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Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, having disagreed with the noble Lord, Lord Lester, on an amendment a while ago, I was completely convinced by his cogent argument in favour of this amendment and would gladly support him were he to decide to divide the House—assuming that the Government do not accept it. The use of "heinous" has been criticised by the noble Lords, Lord Borrie and Lord Henley. As a lay man, I find no difficulty with it. It derives from the French word "haine", which gives the clue to its pronunciation. It means "hateful", and 80 to 90 per cent of the population would broadly agree on what crimes are the most hateful.