During the discussion of Lords amendments to the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, Nick Herbert gave a bit of a nervous performance from the opposition front bench. He lost his place several times, and I felt very sorry for him. It must be intimidating with John Reid staring at you as if he is about to take a bite out of your leg.
Not to mention the jargon that Herbert has to recite as if it is poetry:
"Amendments Nos. 42 to 45 are aimed at clarifying the defence for museums and galleries using realistic imitation weapons as outlined in clause 33. As drafted, the exemption applies only to public museums and galleries that do not distribute any profits. Amendment No. 42 removes those words, ensuring that private museums can also benefit from the exemption..."
Speaking for the government, Tony McNulty was fluid, focused and even found time for a bit of humour. Though it is hard not to be amused when Michael Fabricant's mane of hair is being wiggled in your direction:
John Bercow (Buckingham, Conservative) Might I extract from the hon. Gentleman a confirmation that in pursuit of that objective, he will be at least deploying one of his usual charm offensives?
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield, Conservative)
And he has plenty!
Tony McNulty (Minister of State, Home Office)
Someone else once said in this place that when he and a colleague undertook a charm offensive, he was the charm and our colleague was the offensive.
Lynne Featherstone was mostly good, speaking for the LibDems. Bob Marshall-Andrews made some sensible points about imitation firearms:
"Sales of airsoft machines are predicated on the machines being exact replicas of deadly firearms. The website of the main organisation involved suggests that it now has 22,000 members. If exemptions are going to be made to allow a group of that size to trade in imitation firearms on the internet or otherwise, a huge part of this Bill will be wrecked before it is enacted.
"If that happens, hundreds of thousands of people—perhaps millions—who have campaigned or supported campaigns will have to return to the campaigning ground, and an enormous advantage for this Government, which they thoroughly deserve, will be lost. In congratulating the Minister and the Department on the Bill, I ask my hon. Friend to take on board, as I know he will, the real concerns that exist throughout the country about these potential exemptions."
The best speech though, one with real passion and anger, came from Humfrey Malins. The veteran MP for Woking serves as a crown court Recorder and district judge in London. He explained the perspective from the bench:
"The single most prevalent crime, which is growing and growing and growing, is that of carrying a bladed article in a public place.
"In Committee, just over a year ago, I quoted some horrifying statistics from a Youth Justice Board survey carried out in 2004, which showed that 1 per cent. of pupils in England and Wales aged between 11 and 16 had at some time in the last year carried a knife in school for offensive reasons, and 2 per cent. for "defensive" reasons.
"That means that 60,000 of our children had carried a knife in school at some stage during the previous 12 months, which is horrific."
Malins spoke passionately in the defence of victims rights, and mocked the liberal attitudes of the LibDems:
"If Members went to the courts where I sit they would realise the prevalence of the offence of carrying a bladed article in public. They should listen to the witness who says that he or she was so terrified by the glint of the steel thrust at them in the street late at night that they had nightmares for months on end, and dared not go out into the streets for fear of coming across a possible attacker.
"The House has not got properly to grips with the issue of carrying knives. I say to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) that it is all very well to focus on help, guidance and education, but tell that to the person whose life has been ruined by being threatened in the street with a nasty looking knife."
Malins was not impressed with government plans to increase sentences for carrying a knife:
"The number of people sent to prison for carrying a bladed article in public is extremely low. In the last year for which figures are available, of the 5,000 to 6,000 people convicted for that offence, a paltry10 per cent. went to prison. Almost 90 per cent. of people who carry knives in public know that, if they go to court, they will not lose their liberty.
"Furthermore, many of that paltry 10 per cent. probably received a sentence of about two, three or four months.
"So why is changing the maximum sentence from two years to four years suddenly considered to be a piece of magic that is the answer to the problem? It is not the answer; the answer to the problem is to enforce the existing law much more thoroughly, and, respectfully, in my view this Government have failed to do that."
Malins also had strong words for his fellow MPs:
"Much of our criminal law would be improved if we in this House legislated and spoke less, and saw to it that the police enforced the current law more strictly and forcefully.
"I have one final message for the Minister. He is a man of the world and a reasonable man, and he knows about the world outside—I know that he does—so he understands that knife crime is a terrible threat. Therefore, he must also understand that we cannot cure this great evil by simply having a little education here, and a little help there, and a doubling of the sentence as well.
"He must understand that the real way to deal with this problem is to get the police and the schools to operate a zero-tolerance approach to knives. There must be a tough, harsh attitude. We must make it clear to people that knives are wrong, and that if knives are present, they will be punished. Anything less than that simply will not do."
A quality speech for an MP who has been round long enough to know what he is talking about.
thanks to theyworkforyou.com
