March 2026

Parliamentary appearance by James Murray

Parliamentary appearance by Michael Wheeler

Parliamentary appearance by Abtisam Mohamed

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah). I have three quick anecdotal points and then a question for the Minister. Data sovereignty has been part of my life. I started my career as a trainee computer programmer at Shire Hall in Cambridge. My prime job was to carry the punch cards to the punch room to make sure that payroll ran properly. Anyone w

No, I am not giving way. Let me make that clear now. I want to finish in a moment. The reality is that jury trial is too precious a thing to lose. We are faced with a question of principle here. The savings that the Government claim will be made are contested by many expert analyses from the profession, the Institute for Government and others. They are based on questionable assumptions. Are those savings sufficient for us to abrogate a fundamental principle that attracts almost universal assent

I will not take interventions now, and certainly not if they are of the quality that we have had up till now. The reality is that jury trial is the cornerstone of our justice system. Do away with it and we are in trouble. Let us look at the way in which this Bill operates. It automatically presumes jury trial for everything that will have a likely sentence of three years, and those will involve some grave offences. However, in relation to serious, complex or lengthy cases, it could cover any all

T5. Given the events in the middle east, can the Chancellor share with us what work is being done here and alongside our NATO allies and other partners to understand the economic consequences, people’s changing needs and the impact that has on Government spending when countries face times of conflict?

I thank my hon. Friend. The third thing to say is that, for me, closure began after a successful civil process following the acquittal. My rapist may not be considered to have met the criminal threshold for guilt beyond all reasonable doubt, and is out there on the streets as a free man while I live with the life sentence of what he did to me, but what has been established, at a civil standard of proof, is what happened. It found that I had been raped, and a compensation order was made that reco

I want to start by pointing out that in this debate, we have called more barristers to speak than we have called women. It would be wrong of us not to realise that we are the absolute epitome of the British establishment. I have never come across as many barristers in my life; before I came here, the only time I ever saw a barrister was when I was helping a loved one who faced trial. This is about the reality of the real world, but we are more likely to have victims watching on than we are to ha

The right hon. Member for Hertsmere (Sir Oliver Dowden) is absolutely right to talk about confidence in public institutions, because that is what we are addressing today. I stand before the House as a victim who would not report because I do not want to be retraumatised over years. I speak on behalf of the victims in the Gallery and the victims out there in the country. That is where I want us to restore confidence. That is what we need to do today.

Edward Morello will move the motion and the Minister will respond. I remind other hon. Members that they may make a speech only with prior permission from the Member in charge of the debate and the Minister. As is the convention in a 30-minute debate, the Member in charge will not have an opportunity to wind up.

Order. Through the Chair, please.

Will the hon. Gentleman give way on that point?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Order. Please stay standing if you want to speak. We are very tight on time, because I hope to take the wind-ups at eight minutes past 5. If we have a rough time limit of two minutes, everyone will get in. I call Daniel Zeichner.

We have two more speakers, and as I said, I will start calling the Front-Bench spokespeople at 5.08 pm. Your kind colleagues have given you a little extra time, Emily Darlington.

Beautifully done. I thank all colleagues for sticking to the time limit.

Parliamentary appearance by Valerie Vaz

Order.

Given the global situation, what discussions has the Chancellor had with Cabinet colleagues on helping to keep industrial energy costs manageable? Will she work with colleagues to bring in the British industrial competitiveness scheme, which would cut manufacturing energy costs by 25%, as soon as possible?