Gangs cause significant and lasting harm to our communities by fuelling violence, creating an atmosphere of fear and drawing young people into criminality. The Government are committed to tackling gang-related violence by giving local partners the legal powers they need to prevent gang-related violence and encourage gang members to exit...

Gangs cause significant and lasting harm to our communities by fuelling violence, creating an atmosphere of fear and drawing young people into criminality. The Government are committed to tackling gang-related violence by giving local partners the legal powers they need to prevent gang-related violence and encourage gang members to exit...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

I have previously described this Bill as the Christmas tree Bill to top all Christmas tree Bills, with more bits dangled off it than legislative branches to hold it all together. Indeed, with a Ways and Means resolution and an instruction motion having been required from the House even during...

I have previously described this Bill as the Christmas tree Bill to top all Christmas tree Bills, with more bits dangled off it than legislative branches to hold it all together. Indeed, with a Ways and Means resolution and an instruction motion having been required from the House even during...

We have had an interesting debate on this important subject. The framing of today's debate with the publication of the Select Committee's report has been helpful in highlighting some of the issues, which were raised by the Chairman. It is interesting to note that the Committee did not support the...

We have had an interesting debate on this important subject. The framing of today's debate with the publication of the Select Committee's report has been helpful in highlighting some of the issues, which were raised by the Chairman. It is interesting to note that the Committee did not support the...

There is a distinction to be drawn between, say, detections and convictions. That is an important distinction to make. Indeed, the National Policing Improvement Agency recognised that in a previous DNA database report:""It is important to note that the availability of DNA match intelligence may not have been causal in...

There is a distinction to be drawn between, say, detections and convictions. That is an important distinction to make. Indeed, the National Policing Improvement Agency recognised that in a previous DNA database report:""It is important to note that the availability of DNA match intelligence may not have been causal in...

There is little doubt about the scope and powerful effect of DNA evidence. In many respects, the use of DNA has revolutionised policing. The ability to match tiny traces of DNA left at the scene of a crime by an offender with the DNA that is taken from a suspect...

There is little doubt about the scope and powerful effect of DNA evidence. In many respects, the use of DNA has revolutionised policing. The ability to match tiny traces of DNA left at the scene of a crime by an offender with the DNA that is taken from a suspect...

Well, we shall come to the judgment on timing. I was just about to turn to retention, which is central to the debate, and the balance to be struck in terms of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. I appreciate that the Minister and the Government take the reverse...

Well, we shall come to the judgment on timing. I was just about to turn to retention, which is central to the debate, and the balance to be struck in terms of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. I appreciate that the Minister and the Government take the reverse...

That has been highlighted by what might be described as the postcode lottery, an issue on which I know the right hon. Gentleman has focused clearly. The fact that certain police forces are prepared, in exceptional circumstances, under guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers, to remove the profiles...

That has been highlighted by what might be described as the postcode lottery, an issue on which I know the right hon. Gentleman has focused clearly. The fact that certain police forces are prepared, in exceptional circumstances, under guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers, to remove the profiles...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

We turn now to an area of policy and law that is very different from that of DNA retention, which we have just debated. We shall now discuss provisions to control alcohol licensing and try to address the problems resulting from late-night drinking that many of our communities experience, including...

We turn now to an area of policy and law that is very different from that of DNA retention, which we have just debated. We shall now discuss provisions to control alcohol licensing and try to address the problems resulting from late-night drinking that many of our communities experience, including...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

That is the point. I was genuinely trying to make the point sensibly, and not in a partisan way, so that we could try to make the legislation more workable in the spirit of positive opposition. It is interesting that the Government have turned their face against the proposal, and...

That is the point. I was genuinely trying to make the point sensibly, and not in a partisan way, so that we could try to make the legislation more workable in the spirit of positive opposition. It is interesting that the Government have turned their face against the proposal, and...

Well, we have certainly got the Minister excited on this point. I do not know whether that is the pent-up frustration of not having been involved in some of the previous debates. A lot of better regulation is about giving power back to communities. When the Licensing Act 2003 was...

Well, we have certainly got the Minister excited on this point. I do not know whether that is the pent-up frustration of not having been involved in some of the previous debates. A lot of better regulation is about giving power back to communities. When the Licensing Act 2003 was...

Does the Minister intend this to be a mainstream measure, or is it, too, intended to be a measure of last resort?

Does the Minister intend this to be a mainstream measure, or is it, too, intended to be a measure of last resort?

The measures concern the separate issue of gang injunctions. The Conservatives certainly recognise the need to examine measures to deal with the problems of gang-related violence and young people being drawn into gangs. In some parts of the country there are gang rivalries, whether they are based on postcode territories...

The measures concern the separate issue of gang injunctions. The Conservatives certainly recognise the need to examine measures to deal with the problems of gang-related violence and young people being drawn into gangs. In some parts of the country there are gang rivalries, whether they are based on postcode territories...

Perhaps it is the mindset that this Government have always had of always erring on the side of the Big Brother database state. In many ways they are making the case for universal inclusion on the DNA database, which is utterly unacceptable and, I know, is not the approach that...

Perhaps it is the mindset that this Government have always had of always erring on the side of the Big Brother database state. In many ways they are making the case for universal inclusion on the DNA database, which is utterly unacceptable and, I know, is not the approach that...

A mini-speech perhaps, but one with some important points wrapped up in it as regards the need for policing by consent, the public's confidence and trust in policing, and the way in which the national DNA database is operated. Indeed, senior police officers have made that very evident in saying...

A mini-speech perhaps, but one with some important points wrapped up in it as regards the need for policing by consent, the public's confidence and trust in policing, and the way in which the national DNA database is operated. Indeed, senior police officers have made that very evident in saying...

The point is that the Minister has sought to advance various individual cases to prove that our approach is somehow unreasonable and that we are in some way seeking to support the perpetrators of serious crimes. Actually, an analysis of those cases does not bear that out. In citing them,...

The point is that the Minister has sought to advance various individual cases to prove that our approach is somehow unreasonable and that we are in some way seeking to support the perpetrators of serious crimes. Actually, an analysis of those cases does not bear that out. In citing them,...

I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for highlighting that case, as he did in Committee, but the Government will acknowledge that even on the basis of their proposals there must be a risk that someone may not be caught. There is always a case for balance...

I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for highlighting that case, as he did in Committee, but the Government will acknowledge that even on the basis of their proposals there must be a risk that someone may not be caught. There is always a case for balance...

I would always hesitate to make law based on individual cases, but that in no way undermines the considerable traumas of the victims of the crimes that have rightly been solved using DNA evidence. However, the point is that such cases are complex, and forensics are often only one element...

I would always hesitate to make law based on individual cases, but that in no way undermines the considerable traumas of the victims of the crimes that have rightly been solved using DNA evidence. However, the point is that such cases are complex, and forensics are often only one element...