Topical Questions

Answer: I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Of course, it is a delight to offer a tribute to the greatest parliamentarian of the 20th century. Right hon. and hon. Members should note that today is precisely the 100th anniversary of one of the great speeches on prison reform, given by Winston Churchill while he was in his Liberal phase. I am delighted that I will mark that anniversary by speaking to the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders. I am sure, Mr Speaker, that you will allow me to use the final phrase of that speech 100 years ago, when Churchill said:"““an unfaltering faith that there is a treasure, if you can only find it, in the heart of every man—these are the symbols which in the treatment of crime and criminals mark and measure the stored-up strength of a nation, and are the sign and proof of the living virtue in it.””—[Official Report, 20 July 1910; Vol. 19, c. 1354.]" Those are measures that we will live up to.

This is an answer to the Topical question asked on Tuesday, 20 July 2010 by Mark Menzies (Conservative).

Question: Will the Minister pay tribute to Winston Churchill, who, exactly 100 years ago today, as Home Secretary, commented: ““The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilisation of any country.””?

Secondary information