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Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

I support new clauses 6 and 7 but I do not support the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) or the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve). The issue can be approached from several perspectives. The hon. Member for Beaconsfield has given us the benefit of his learned, professional approach in Committee and in the House. However, I approach the matter as a practitioner. My background in the trade union movement of representing workers who suffered health and safety accidents at work—some families’ loved ones lost their lives in such accidents—means that my approach is much more practical. However, I accept that both approaches should be designed to ensure that such accidents do not happen in the first place. The hon. Member for Beaconsfield and I have a difference, which will determine whether the Bill is a significant or a very significant step forward. The hon. Gentleman has questioned whether the measure achieves anything and I take a different view. I believe that, with the new provisions, it represents a significant step forward and I hope that some more developments will occur, if the Minister has the will, but it is not yet a very significant step forward.