My Lords, I declare my interest as a non-practising barrister. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, even though I feel unable to follow her conclusions.

In 2020, Mr David Lammy, who was the ministerial author of the proposals in this Bill, said:

“Jury trials are a fundamental part of...

My Lords, I declare my interest as a non-practising barrister. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, even though I feel unable to follow her conclusions.

In 2020, Mr David Lammy, who was the ministerial author of the proposals in this Bill, said:

“Jury trials are a fundamental part of...

My Lords, when the Minister started this debate, he said that our court and judicial system has never stood still. For many of us in this Chamber, we feel not only that it has not stood still but that it has been going backwards in recent years. That is very...

My Lords, when the Minister started this debate, he said that our court and judicial system has never stood still. For many of us in this Chamber, we feel not only that it has not stood still but that it has been going backwards in recent years. That is very...

My Lords, it is a profound honour to address your Lordships for the first time. I am incredibly grateful to noble Lords across the House for their warm and generous welcome. I thank all the staff of the House for making my arrival so enjoyable: the doorkeepers, the clerks, the...

My Lords, it is a profound honour to address your Lordships for the first time. I am incredibly grateful to noble Lords across the House for their warm and generous welcome. I thank all the staff of the House for making my arrival so enjoyable: the doorkeepers, the clerks, the...

Oh!

Oh!

Tim may well be listening and may well be embarrassed or perhaps emboldened by that cheer from the Benches opposite.

For me, over breakfast, there was a choice to be made: should I read the Daily Mail or the Morning Star? Of course, I read both. Both parents in their own...

Tim may well be listening and may well be embarrassed or perhaps emboldened by that cheer from the Benches opposite.

For me, over breakfast, there was a choice to be made: should I read the Daily Mail or the Morning Star? Of course, I read both. Both parents in their own...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Stace on a very thoughtful and personal maiden speech. He is a friend who I have known for over a quarter of a century. Both of our families lived and grew up in south London and in south London Labour politics.

As we...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Stace on a very thoughtful and personal maiden speech. He is a friend who I have known for over a quarter of a century. Both of our families lived and grew up in south London and in south London Labour politics.

As we...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord McNicol, for two reasons. The first is that I agree with everything he said about his noble friend Lord Stace, who has just made what the noble Lord, Lord McNicol, described as a thoughtful maiden speech. I am...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord McNicol, for two reasons. The first is that I agree with everything he said about his noble friend Lord Stace, who has just made what the noble Lord, Lord McNicol, described as a thoughtful maiden speech. I am...

It was King Edward III.

It was King Edward III.

Well, we may now be getting to a point of agreement; we should be looking at the six statutes of Edward III, because that is where a proper interpretation of Clause 39 of Magna Carta comes. That said—gosh, can I get to the church by way of the moon?—what is...

Well, we may now be getting to a point of agreement; we should be looking at the six statutes of Edward III, because that is where a proper interpretation of Clause 39 of Magna Carta comes. That said—gosh, can I get to the church by way of the moon?—what is...

It is always a great pleasure to follow the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, which I seem to do quite often. It is also a great pleasure to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Stace, and to congratulate him on his maiden speech. I note that he sat down almost...

It is always a great pleasure to follow the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, which I seem to do quite often. It is also a great pleasure to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Stace, and to congratulate him on his maiden speech. I note that he sat down almost...

My Lords, it is a privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, and a pleasure to see my noble and learned friend Lord Leveson in his richly deserved place. I congratulate my noble friend Lord Stace on a humble, humane and incredibly promising maiden speech. I...

My Lords, it is a privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, and a pleasure to see my noble and learned friend Lord Leveson in his richly deserved place. I congratulate my noble friend Lord Stace on a humble, humane and incredibly promising maiden speech. I...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow those eloquent remarks from the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti. I will focus mine on the proposed removal of the statutory presumption of parental involvement as set out in the Bill. As your Lordships know, unsafe child contact has led to a number...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow those eloquent remarks from the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti. I will focus mine on the proposed removal of the statutory presumption of parental involvement as set out in the Bill. As your Lordships know, unsafe child contact has led to a number...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the characteristically clear and persuasive speech by the noble Baroness. I also want to say how much I enjoyed the eloquent, moving and wise speech by the noble Lord, Lord Stace. We have much to look forward to in the future from...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the characteristically clear and persuasive speech by the noble Baroness. I also want to say how much I enjoyed the eloquent, moving and wise speech by the noble Lord, Lord Stace. We have much to look forward to in the future from...

My Lords, I always love following the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, and hearing about his exploits. The story about judges’ acquittal rates is perhaps because they are deeply misogynistic—but I do not know. At the start, the noble Lord, Lord Ashcombe, talked about there being a lot of great legal...

My Lords, I always love following the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, and hearing about his exploits. The story about judges’ acquittal rates is perhaps because they are deeply misogynistic—but I do not know. At the start, the noble Lord, Lord Ashcombe, talked about there being a lot of great legal...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Stace, on a textbook, excellent maiden speech. I hope we will hear much more from him.

I have two interests to declare. I practised at the criminal Bar for 40 years, but I am now long retired; and, despite my warnings about the...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Stace, on a textbook, excellent maiden speech. I hope we will hear much more from him.

I have two interests to declare. I practised at the criminal Bar for 40 years, but I am now long retired; and, despite my warnings about the...

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Mallalieu, and to say at once that I largely agree with everything she said. Clearly, something must be done about the unacceptable backlog in the Crown Courts, but what? As she just said, what is the answer?...

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Mallalieu, and to say at once that I largely agree with everything she said. Clearly, something must be done about the unacceptable backlog in the Crown Courts, but what? As she just said, what is the answer?...

My Lords, the criminal justice system is in crisis. The police, the CPS, the defence community, the courts, prisons and probation all have different priorities and different financial pressures. The appointment of a new Second Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice is a welcome attempt to try

to ensure...

My Lords, the criminal justice system is in crisis. The police, the CPS, the defence community, the courts, prisons and probation all have different priorities and different financial pressures. The appointment of a new Second Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice is a welcome attempt to try

to ensure...

My Lords, it is rather intimidating following the noble and learned Lord, Lord Leveson, who gave such a compelling and insightful description of the crisis at the heart of

criminal justice, but, put quite simply, no matter how bad that crisis is, rolling back jury trials cannot be the solution....

My Lords, it is rather intimidating following the noble and learned Lord, Lord Leveson, who gave such a compelling and insightful description of the crisis at the heart of

criminal justice, but, put quite simply, no matter how bad that crisis is, rolling back jury trials cannot be the solution....

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Stace on his wonderful maiden speech. Having given my own maiden speech only two weeks ago, I remember the relief that he must be feeling now having done it.

I welcome the Bill and, in particular, the Government’s determination to tackle the very...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Stace on his wonderful maiden speech. Having given my own maiden speech only two weeks ago, I remember the relief that he must be feeling now having done it.

I welcome the Bill and, in particular, the Government’s determination to tackle the very...