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Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill

My hon. Friend is right. There would still be a grey area because we would still be arguing about what was or was not excessive force, but there would be a further grey area, perhaps tinged with red blood, in that the issues with which we would be dealing would be the consequences of much greater violence. Lord Morris also said:"““If there has been an attack so that defence is reasonably necessary, it will be recognised that a person defending himself cannot weigh to a nicety the exact measure of his defensive action. If the jury thought that in a moment of unexpected anguish a person attacked had only done what he honestly and instinctively thought necessary, that would be the most potent evidence that only reasonable defensive action had been taken.””" In other words, the current law is rooted in common sense. My concern is that what we are being asked to agree to goes way beyond that. It is not common sense. It would make things far worse.