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Penal System

I say straight away to the right hon. Gentleman that over the years I have had a great deal of respect for the way that he has approached these matters, particularly when he was Home Secretary. The Opposition are not always right, and the Government are not always right. There is much to be said for moving forward in a consensual way sometimes. One of the Government’s experiments with night courts at Bow street, for example, was something of a disaster and had to be abandoned. Occasionally, things go wrong.