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Business of the House

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) said—in a debate that was triggered at Solicitor-General's questions by my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas), who asked for a debate about murder, the legal framework and the penalties that are available—the crime of murder is "uniquely abhorrent". The only charge that could be laid against the man that I mentioned at Stafford Crown court earlier this week was manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to that and was given a sentence of 14 years. He had been in custody for three years; he may be released in four further years. This is no form of justice for the families that had their lives destroyed three years ago by the events that I described. Is it not about time that we looked at the law surrounding murder and the penalties that are available, so that no legal technicalities can stand in the way of justice in the way that the Munn and Moore families endured at Stafford Crown court earlier this week?