within this Bill.
I had thought that the Minister would be at the Dispatch Box this evening, so I am going to put a number of questions to the noble Lord, which I hope he will do his best to answer, although of course he cannot stand in the Minister’s shoes. Can he tell us what the Minister meant by
“a commitment to consider a new offence of non-fatal strangulation”?
Are the Government going to introduce one or are they not? Something a little bit definite would be very much appreciated. Could the noble Lord elaborate on what she meant by making the offence “proportionate”? She spoke of ensuring that more convictions can be achieved, but can he please give any indication of what this might look like?
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Of the two amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Newlove, and others, it was good to be able to understand why she tabled a general offence and an offence where the victim and perpetrator were personally connected as defined in the Bill. One can see the difference between the two immediately.
In Amendment 137, which seems to have attracted the most favour from supporters of these amendments, one would construe that this offence could be used in a way to prosecute individuals who had threatened with a view to a specific outcome—for example, to silence a witness or achieve compliance in a criminal act, as well as the intimidation of women and the “rough sex” defence so convincingly squashed in the Bill. In Amendment 138, where the victim and perpetrator are personally connected, it is a much more sinister, calculated and long-term offence. Both are important. Can the Minister tell the House whether both offences will be introduced, whether they will be treated differently in law and whether the personally connected offence will attract a potentially higher tariff? I apologise for bombarding him with questions, but can he give the House an idea? If this offence is not to come in this Bill, what legislation do the Government have in mind to introduce it, and, realistically, how soon can this come about?
If the introduction of this new offence is anywhere as effective as in New Zealand, as has already been described by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, it will be transformational in terms of reporting and police response. At present in the UK, this cruel and controlling practice is usually prosecuted—when it is prosecuted at all—under the heading of “common assault”, which does not even start to get near the severity of the offence. I love the phrase used recently by the noble Lord, Lord Mackenzie, who said of the arresting policeman for this new offence, “It’ll give him something to hang his hat on”.
Very soon the game of so many abusers will be up, and it cannot come soon enough. I join all the other speakers to ask why this offence cannot be put in this Bill. How many women does the Minister think will die if the Government wait for another Bill to come along?