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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I thank the Minister for that. One can nitpick over these things. I suppose that my general argument remains the same: too many children are going in for offences that are relatively too minor. I was interested in what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, said about the narrowing effect of the amendment. Evidence shows that when we had a threshold, it was very successful and brought down custody by nearly half. That is an important experience that we should not ignore. I appreciate the general support of the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland. I hope that the Minister will perhaps look once again at the proposal. It is not an issue that we will let go. We look forward to returning to it later. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.