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Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Bill. In doing so, I pay tribute to my illustrious predecessors, not least my hon. Friends the Members for North Thanet (Mr. Gale) and for Newark (Patrick Mercer), who set the scene for the measure. I also pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham), who has joined me today to lend his support for my attempt to take the Bill to its next stage. He has done much work for his constituent, Tony Martin, whose case was probably the one that instigated our attempts. I pay tribute to my three colleagues. I am delighted to tell the House that I enjoy the support of the whole Conservative parliamentary party, and there is much support for the measure in the country. It has indeed proved to be the people’s choice. Seldom in one’s parliamentary career does one have the opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives and I feel that this is my moment—my parliamentary moment. Normally, I do not win on the lottery, either the national lottery or the lottery of life—