---

Emergency Workers (Protection) Bill

As I have pointed out to the hon. Gentleman, we already have action in the overriding principles of December 2004. We are in the process of developing the sentencing guidelines on violent crime. The process has started. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that it is a slightly lengthy process, but I predict that it will come to a conclusion at about the time that we would be able to implement the offence proposed in the Bill. It is not an instant process. We are dealing with sentencing for crime so it is, rightly, a properly elaborated process, but a powerful process. It is not vague. It has specific aspects, including a duty properly to consult, and I do not accept that that is a bad thing.