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Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, I, too, apologise for missing the earlier part of the debate, but in the summer I read the letter of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, where he advanced the most convincing arguments for the amendment that he has now put forward and on which I wrote to him in support. In a lifetime of practice involving many murders, the usual issue is whether it was murder or manslaughter. I have long believed that there should be one law of homicide, as Lord Lane, a former Lord Chief Justice, adumbrated more than 20 years ago. Therefore, I fully support the amendment tabled by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, which seeks to deal with the too blunt instrument that we now have.